Jaipur Part 2 & End of the Moghul's

After visiting the Amber Fort of Jaipur, we drove down to the Jantra, where Jai Singh, the great Maharajah astronomer built his star-gazing observatory. Apparently, the devices in this observatory are still extremely accurate for telling the time and marking the calendar. There are also devices that help astrologers to compare the astrological signs and compatibility of two people, which is still a significant part of Indian matrimonial preparations today.
      

We made it to a local restaurant just in time.  The sky started to dump rain on our party, and we made it to cover before getting drenched. After a nice meal, we walked a couple blocks to a local textiles factory and show-room. They demonstrated the carpet making process.  Very impressive.  Of course, when they closed the doors behind us and led us upstairs to show us dozens of examples of their products, we knew we were in for the big sales pitch.  Don't get me wrong, these carpets were amazing.  Notice the picture of the man running a blow torch against the rug? No damage. It's naturally flame retardant. The price was just a little steep for my taste ($700 - $3,000 for full sized carpets in pashmina, yak wool, camel, and silk).

Around 4 PM, we went back to our hotel, changed and broke into groups to wander Jaipur on our own.  A few of us decided to wander through the 1 km street in the bazaar that is dedicated to textiles. We had a fun time haggling, and were surprised at our results.  Some members of our group were able to finalize deals at 25% of original quoted prices.  Of course, we had to walk away once or twice (only to have someone from the shop chase us down and drag us back). 

After a couple hours of looking at way too many fabrics and articles of clothing, our little group stopped to look at some trinkets.  Sarah decided to get some henna on both wrists. Four of us then crammed into a Tuk-Tuk back to our hotel for our farewell dinner.  The next day would be our drive back to Delhi where we'd drop off 10 of our 16 group members who would fly home to end their journey. Six brave souls were staying on to take another 16 days to brave the altitude and weather of Ledakh (Little Tibet).



Day 10 – End of the first part of our trip

Early the next morning, we left Jaipur behind for Delhi taking a train.  The train ride was long and interesting. We sat amongst many locals.  Even though we had assigned seating, random people would squeeze onto the benches beside us.  I assume they didn't want to sit in other cars where there's no assigned seating, and didn't want to pay for the upgrade.  It was alright though, because a few locals climbed into the overhead racks to sleep, leaving plenty of room. 

One man sat across from me, and even though he was speaking Hindi, I could tell that he was having a lively discussion of politics, economics and current events with the man next to me. After a few hours, the man next to me climbed up into the racks and slept, and the other man struck up a conversation with me.  He tested my Hindi (very weak) and then switched to English. We discussed Indian politics, industry, economics, civics and the future of business in India. It helped pass the time.

Once in Delhi, we spent the night at the Hans Plaza Hotel once more. I began to feel ill again, but had to meet with Baru and the new tour group for the Little Tibet trip.  Once we'd been briefed and told to wake at 3 AM for a 4 AM departure, I went upstairs and crashed.

The next couple days would be the toughest of my trip.