Fog and more fog. We have had constant fog the entire time. Therefore the view from the bus window is limited. Driving here is bedlam. A two lane road becomes three to four. People do not use turn signals. Motorcycles, bikes and rickshaw everywhere. You must wear a helmut on the motorcycle except if you are a Sihk. People buy cheap ones to obey the law. Women in Saris will ride side saddle. The cars are jammed with people. No seat belts or baby car seats. Every new state you enter requires that you pay a tax or entry fee. Total chaos on the roads. We passed the call center town. It is doubling in size every three years. They are building tall building and apt. for the people. Too foggy to see much. This is a two lane road. Made into three lanes or more. A three lane road becomes a six lane.
Since she has jeans on, riding normally. Woman in Saris ride side saddle. Kids , babies also carried on the motorcycle.
As we waited to get to one toll booth a truck hit us. All the cars were pushing toward the booth. No one in a lane. Mass chaos. Our driver got out of the car to discuss the bump with the other truck driver. And then got back in the bus. That was the end of it. A police car was in front of us but he did not get involved.
We had a lecture about the cast system. No longer allowed to have it. But You still want to marry in your cast. A painter family would not want to marry a jeweler family.
Even though it is illegal, the cast system still goes on. There are four levels. The untouchables being the lowest. In the old days they would wear bells to identify them. You can tell a persons cast by their last name. A man may move to a new town, change his name and not be an untouchable any more.
We got a ticket for speeding and got pulled off the road. The group wanted to pitch in to pay for the fine. Our guide explained that the bus company would pay. We were targeted because we were a tour bus and the speed they said he was driving was wrong. No cars were stopped. Just the buses.
We passed areas that look like the Great Wall.
Our trip to Morocco was the appetizer to this trip. My words and pictures can not explain what I am seeing. It is worse than you can imagine. New building looks old. Everything is POOR , shabby, and gray. Even the embassy and presidential area was not impressive. Shanty towns everywhere. People everywhere. They are flying kites like in the book the Kiteflyer. Because of the fog, the picture of the sky do not show all the kites. Hundreds of kites. Mansions are next to slums. Little thiefery so our guide says. I am not sure I believe everything he says. Example, they went door to door and gave inoculations for small pox and in three years, no more new cases. Or all the children go to school. Not possible if you see how they are living. Meanwhile the rape problem here is BIG. A 51 year old tourist from Europe was raped by nine men. She got on a plane and ran home. and was afraid to do anything. After the young girl was raped and died last year on a tour bus, all the buses no longer have tinted windows or curtains. I do not think that would stop anything. Four articles about rapes in the paper yesterday.
The toll booth.
Accident on highway.
Truck on fire and the tires were exploding. Traffic backed up,for miles.
Our driver talking to the truck driver that hit our bus. Can you see how close he is.
Boy with sheep.
Vegetables
Garbage everywhere.
Band getting ready for a parade.
Kids on rooftop. They were calling hello to us.
Woman is feeding a cow bread. Considered a blessing.
Their clothes dryer.
More garbage
Camel rides.
This is where we went for lunch. It is in the town of Neemrana. A very large fort from 1400s and has been added and built onto for years. It is a hotel now on the top of a mountain. We walked through the town and up up the hill. Very interesting.
Front gate, door at the bottom of hill.
Front gate
Open air theatre
One pool
Two pools
We ate lunch outside. You can see how foggy it is.
My lunch. Lentils, Indian food?, and the strangest cottage cheese. The bread is going to get me through these 18 days.
We asked to see a room. We were shown two different suites that cost $300 a night each. They have new bathrooms. The rooms were nice. Our guide has stayed here. He says, not so great.
View from a porch.
This room slept 5. It had a day bed in living room. There are two bathrooms in each and an outdoor shower.
View from bottom when some of the fog lifted.
This is how they fixed the roads to make it easier to walk down.
Wedding part coming down the street the groom is in the front. No idea about where the bride would be.
Last woman in wedding march
Woman sewing quilts.
Moving old bricks.
Large cans of water. You see women getting water from wells.
Cow and garbage
The hotel. Very large . Was a private home palace that is leased now.
Jai Mahal Palace. It is on a large property. You need to go thought security to get into. Gated to drive into driveway. Four resturants. The breakfast was not a good as in Delhi. The staff not dressed so fancy. But this is a fine place. Room lovely. Dancing and music at 7:00 every night. But it is outside and a little cool.
Two of the three sides of the hotel. They are setting up for a wedding in a grassed area.
Location:Ajmer Road,Jaipur,India
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