The trouble with the road to Jaipur

Actually, there's nothing wrong with the road to Jaipur.  We got to know a couple parts of it quite well. As we left Kaurali, about a half hour out of town, our bus started to smoke and stall.  We broke down about 10 yards short of a police checkpoint with a nice little shade structure.  Our group happily exited the bus and took shelter in the shade.  We had a chance to watch the livestock and a few locals go by while our bus driver and his assistant looked for the cause of the problem. 

I know that this story has already been somewhat told in a prior blog entry, so I won't go into full detail.  But, here are the pictures that go with the story.  Over the course of an hour, we saw probably 4 groups of livestock, some attended by a human and some not.  I particularly liked the gang of three cows (two white, one brown) that had a mind of their own.  They seemed quite deliberate in where they were headed, and seemed to know the neighborhood quite well.  We also found a little area about 5 minutes walk from the police checkpoint where there were about 4 idols of Hindu gods, complete with a cemented down donations box on each.

It's also worth mentioning a little visit we received while sitting on the side of the road.  Up pulled a motorcycle with two men on it, and the man on the back dismounted and approached me to ask what we were doing.  He said he was from the local tourism board and was headed into Kaurali to check on things.  He asked how we were doing and if we were enjoying our tour.  He talked with a few others in our group for a few minutes, and then with a big smile waved at us, mounted the motorcycle and was whisked away towards Kaurali. 

Again, this is India.  Anything is possible.  Douglas Adams would say that in such a large universe, all things are probable.  I would say that the population of India simply drives up the probability factor for what is otherwise improbable.

So, after the Maharaja's personal driver came and helped our driver fix the bus, we boarded and were off for Jaipur once more.  Alas, the fix didn't hold and we broke down about 30-60 minutes later.  This time, next to a farm of Johar (a local millet like barley).  The farm house was 50 yards away, complete with a grumpy yak that ran around, and a camel that came up the road.  We milled around the road and took shelter in an empty field under a tree.  Meanwhile, our fearless leader (Baru) arranged for a group of jeeps to scoop us up and take us to Jaipur while our bus was sorted.

By the time we got to Jaipur, I was too tired to take pictures.  The next couple days in Jaipur however were filled with photo opportunities.  You'll see why they call it the Pink City.