Let me just say this - Saadia and I had some great moments in Jaipur. We drank champagne at hilltop ruins watching the sun set over the pink city. We tried on jewelry and sarees that we could never actually afford. We photographed and drank gin and tonics by a swimming pool that I swear was out of "High Society."
Yes, we had good moments.
But our 36 hours in Jaipur were messed up.
Just a snippet for the curious reader. 11:30 p.m. Saturday night. Our tuk tuk driver brings us back to our hotel. He demands twice the price we agreed on, saying his price was quoted for only one person. Saadia says something that, I assume if I spoke Hindi, would be appalling. But it works. She hands him 500 rupees and we walk away. Saadia saves the day again.
Back in our hotel room we are about to crash for the night, ready for a day of sightseeing and a bus journey back to Delhi tomorrow. Knock, knock, knock. The man from the front desk is demeaning I give him a copy of my Indian visa for his files. I don't have it, because I left my passport in Delhi. I gave him a copy of my passport but not of my visa. He proceeds to tell us that we can't stay here tonight if I don't produce my visa. Saadia interjects. (Translating from my unerstaning of her Hinglish) "What do you want us to do? Draw it for you? We don't have it. We have already checked in and payed for the room. It is late, we will deal with this in the morning." To which he replied, "Mam, we don't care."
So this is how I ended up texting the good Jesuit at my office at midnight from Jaipur, and this is when I get awarded the "worst employee of the year" medal.
Anyway they finally let us sleep that night, which was wonderful. Because between the tuk tuk driver taking us on a tour of shops we didn't want to see and asking for Saadia's phone number and our four-hour-turn-eight-hour bus ride, we didn't sleep a wink.
But, at least I got a blog post out of it…
Here is my video: 36 hours in Jaipur in 36 seconds.
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