The more real Jaipur

After our tour I said goodbye to my friends and faced the reality of travelling alone. At my request they dropped me off at an internet cafe (I use the term "cafe" very loosely...a bunch of computers crowded into a small building in an alley). I found a place that wasn't too expensive (Rs1200 = $32) and ventured out to find a rickshaw that would take me there. It was my first ride in a rickshaw since we'd always had drivers or taken cabs up until then. I can admit now that it was a little scary being on my own and figuring things out for myself but I made it safely to my guest house and it was nice and clean and I was happy to spend the night.
The next day I decided I wanted to find something a bit cheaper for the next couple of nights so it was back to the net. I ended up choosing a family-run place called the Janpath Guest House. It was only going to cost me Rs550 ($15) a night and that included 3 meals a day. Now I will say that the room left something to be desired and when you see the pics I know some of you would have turned right around and walked out but I'm so glad I decided to stay. Kapil is a 76 year old who opened up his home to guests a couple of years ago. He lives there with his daughter in law and 2 grand-daughters and has 17 rooms open for guests. He has a few boarders who have lived there for up to a year and is the most hospitable man I will probably ever meet.
My first day there he offered to give me a ride into the tourist info centre in town, which I thought was great. It turns out the office was closed because of a muslim holiday, but the ride turned into a 3 hour private tour of the city. He took me right into the middle of the festival because he talked a police oficer into moving a barricade that allowed us to drive right into the centre of the action.
Our next stop was a Hindu temple. He bought some ladu (looks like a timbit and tastes like a nutty shortbread), we took off our shoes and went inside. There were people already waiting and organized into rows all leading up to an alter surrounded by a marble railing. It was decorated all in silver and bronze and in the center there was a red curtain across the alter. People would ring a bell that was hanging by each entrance to scare away evil spirits, I've been told. So we were all just standing there for 10 mins or so and I wasn't really sure what we were waiting for, when the curtain opened to reveal a 6' tall, orange statue of Ganesha. Ganesha is a very popular Hindu deity that has the head of an elephant and is known as the remover of obstacles and therefore, widely worshipped. Everyone chanted something and then a bunch of men came around and started taking the ladu from the worshippers and making a gesture o offering toward the statue and then would crumble it into a bowl. People also brought strings of flowers that were placed at Ganesha's feet.
We went to a beautiful marble temple as well that was built by Kapil's previous employer of 40 years. It was great to have a personal tour by a man who is obviously so proud of his city. That night we had an indepth conversation about Hinduism and I learned a lot about Kapil, his values and his family.
That night I also met Andrea, who is an Australian woman staying at the same guest house. She is staying in Jaipur for a year and is volunteering at a school for orphaned, abused or destitute girls. The next day I went with her to the school to check it out and it looks like an amazing program. Some of the girls come from horrendous circumstances and they give them somewhere safe to live, teach them a few hours a day of school and trades like jewellery-making or sewing. They loved having their pictures taken so I have some great pics to remember them by.
That night I showed off my photo album that Marcia gave me for x-mas. It's full of pics of home and everyone was very interested in seeing what life in Canada is like. From the pics they all think Canada is fantastic and that I'm tension-free since I'm always smiling or dancing. :)
I spent the next day with Andrea and I had my first ride on a city bus. It was kind of crazy but overall went rather smoothly. We wandered around the city, she bought some jewellery, I finally gave in to the street food and had a samosa with curry, some sugar cane juice and went to a chaiwalla (tea shop). All of that cost me Rs28 (about $0.75), talk about a cheap day out. That night I headed out on an overnight train to Udaipur and the details of that will have to be another post altogether.
Jaipur was a great experience and I have actually started to think that I may need to return to India and spend some more time in one place.