Today Joy got her wish to go painting for the day and off she went with the car and Khan to find the perfect village. This left me with a day to wander about as I saw fit. First I had to visit an ATM to restock my supply of ruppees, always a bit of an adventure. The first machine worked on one of the cards to the tune of R10000, but would not complete the second transaction. This required a visit to a second machine which turned out to have a R5000 limit. Of course, you are never told this before. Banks are getting a fantastic return from these machines, I know ours are!
Chores done, I found a little cafe, ordered chai and settled in to watch the people:
It was a relaxing and enjoyable day of exploring for me, without the pressure of always being pulled by the driver to go here or there. The market was filled with Hindus heading for the Brahma temple or the water of the lake which is surrounded with "Ghats" (bathing areas) for that purpose. The only problem in the market (which surprisingly does not have a lot of people asking for money) is the high speed motorcycle/scooter racers weaving through pedestrians and cows. The road is narrow enough that only the very stupid try to take cars in, so it should be a pleasant experience, but ducking motorcycles makes it anything but.
Some advice for people who want to visit Rajastan. Don't take a tour! If you want to use a tour company follow these rules:
1. Let them arrange hotels to your standard. Yes they make a commission, but on the whole we have been quite satisfied.
2. Let them arrange any train travel, once again, to your standard. They seem to have no difficulty negotiating India Rail and if you are only coming for a few weeks, it makes that part painless.
3. If you are going to use a car and driver, only engage them to take you from A to B and no tourist activities. Also no stops on the highway unless you ask for it. They all have places they want you to stop to get their commission. Do your own thing at each stop. It has taken us over a week for Joy to get a day to paint.
4. Make certain that all repeat ALL charges, tips and donations are specified beforehand! The people of Rajastan believe that tips and donations are entitlements and will happily define them at an excessive level! Even priests will let you know how much your donation should be. We now have a policy that when we are told what a tip or donation should be, it will be much, much smaller.
Jim
What a learning experience for you both. Loving the blog.
ReplyDeleteVery much so! India seems to be able to alternately excite and frustrate.
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