Jaipur is renowned for its shopping. It is described in the guide book as shopping heaven and we would concur with this. It has most things you could need and all at very cheap prices (very best price and quality sir!). It is famed for its silver, gemstone jewellery and fabrics. It is also well known for its forts and the colour of the old city (most of it is painted salmon pink!). For once we were lazy and we shunned the sightseeing as you can only stomach so much before it feels like you are doing it just for the sake of it, which aint right really.
So we relaxed a little and spent a couple of days wandering around looking at shops and investing time and a little cash in some possible future ventures. It was a nice place to treat ourselves with lots of local snacks and lassis (very tasty yoghurt drinks).
We have planned a route through Rajasthan that will take us up to and including Christmas in Udaipur but next in line was Pushkar, yet another special holy place. It is said that Brahma (a Hindu God) dropped a lotus flower on the earth and Pushkar floated to the surface. Pushkar surrounds a magical lake which is in turn surrounded by many Ghats much like the ones in Varanasi (only a lot cleaner). It is quite a sight at most times of the day.
Hindu pilgrims and tourists alike flock here to bathe in the holy water and pray (puja). After meeting what seemed like a genuine priest by the water, we decided to give a small donation (for which we got a receipt) and have him conduct a proper blessing for us and for our family. The blessing was quite long and involved repeating many mantras (which we mumbled after him in Hindi and in English) and touching the holy water from the lake and hoping not to make contact with the long snake like fish swimming around. The ceremony ended with Dipi having to wash my feet (about time I would say) and we then had to do some more repeating of Hindi and then, after we got our tikkas and rakhis (string tied around our wrists) we were done! It was all good Karma.
Along with the lake the area also boast hundreds of temples (which we again didn’t bother with visiting, some might say criminally). You have to dress respectfully here (so I shelved my short skirts), you are not allowed to kiss in public and you are not allowed alcohol or drugs (although some people seemed high off bhang (hash)lassis or space cakes). You can go on short treks or camel rides into the desert, but again we were being lazy and just chilled out and wandered about looking in shops, taking it easy and of course taking in the weird sights that seem to be never ending in this country. Never a dull moment!
I managed to pick up a couple of pairs of tailor made casual/ comfy trousers (now Dipi will stop going on about my trousers!) for less than four quid on one of our walks through the village. Clothes are so cheap here.
We didn’t really do much else, apart from the one thing that Dipi had put on the ‘to do’ list which was to get some reflexology in. There is one guy recommended in the guide book so we went on the hunt for him. We tracked him down and got ourselves booked in. One word to describe the experience is agony! Most people would think of reflexology as being a relaxing treatment involving maybe something like a foot massage. Not in this case let me tell you! This guy went to work on our feet with all sorts of implements which, I must say, was way more painful than having my tattoo done! It was so intense in places that I started to sweat and tears nearly came to my eyes! (my right toe is still smarting!) He was very good though, not only for his physical work but for his words of wisdom and his sixth sense which was pretty spooky. We went to see him twice in two days and he has helped us both massively in that short amount of time. Dipi would really like to go and do a Reiki course with him but as we are yet to decide on back tracking.
It was a nice couple of days albeit a little too touristy for us on the whole. We must add though that the hotels here are cheap as you like and the standard is very good for the money. We had our first thick mattress (where you can’t feel the wood of the bed through it) for as long as we can remember!! That makes a huge difference, trust me! The staff at the Everest Hotel were very helpful and super polite. We would recommend it to anyone.
So now onto our Christmas destination: Udaipur. We have, what sounds like, a nice place booked (through the Everest hotel) overlooking the lake where Octopussy was filmed some 30 years ago. Although our hopes are not too high, we are looking forward to getting what we want for Christmas day, which is some good food (maybe a goose?!?) and a nice bottle of wine! Wish us luck and Happy Christmas to everyone!
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