The start of our day didn’t exactly go to plan but that’s ok – we’re on holiday.
Bryce & Lewis had left the hotel early to catch a train to Jaipur. We’d booked what we thought was a 7-seater but, as we found out in Delhi, not all 7-seaters are created equal. So, as a back-up, Bryce had booked a couple of train tickets. I think Bryce secretly just wanted another opportunity to use India’s rail system.
The rest of us got an extra couple of hours sleep and cold shower. This hotel was doing its bit to conserve energy and hot water is only available between 7 and 9 in the morning and 8 and 10 at night. The guy who flicks the switch must have slept in and no matter how long I stood waiting, there was to be no hot water.
We weren’t exactly sure how to get to the meeting place our driver would be at so Toni had asked reception to book us two tuk tuks. Maybe our request was lost in translation or perhaps booking tuk tuks was also the job of the under-performing hot water guy, but either way, there were no tuk tuks. BJ managed to track down a couple and we were on our was to Gulabh Bagh parking to meet our driver. Turns out there are a few parking spots at Gulabh Bagh and after visiting a couple and making a few phone calls we found the right one. Our tuk tuk driver seemed to enjoy the challenge and was laughing and smiling constantly. Turns out he was stoned and he lit up another joint once he’d safely delivered us to our taxi driver. We hit the road about half an hour later than planned, and were on 2-3 lane highway most of the way so it was faster going than our last trip – the 400+km only took a bit over 6 hours
During the first hour we passed several hundred yards selling marble and granite. Each yard had a small office and slabs of marble/granite in every colour imaginable leaning against racks. Only a few yards had processing facilities, most were just selling and it’s difficult to imagine who’s buying from them all.
Our hotel in Jaipur is a bit of a shocker. Not the cleanest and Toni & I contemplated visiting the local hardware shop and picking up a bucket & scrubbing brush. I guess it had to happen at some stage which is why we brought sleeping bags!
We went for a bit of a walk to get orientated, but we were all pretty tired after the travel day so had an early dinner at the hotel restaurant (which appeared to be the cleanest part of the place).
The hotel’s on a busy road and the windows aren’t exactly sound proof (or particularly weather proof for that matter), lucky we’re all so tired!