Raj

As much as the sights of a city can fill you with awe or amazement at their grandeur or size, it's the people that you meet that will make you fall in love with a place. This was the case in Kolkata with the Jungle Crows and has definitely been here in Jaipur over these past 2 days. George H, Angus and myself had the privilege on our first day here being assigned to the youngest of the rickshaw drivers that would make up our convoy in Jaipur for 2 days. Raj was a character to say the least. Claiming to have 10 years of experience under his belt, we zipped through the streets of the pink city in no time. 

However as excellent a driver as he was, i'm sure i'm speaking on behalf of the 3 of us when I say I was terrified for my life each time we hopped in the rickshaw. Raj seemed to spend more time looking back at us explaining his stereo system, which he was so proud of, or switching the music on the stereo every 15 seconds and not paying any attention to the road. This sort of driving may have been fine along quieter Epsom/Remuera roads however if our blogs have conveyed any sense of the craziness of Indian roads you'll understand my panic. 

His other antics include pretending to run down a group of Asian tourists before swerving at the last second, driving no hands while looking back at us to ensure we knew he was driving with no hands and relying on his friend Ali, another driver in our convoy, to push his rickshaw 6 or 7km along main roads cause Raj had forgot to refuel. These antics have definitely provided us with much laughs over the past 2 days and I know i'll miss the guy. I'll leave you with a quote from the wise man himself, "Money is not important in life, 1st most important thing is friendship, then second most important is good wife/girlfriend". Thanks Raj for making me fall in love with your city and its people :)

Merry Christmas for tomorrow everyone!

William