| A
Visit to Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Jodhpur by Phillip Cullen |
|
Pros: Friendly, Kind, Honest and
warm people
Cons:
none
Delhi
They say 1st impressions are the best and nothing can prepare a
first time visitor. Arrival in Delhi from Sydney is at midnight.
The drudgery of 14 hours in the air disappears with the pure delight
of the explosion of colour and life.
Places of Stay
My first experience of Delhi traffic is both frightening and exhilarating
and I find myself not wanting this taxi ride to end. Even at 1 a.m.
the roads are more chaotic than anything I have ever experienced.Yet
all the drivers seem to know exactly what they are doing. The Master
Paying Guest House at New Rajender Nagar is my destination and I
am shown to a perfect room, simple yet charming, on the roof garden
of the 3 story house. Sleep does not come easily, the sounds of
the city are just too exciting and unfamiliar to encourage the atmosphere
to relax.
Cannaught Circle
In daylight the guest house is even more charming than it appeared
first up. Each room is named for a God (my room is the Ganesh room)
and the owners are friendly interesting people. After a very good
breakfast (omelette and chapatis and quite reasonable coffee) I
decided to take a walk. I set out for Connaught Circle on foot,
if only to get a feel of the geography of this city---I have no
great desire to see Connaught but it seems like a good place to
start. Two things occur to me after walking half an hour. What seemed
like half an inch on the map turns out to be a hell of a lot longer
than I had suspected. Secondly, Indians, or at least Delhites, have
no concept of "just walking". You must be going somewhere
so why walk? Good advice. The heat pounds me as I walk but I'm far
too interested to care. I have no idea where I am nor does it really
matter, I'm in India and every little thing is fascinating. Every
shop, stall, hawker, policeman and vendor is an attraction money
can't buy.
A Word of caution
Soon I give in and take an auto rickshaw. I probably have negotiated
close to the right price and feel like I'm getting the hang of this
most foreign (to me)and exotic city. Just be careful of the fabric
sellers at Connaught Circle. The charisma and personality of the
locals is overwhelming. I give in on my first day but will not be
so easy again.(It seems to me that lots of stories about India centre
on the "rip-off" factor. Firmness will avoid it, but really
what other place in the world will getting ripped off cost so little
and go to such a good cause generally).
Everyone in Delhi says "get out of Delhi as soon as you can".
I think its a great town. It has so many layers of religion and
architecture. It is a microcosm of all of India and exists on so
many levels.
Agra
After spending longer in Delhi than I had intended, Avnish and Ushi
from the guest house recommended a driver to take me to Agra. Suresh
the driver turned out to be an excellent companion over the next
three days and smoothed the way through Agra to Jaipur. The town
of Agra looks remarkably interesting from Agra fort, when you look
back up-river it seems picture book like. Suresh has no love for
Agra though and there is no time to explore.
The Agra
Fort
The Agra fort is excellent---I cannot tear myself away and when
I meet Suresh 90 minutes later, he is red-faced and puffy from sleeping
in the sun in the car.
The Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is fantastic, though a bit wedding cake and full of
hassley guides. One thing that travel brochures and books don't
show is the Taj situated on the river. When I walked to the back
of the building the sight of the magnificent wide and unusually
swift flowing river (given the monsoon had failed) was sublime.
The river puts the building in context, a remarkable architectural
site. Nice to see also that construction workers are the same the
world over. Workmen cleaning the domes from dizzying scaffolding
catcalled pretty girls and dropped small buckets of water on tourists.
Fatehpur Sikri
Beware the guides who tell you they are not guides but would like
to accompany you to practice their English. Otherwise it is a fascinating
place. It is possible here (there were no other tourists) to actually
find some peace, given you can shake off the guides. Outside the
compound is different---hawkers and vendors are the most single
minded I have ever seen.
Jaipur
The attractions of Jaipur have been well documented by others. They
are all good. I bought a carpet in Jaipur, in some back alley. After
the deal has been done I was invited to dinner with the workers.
We ate on a carpet under the stars. There was a bird of some description
cooking in a big iron pot over a flame. It took hours.
Meanwhile I drank copious amounts of beer---they drank even more
whiskey. I had answer everybody's questions and listen to their
philosophies on life. This was no hardship. Finally we ate our dinner---it
was hot and delicious. We were all a little drunk and went to telephone
someone sober to drive us up to the Tiger Fort from where I'll be
able to catch a "really good view" of Jaipur. It was midnight.
I wondered what I was doing here, amongst all this talk of more
whiskey, deadly snakes and the possibility of a panther or two.
This had been fun. We got each others jokes and the levels of humour
were intricate.
Something about my blondness fascinates the people of Jaipur. I
got mobbed in the back streets. There were little or no other tourists.
I was reluctant to leave Jaipur, and Suresh, and head to Jodhpur
by train.
Jodhpur
The "blue city" of Jodhpur is relaxing. The Ratanada Vilas
guesthouse has alot to do with it. This is a great place to stay,
an old "raj" style mansion in old local workshop road
about 10 minutes from the clock tower. A great family runs it. They
were very "üpper class" Indian and very proud. It
has been in the family for years. The son runs it, and the father
has a wealth of politically incorrect stories and reminiscences.
It was simple and comfortable and had a great staff who cooked wonderful
food. The back streets were fascinating, the Fort was wonderful.
The people here were magnificent. The 2nd class no a/c train was
a real journey, shared with the Indian army, the nose picking champions
of the world.
Overnight Journey back to Delhi
2nd class sleeper to Delhi was a good trip. Slept fitfully but enough,
and the non western company(about 30 in the carriage)was amenable,
interesting and knowledgeable. The vast slums on the outskirts of
Delhi as the train rolled through at 5 a.m. was sobering yet somehow
also optimistic. It was great to see the "real" people
of the city waking up to a new day of struggle and business.
I'm still not sure if I found what I was looking for in India, or
in fact if I was looking for anything at all. I do know that the
three weeks I spent were the most rewarding of any travel I have
done anywhere in the world. I simply cannot wait to get back there.
The Indian people are interesting and honest, and extremely warm.
The food is the biggest surprise, light and refined and mostly perfectly
cooked. Despite many setbacks and discomforts I never once felt
like I could not cope, and I felt extremely safe.
Written
By : Phillip Cullen, A 52 year old Australian living in Sydney.
A father of three girls, he has always been interested in Indian
culture, but never had a chance to visit it. Grasping a three week
break between jobs he decided to take up a solo trip to India, after
a friend who has written several books on Indian cricket talked
him to visit Delhi and Rajasthan. |
| |
