Thursday, 30 October 2014, Jaipur and Pushkar
Pati and BeeBee got up early to travel to Pushkar. First they had a very good buffet breakfast at their B&B, then they walked around the inside of the building taking pictures. Either the building is a restored palace, or it is a building created to look like a restored palace. The furnishings likewise are genuine antiques or new with antiqued finishes. In any case, it is a beautiful building.
At checkout time, the manager had a great deal of trouble processing Pati's credit card using an old card reader. The message coming up was "modem failed" but the manager thought the solution was for Pati to produce another credit card. When Pati pointed out the error message, the manager pulled another equally-old card reader from under the counter and plugged it in. Problem solved.
Their driver was already waiting, so Pati and BeeBee went out, followed by two young cleaning men (!) who insisted on carrying their luggage. BeeBee had already tipped them when the young men "ambushed" them on the way downstairs and grabbed the luggage. (It is a game: how far can you get carrying your own luggage before someone else insists on carrying it, expecting a tip? This time Pati and BeeBee got down one of the two flights of stairs before getting caught.) The two young men put the luggage in the trunk of the car, and the driver rearranged it more efficiently. Suddenly Pati became aware of an older man in a black suit who had followed them out. Apparently, he was associated with the B&B and, for some reason, he expected a tip also! He blocked access to the car until he got his tip. The only person who was not there for a tip was the tour company's representative for Jaipur, who had said he would be there that morning. Since he had not done anything the previous day that Pati and BeeBee could not have done on their own, he was not missed.
The driver was a charming man and excellent driver. He is an employee of Cox and King's; the drivers for this trip are contracted from various companies. He worked hard to speak proper English (his native language is Rajastani) and pointed out various points of interest as he drove. Shortly after they entered Pushkar, they drove past the fair grounds, which is where Pati and BeeBee intend to spend a lot of time in the next 5 days. Then he continued to drive until BeeBee began to wonder how they would get back to the fairgrounds every day. As he finally pulled into a hotel named Raj Resort, he said "here we are at your hotel." BeeBee said "we are staying at Prem Villas. Is this Prem Villas?" (knowing that it wasn't). Then followed a comedic exchange of paperwork, multiple phone calls, and finally the arrival of the tour company representative for Pushkar. The driver's paperwork, given to him by the Jaipur B&B manager, said to deliver to Raj Resort. The tour company representative convinced him of the error, and they all set off for Prem Villas. The driver was mortified. He showed them his paperwork; they assured him that it was all right, just another adventure in India.
Pati and BeeBee got up early to travel to Pushkar. First they had a very good buffet breakfast at their B&B, then they walked around the inside of the building taking pictures. Either the building is a restored palace, or it is a building created to look like a restored palace. The furnishings likewise are genuine antiques or new with antiqued finishes. In any case, it is a beautiful building.
At checkout time, the manager had a great deal of trouble processing Pati's credit card using an old card reader. The message coming up was "modem failed" but the manager thought the solution was for Pati to produce another credit card. When Pati pointed out the error message, the manager pulled another equally-old card reader from under the counter and plugged it in. Problem solved.
Their driver was already waiting, so Pati and BeeBee went out, followed by two young cleaning men (!) who insisted on carrying their luggage. BeeBee had already tipped them when the young men "ambushed" them on the way downstairs and grabbed the luggage. (It is a game: how far can you get carrying your own luggage before someone else insists on carrying it, expecting a tip? This time Pati and BeeBee got down one of the two flights of stairs before getting caught.) The two young men put the luggage in the trunk of the car, and the driver rearranged it more efficiently. Suddenly Pati became aware of an older man in a black suit who had followed them out. Apparently, he was associated with the B&B and, for some reason, he expected a tip also! He blocked access to the car until he got his tip. The only person who was not there for a tip was the tour company's representative for Jaipur, who had said he would be there that morning. Since he had not done anything the previous day that Pati and BeeBee could not have done on their own, he was not missed.
The driver was a charming man and excellent driver. He is an employee of Cox and King's; the drivers for this trip are contracted from various companies. He worked hard to speak proper English (his native language is Rajastani) and pointed out various points of interest as he drove. Shortly after they entered Pushkar, they drove past the fair grounds, which is where Pati and BeeBee intend to spend a lot of time in the next 5 days. Then he continued to drive until BeeBee began to wonder how they would get back to the fairgrounds every day. As he finally pulled into a hotel named Raj Resort, he said "here we are at your hotel." BeeBee said "we are staying at Prem Villas. Is this Prem Villas?" (knowing that it wasn't). Then followed a comedic exchange of paperwork, multiple phone calls, and finally the arrival of the tour company representative for Pushkar. The driver's paperwork, given to him by the Jaipur B&B manager, said to deliver to Raj Resort. The tour company representative convinced him of the error, and they all set off for Prem Villas. The driver was mortified. He showed them his paperwork; they assured him that it was all right, just another adventure in India.
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| How about a ride? |
You can only be mortified one time.
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