Wednesday, 29 October 2014
Pati and BeeBee had agreed with their driver for a 7 am pickup to begin their long journey to Jaipur. Their hotel, Wildflower Hall, prepared two boxes of breakfast for them to take with them, since they were leaving before normal breakfast. This included (for two people) 2 croissants, 2 muffins, 4 slices of banana bread, 2 bottles of water, 2 individual-sized boxes of orange juice, 2 bananas, 2 apples, 2 bags of chips, 2 plastic plates, and 2 sets of napkins, etc. This is just a hint of how easy it is to over- eat at that place. They gave the fruit, chips, and water to their driver when they got to the airport - they couldn't eat it all, and they couldn't take it with them.
The first leg of the journey was to retrace the twisty road between Chandigarh and Shimla, but in reverse. Including a tea/coffee stop at 9 am, this 108 km (about 65 mile) leg took about 4 hours. The first most exciting event in this part of the trip (excluding some near-misses) was a cellphone call to the driver from his boss, resulting in Pati taking the phone and hearing the boss say something like "your flight is cancelled." It was very hard to hear and understand what the boss was saying, but, upon reflection, Pati decided that what the boss actually said was something like "call me if your flight is cancelled." The second most exciting event was when Pati and BeeBee presented their eticket paperwork to get into the airport, and the official said that the ticket was only for Pati, not BeeBee. A kind passenger in the line behind them told them which window to go to, and at that window the airline employee printed out the missing eticket for only 50 rupees. After that, the airport experience was fairly similar to a US airport experience (except for the separate patdown for women).
Their flight to Delhi was short and uneventful, and they had enough time between flights to grab a quick lunch at Pizza Hut.
The next flight, from Delhi to Jaipur, actually left early because everyone was on board, and thus arrived early into Jaipur. Their luggage eventually turned up, and they walked out of the airport, finding their new guide and driver almost immediately.
They were delivered to their Bed and Breakfast, Shahpura House, within a half hour, and agreed to be picked up at 10 am the next day for their further journey to Pushkar and the camel fair.
Having spent more than 10 hours traveling in one day, Pati and BeeBee were ready to get dinner and call it a day. They had a fine dinner in the rooftop restaurant of the B&B, and being seated at the table closest to the entertainment, were treated to an unimpeded view of traditional music and dancing. The entertainers were a group of 2 male musicians and 2 female performers. BeeBee imagined them to be a mother, daughter, son, and perhaps nephew or friend of the son. The daughter was the main performer, dancing with bells on her ankles and swirling her colorful skirt. The mother's speciality was balancing pots on her head (maximum of 6 at a time) while walking swiftly or gyrating like a snake on the floor. The son played an accordian-like instrument while singing in a clear high voice, and the other young man played a drum. Of course, the words to the songs were not understandable to Pati and BeeBee until the two young men sang Frere Jacques and bits of Macarena. There was also a separate performing group, two men with drums, at the other end of the restaurant, but no diners were seated at that end, so they left early.
Pati and BeeBee had agreed with their driver for a 7 am pickup to begin their long journey to Jaipur. Their hotel, Wildflower Hall, prepared two boxes of breakfast for them to take with them, since they were leaving before normal breakfast. This included (for two people) 2 croissants, 2 muffins, 4 slices of banana bread, 2 bottles of water, 2 individual-sized boxes of orange juice, 2 bananas, 2 apples, 2 bags of chips, 2 plastic plates, and 2 sets of napkins, etc. This is just a hint of how easy it is to over- eat at that place. They gave the fruit, chips, and water to their driver when they got to the airport - they couldn't eat it all, and they couldn't take it with them.
The first leg of the journey was to retrace the twisty road between Chandigarh and Shimla, but in reverse. Including a tea/coffee stop at 9 am, this 108 km (about 65 mile) leg took about 4 hours. The first most exciting event in this part of the trip (excluding some near-misses) was a cellphone call to the driver from his boss, resulting in Pati taking the phone and hearing the boss say something like "your flight is cancelled." It was very hard to hear and understand what the boss was saying, but, upon reflection, Pati decided that what the boss actually said was something like "call me if your flight is cancelled." The second most exciting event was when Pati and BeeBee presented their eticket paperwork to get into the airport, and the official said that the ticket was only for Pati, not BeeBee. A kind passenger in the line behind them told them which window to go to, and at that window the airline employee printed out the missing eticket for only 50 rupees. After that, the airport experience was fairly similar to a US airport experience (except for the separate patdown for women).
Their flight to Delhi was short and uneventful, and they had enough time between flights to grab a quick lunch at Pizza Hut.
The next flight, from Delhi to Jaipur, actually left early because everyone was on board, and thus arrived early into Jaipur. Their luggage eventually turned up, and they walked out of the airport, finding their new guide and driver almost immediately.
They were delivered to their Bed and Breakfast, Shahpura House, within a half hour, and agreed to be picked up at 10 am the next day for their further journey to Pushkar and the camel fair.
Having spent more than 10 hours traveling in one day, Pati and BeeBee were ready to get dinner and call it a day. They had a fine dinner in the rooftop restaurant of the B&B, and being seated at the table closest to the entertainment, were treated to an unimpeded view of traditional music and dancing. The entertainers were a group of 2 male musicians and 2 female performers. BeeBee imagined them to be a mother, daughter, son, and perhaps nephew or friend of the son. The daughter was the main performer, dancing with bells on her ankles and swirling her colorful skirt. The mother's speciality was balancing pots on her head (maximum of 6 at a time) while walking swiftly or gyrating like a snake on the floor. The son played an accordian-like instrument while singing in a clear high voice, and the other young man played a drum. Of course, the words to the songs were not understandable to Pati and BeeBee until the two young men sang Frere Jacques and bits of Macarena. There was also a separate performing group, two men with drums, at the other end of the restaurant, but no diners were seated at that end, so they left early.
 |
| Dancer at Shahpura House |
Big Bro would like some butter with his muffins.
ReplyDeleteRooftop restaurants seem to be quite popular.
This weekend the people of North America slip back to Standard Time.
Small suggestion for the return trip... when leaving Duabi, set one of the watch dials to 12:00 and then you'll know at any time how long you've been in the air.