India pt. 3: Jaipur

The "Pink City" of Jaipur, viewed from the Temple of the sun god "Surya"

Most tourists who visit Rajasthan travel a circuit known as the "Golden Triangle." This itinerary includes Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur (usually returning to Delhi). The adjective is confusing, as the only really "golden" portion of our journey was the long drives through blooming fields of mustard (and those were, strictly speaking, more canary than golden). The cities themselves, however, are indisputably arranged in the shape of a triangle. On that point there can be little debate.


When we left Agra, we had already completed one "segment" of our triangle, and Jaipur was up next. We made our way slowly between the two cities, stopping once along the way to buy fruit ("2 rupees per banana?! Are you trying to rip me off?"), once to have a look at Fatehpur Sikri (described briefly in our previous post - refer to the section on the swan dive into the slime-filled pool), and again to enjoy a long (overpriced) lunch in a tourists' roadhouse of sorts. Around 4 in the afternoon, we found ourselves on the outskirts of Jaipur. Rus was riding shotgun with Sumer, and playing the role of navigator.

As we began to approach the city, Rus looked up from our trusty Lonely Planet Guidebook to inform us that there was a temple that we might like to visit on our way into town. The guidebook was cryptic and a little alarming in its description of the place: "Galta Monkey Temple is desolate...barren...evocative.... The macaques converge on the temple by the hundreds.... Prepare to be mobbed." Having recently learned that over 30,000 Indians die of rabies each year, we were a little nervous at the thought of hundreds of (potentially) rabid monkeys "converging" on us. Thus, when we arrived at the temple, we decided it best to hire a guide for about $2US, not so much for informative purposes (he could barely speak English), as to act as our bodyguard (or human shield if you prefer) against the anticipated waves of (possibly) rabid primates.



The temple itself was something out of Indiana Jones. Built into a ravine between two hills, the complex is made up of dozens of abandoned buildings... all of which were swarming with monkeys. Our guide brought with him a small bag of peanuts, which the monkeys immediately recognized. They followed us closely for most of our visit. The guide repeatedly tried to offer us peanuts ("feed monkey - good karma") but we politely declined.

"Feed monkey. Good karma!"

We slowly worked our way up the hill, walking past a number of "sacred" pools (read: stagnant ponds filled with green slime and bits of garbage), in which groups of pilgrims were bathing. We took a number of pictures of these, but upon closer inspection discovered that all but one photo depicted nude or semi-nude pilgrim-bathers. In the interests of propriety, we have included only one photo:At the top of the hill, we came to the Temple of "Surya" (the sun god). The view from the hilltop was magnificent, and we paused for awhile to watch the sun set over the city of Jaipur (and of course to snap a few pictures of the local guru and the "deity" in the temple):

The local guru (I had to pay him 25 cents to take this photo)

The sun god (left) and his wife (right)

Our guide posing in front of the "Surya" Temple (the sun god)

On our way down the hill, I decided to hand Emily the camera so that she could capture my bravery among the monkeys. Here's my best memory of the dialogue that ensued:

"Here Emily, take a picture of me."

"How do you turn the camera on again?"

"The switch on the top. Take the picture. The monkeys are getting closer to me"

"I think the flash is turned off. Do you want the flash on?"

"I'm not worried about the flash - I'm worried about getting rabies. Take the picture."

"Brad, there's a monkey looking at me. I'm nervous."

"There's two dozen of them looking at me. Take the picture."

*CLICK*

"Oh. There's a car in the background. Wait a minute, Brad. Let me take another one."

"Take the picture, Emily; the monkeys are re-grouping!"

We spent two nights in Jaipur, at a clean but simple bed-and-breakfast (more white toast and fried eggs, anyone?). At $15US per night, I was completely satisfied with our accommodation.

On our first morning in Jaipur, we explored the Amber fort:

Notice the elephant in the foreground

Followed by Jantar Mantar, an 18th Century observatory filled with wonderful, enormous sun dials:

We ended our visit with a stroll through the Old City marketplace:

An "autorickshaw," the tuk-tuk of India!

Cheap, delicious, and they throw in the hepatitis for free!

...and of course a little shopping:

Jaipur is referred to as the "Pink City," as the old city is nearly all painted a warm terracotta color. While this made for some excellent photographic opportunities, the crushing poverty and dirt of the city wore us down. By dinner time, we were ready to leave. Thankfully, we had only one more night in Jaipur.

As always, we invite your comments to our blog posts. Instead of questions, this week we have a writing challenge for you. See if you can post a comment with at least 3 of these words in it:

"monkeys" "palace" "rabid" "mustard"

Good luck!