Jaipur

Arriving in Jaipur station at 6:00am, the Rikshaw-Wallahs were over me like fleas before my foot had even touched the platform. I couldn't decide whether my out of season travelling had helped or hindered me. On one hand they can't have been expecting me, on the other hand there was no-one else around for them to pounce on, so all came to me. anyway, I was strict with my man and informed him he was to take me directly to the hotel of MY choice. No messing.

"But sir, that place is no good and very expensive, and has mafia connections... you'd be far better somewhere else, I can arrange it for 100Rs if you like"

I stuck to my guns and told him to take me to the place of my choice. He relented eventually. We went. I carried my bags in and asked to look at the room I had booked. I returned with my bags and told him to take me somewhere else, he had been right.

Eventually I booked in to the family run Sivam Guesthouse, a little out of town but modestly priced. It proved to be a winner as the only other inhabitants appart from myself were a bunch of students from the nearby college, studying for their MBAs. They seemed thrilled to see me and immediately made me feel welcome. I spent most of the morning watching clips of Hindi movies and Bollywood music videos on their laptops, whilst I traded them some modern UK dance numbers from my MP3 player.

That day I decided to investigate Jaipur. It started badly after a run-in with a particularly determined Rikshaw-Wallah who decided he was going to take me to see all the sights of Jaipur whether I wanted to see them or not, at a price decided by him. I eventually managed to escape his grasp and hotfooted it down a side street and made my way through the winding streets toward Tiger Fort which is omnipresent above the 'pink' coloured buildings. Jaipur is called the 'Pink City' because of the colour of it's buildings, but I'm inclined to say that the wash used looks more like orange than pink. Not only that but upon climbing the footpath to Tiger Fort, a look across the rooftop reveals more blue buildings than 'pink' ones. At least this was my impression.

The hike up to Tiger Fort was indeed quite a trek in the midday sun, and frequent sitting on the wall was required. Not that I minded as it offered me the opportunity to look out over the city and gain some bearings which had been completely lost by the insident with my 'would be' tour-guide. There was one place I really wanted to visit here, and that was the Jantar Mantar (Observatory). It was immediately obvious from my current height and I made a mental roadmap in my head for later on.

The grounds of Tiger Fort itself are actually quite enchanting. Maybe it was the architecture or maybe it was because I had found the first place in India where a man can be alone for more than a few minutes. I'm inclined to think it was the latter, although I did enjoy walking round the parimeter wall and climbing the turrets too.

After climbing back down from the fort, the mental map I had made in my head told me that the Jantar Mantar was indeed quite a walk from my present location. With that in mind I wasted no time in employing the services of a cycle-rikshaw. It was now that I discovered that a cycle-rikshaw ride over bumpy ground costs far less than an auto-rikshaw over the same distance. The catch (because in India there is always one) is that it can also cost you anything upto 3 slipped discs with the possibility of permanent spinal damage. Still, it's all a bit of fun isn't it.

The Jantar Mantar is an ancient Observatory built in the 1600s and contains the worlds largest sundial along with many other devices carved in marble and stone designed to uncover everything from the suns angle and position to unlocking the secrets of the Zodiac. For the first time on my trip I decided it was appropriate to get myself a guide to explain to me the workings of these facinating structures. He also, upon my request, gave me a ride on his motorbike to a cheap and local eatery where I fed myself on Channa Masala and Chappati till I was fit to burst.

The rest of my stay in Jaipur revolved around the guys from the guesthouse. One guy in particular became a good pal for that short time and we talked about many subjects ranging from Girls (most indian mens favourite subject it would seem) to Pickles and back to Girls again. I was taken to good and cheap eateries where I got a fantastic Tandori Chicken, rice, chappatis, salad and a drink for around 50Rs, drank loads of tea and lassies and generally killed time observing the real india, the people.

Time rolled on and, as always happens when travelling, it became time for me to move on. A 3:30pm train to Agra ends this chapter.