It the end of Day 9 and we are in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Today we drove around 240 kilometres from Agra. The road was quite good, however it did not stop raining for the entire 7 hour journey. India is experiencing a prolonged Monsoon, but we have it on good advice that once we reach Jodhpur there will be sunny days ahead. The rain is also considerably lighter here in Jaipur, compared to what we experienced in Agra.
We are staying an excellent hotel called the Devi Niketan, run by Admiral Singh, who is the ex-Chief of Staff of the Indian Defence Force. He has converted his family home into a fantastic hotel. After a long day driving it is nice to come to a family run hotel, and we enjoyed a sumptuous home cooked Indian meal – a potato dish, cauliflower dish, chicken curry, yellow Dal and chapati’s. We also had a Watermelon Kulfi for dessert.
We saw 3 other teams on the road today – so we sense all teams are starting to now converge again as the final straight across Rajasthan begins.
Yesterday we had good rest day in Agra, the only downside was the fact it never stopped raining. We visited the Taj Mahal, which was an awesome experience, but we got drenched doing it. We had an excellent dinner afterwards, splurging a little, visiting the Oberoi Hotel and eating there. There was concern at first, as the Oberoi only has 2 restaurants and one was closed for renovation, and the other was for guests only. However they let us dine there regardless given it was a quiet night. The meal was undoubtedly one of the best we have had to date.
On returning to our more ‘middle of the road’ hotel, we were confronted by two men entering the hotel on white horses, surround by huge crowds, brass bands, people holding lanterns, and fireworks – an Indian Wedding. Two sons were being married, and the grandfather of them, on seeing us, asked us to join the celebration. We stayed for about an hour or so, which was great, and were made to feel very welcome, before retiring for the evening.
Tomorrow we have another day off from driving the Rickshaw, to explore the sites of Jaipur, the Pink City.
We will post another update tomorrow – and as we have internet access at this hotel we will download some photos very shortly.
Look, I am a bit concerned that with all this indulgence that the Rick shaw may be noticing the extra kgs and thereby jeopardising the chances of a glorious victory. Also, as part of quasi team management does this fantastic sight seeing and time off the trusty steed lower your chances of glorious success. If so, I say just keep on eating and take lassi to its limits. Are any other racers having such a full experience or are they currently sitting at the finishing line also wishing that they had seen a few sights. In other words, as part of quasi team management, keep taking those back streets. They sound more interesting.
Enjoy
Sounds an awesome ride! Some of the places I have been but not in a RICKSHAW/TUK TUK or in the rain so enjoy. Keep spirits up and good health!!!!!