The City of Swag

Since cities tend to gain notoriety for the characteristics and exploits of their people (i.e. Kolkata is widely known as the City of Joy), we have taken to naming Jaipur, with the most appropriate title, 'The City of Swag', gaining much agreement among the group members.

This morning we shifted realities again and by the smiles planted widely across the boys' faces it has well and truly been another shift they needed. Don't get me wrong, Delhi was full of excellent adventures and was extremely kind to us (this hasn't always been the case with previous tours), but our arrival in Jaipur today was simply been electric. When young (possibly 'alty') auto rickshaw drivers are running alongside the train waving at the potential customers you know you are in for one hell of a ride. In short, Jaipur has most definitely delivered, so let's get down to the business of a summary:

Sunday 22 December

4:30am- Wake up time. Ridiculously early but we have things to achieve today . . . in a new city!
4:50am- Check out of Hotel Namaskar is complete. I sincerely hope our total payment of $200 for 2 nights accommodation for 25 people is put to good use (maybe new mattresses, a paint job, glass panes in the windows- just saying???)
5am- We arrive at the New Delhi Train Station. It appeared as if the Editor was about be exposed to another scam (as experienced on the 2011 Tour), however the sentence "Good morning, and piss off" to someone posing as an Indian Train Authority seemed to do the trick quite nicely
6:05am- Departure occurs on time. The train rolls out for 70-odd metres then comes to a stop. Is this a sign of things to come? Thankfully not
11am- 30 minutes late; not bad. Yes, arrival in Jaipur is attained. During the train ride chai had been enjoyed, the blog had been read (loving the parents' contributions thanks!), and many continued the quest to complete the reading of Mitch Albom's book 'Tuesdays with Morrie' (quite an outstanding point of reference to discuss some bigger concepts about living)
11:15am- Our arrival at Atithi Guest House is met by a pleasant surprise - it is clean and modern, with hot showers! The ride there was also equally as enjoyable with mad auto rickshaw drivers that will be our companions over the next two days as we journey in and around Rajasthan. I'll leave the boys to explain the characteristics of these fine gentlemen that we have met
11:30am- The Great Lockdown begins. When the Editor was a young child his mother often enforced 'time outs' prior to heading to an evening BBQ or function. In her wisdom she probably didn't want ratty kids just as the night was starting so sent everyone to bed for a large chunk of the afternoon. As such this afternoon's lockdown was revenge on a third party. Thus the boys became the recipients, being forced to sleep, or read on their beds. Cards were banned as were jokes, laughing and fun
4pm- Ben May pulls everyone out of the Great Lockdown with a superb overview of the city of Jaipur. Well done that man on an excellent Experts in the Field topic
4:30pm- We venture into the Pink city, which is only made possible by our helpful, eccentric, mad auto rickshaw drivers. Hamish Fox falls in love with the sight of seeing mountains again after 2.5 weeks of flatness
5pm- The group become the observers of highly foreign religious rituals at the Govind Devji temple (Hari Krishna worship- kind of). Some join in the celebration, some just sit and are blown away by the adoration and sense of community that is witnessed there
5:30pm- Taking a big risk (which proves to end in the worst case scenario) the boys are put in charge of navigating the staff out of the Temple complex and back into the city. After several dead ends we all arrive at the right place (it seems giving males maps from the outset is never a good idea, regardless of how old they are, as they will always will refuse to read them). The boys are now released for 2 hours to explore the marvels of the Pink City- many shop, try peanuts off the side of the streets, or most importantly converse with the locals for no other reason than they can
7:30pm- Our trusty tour guides, the slightly insane, lady charmer rickshaw drivers arrive to pick us up
7:45pm- Dinner is taken at Mohan's Restaurant or the relevant restaurants either side of it. The general consensus is that the meals were superb and unbelievably cheap (which always means extra pocket money for the shopping mad males we seem to have unveiled on this tour)
9:30pm- Debrief starts with quite a difficult question posed, 'When does someone become a man?'. The concept of rites of passage is raised and discussed before moving onto the dissemination of Kipling's 'If' poem. This is a real favourite that produces discussions on the virtues of living lives of integrity, courage, humility and service
10:30pm-12am- Those who still have some life left in their bodies hang out on the roof of the Atithi Guest House, continuing to converse and throw banter. Several update their diaries while others attempt to find stars in the sky (absolutely no chance)


As Christmas nears it is great to be buried deep in the energy and soul of Jaipur. This place, coupled with the musical beats and laughter found within the rickshaws, has a great way of minimising the empty moments when thinking about one's NZ family, such a long distance away, at such a special time of the year.

Moreover, Jaipur will be an excellent stepping stone, providing a suitable combination of exploration and rest (in quality accommodation), prior to a busy Mumbai leg. But hey, it's only Day 1 in Jaipur, so let's live it up; All is Well!

Ben



MVP- George Harman. This fella arrived and conquered Jaipur today. Although well down the fashion charts (if he was to be rated by the normal world), George has none-the-less found a niche market of popularity focused in his direction since we walked off the train at Jaipur Junction. Now he is sporting a finely designed white shirt (which has a bizarre design of scribble through it), with a subtle piece of bling hanging around his neck. He truly is excelling in this City of Bling and thoroughly deserves this award as a consequence.

Thought- What is the mantra of your life? Jaipur is packed with not only crazy auto rickshaw drivers, but obviously the actual vehicles themselves. Painted across the decor of almost all of the rickshaws is a statement about life. Some statements are quite profound 'Life is a Process of Self Discovery', others read 'A good traveller doesn't know where he is going, but trusts it will be ok', and then there is always the outrageous 'Good Girls are made of Sugar and Spice, My Girls are made of Vodka and Ice'. So what would the sentence on the side of your vehicle say? Would it be witty? Inspirational? Authentic?