Travel Soulmate

I have been friends with Amy since we were about 5 years old. Amy and I have always wanted to travel together but we were never able to make it happen. I was beyond thrilled when she told me that she would be able to meet me in India. We decided that we both wanted to visit Rajasthan and that we would meet in Jaipur. I also thought that I would still be in the north at this time. Because I don’t plan very far in advance I was actually in Kolkata and I had a 34-hour train ride to Jaipur to meet Amy. The ride was long but it did not seem that bad. I was actually surprised with how much I slept. I did get bored by the end though and unlike when I sat in the “Women Only” car, hardly anyone spoke to me. My car insisted of all young guys who I think were shy around me because they did not speak to me much, but were very respectful. And one old guy who spent almost the majority of the ride staring at me (and my tits).

I spent one night at the Jwala Niketan guesthouse and then Amy arrived the next day! We were really excited to see each other. It is funny that she lives in New York and when I visit Pennsylvania we rarely get it together to visit each other! Yet, here we were, together in India!

Jaipur is the state capital of Rajasthan. Old City, in Jaipur, is nicknamed the “Pink City because the entire city is painted pink. Lonely Planet explained that in 1876 the city was painted pink (the color of hospitality) to welcome the Prince of Wales. Today, all residents of old city are still required to maintain the pink color and many tourists come to Jaipur to visit the “Pink City”.

My main purpose of visiting Jaipur was not to visit the beautiful and amazing sites but it was to shop! Rajasthan and especially Jaipur are known for beautiful textiles and clothing. These items are sold at extremely low wholesale prices (low even for India!) People from all over purchase textiles and sell them around the world. Other than a few things here and there, I have hardly done any shopping throughout my trip. I knew I would come to Jaipur and I knew I would shop! Prior to leaving on my trip, I sold almost everything that I own.  I was very excited to begin to shop for my new apartment that I will be renting when I get back to Kauai. Amy is a fashion designer from New York City and fabric and clothing are her life. She was more than happy to join me on my shopping mission!

While in Jaipur, we did manage to pull ourselves away from the markets to visit the Hawa Mahal. Lonely Planet informed us that it was “Jaipur’s most distinctive landmark” so we figured it would be a good idea to visit it! There were even some shops right outside the gate so our shopping did not have to come to a complete stop! The Hawa Mahal is five storeys and was constructed in 1799. It was built to enable the royal women of the household to view life happening outside of the palace (Lonely Planet).

We both enjoyed the Hawa Mahal but once we were finished there we felt “free” to shop, eat, and drink some more chai! During lunch, I decided to take over the Roti stand that we were eating at. Amy and I were rolling and cooking the roti while yelling “roti, roti come and get your roti!” Our roti stand had so many customers as well as people taking photos of us! When we finally left, all the other food stall owners were yelling and waving spatulas at us asking if we could “work” at their stand! As much as I enjoy seeing the sites, doing things such as “taking over food stalls” is what I love about traveling!

Amy and I spent three days in Jaipur and then boarded a train headed for Jodhpur. While Jaipur is known as the “Pink City” Jodhpur is known as the “Blue City” and has an amazing “Mehrangarh Fort” that overlooks the city. My trusty Lonely Planet informed me that the blue color traditionally signified the home of a Brahmin, however, many non-Brahmins have started to paint their properties the color as well. The blue tint is also thought to repel insects. (I should start reading this information prior to visiting these places!)

On our first night in Jodhpur, we stayed at the Nirvana Hotel. This hotel is a Hindu Temple that was converted into a guesthouse. The hotel was beautiful with frescos, artwork, pagodas and plants all over the property. Our bedroom was actually under an original temple dome.

Amy and I decided that as long as we saw at least “one site” in each city, we were doing okay! I was happy that she was not the type of traveler who wanted to see every historical site listed in Lonely Planet because that is not me! We decided to pay the 500 rupees (about $7.50) to enter the fort (which is expensive in India!). But this was not before we attempted to sneak in! We eventually had to remind ourselves that we were trying to sneak into a huge fort with walls towering over a city! It also reminded us of the time when we were young teenagers and we attempted to sneak into 6 Flags Great Adventure because we heard our favorite band, Hanson was there! Anyway….While inside the fort, we thought we would be able to wander around and be left to our own devices but this was not the case and we were “forced” to enter the museum! I once again was happy that Amy did not want to read every single thing and visit every single exhibit. However, we both did thoroughly enjoy the many beautiful and “cultured” men that took their time reading and studying the artifacts. We also both laughed about the fact that thirty is a funny age because we can find both 21-year olds and 50-year-olds attractive!

Walking back from the fort we met a bunch of sweet young boys who wanted to have a photo shoot with us. They were excited to discuss our mobile phone brands and showed us the phones they had. It was hard for them to comprehend the fact that I had an iPod and not a phone.

I was so excited that Amy shared my love of drinking chai. We spent many hours sitting at chai stands and drinking the delicious beverage. We would also discuss in great detail the differences between the chai, the ambiance of the chai stands and the different types of chai customers and chai stand owners. For example, while at some chai stands we would attract a crowd of onlookers who took photos of us while at other stands we were left to sip our chai in peace. Also, some “Chai Baristas” refused to make us chai without sugar or used too much water in their chai while other made it perfect.

Not only did Amy share my love of sitting at chai stands but she also shared my love of ordering omelets from egg carts. When arriving to a new city, Amy and I would search for and locate the egg carts. A delicious made to order omelet, with fresh eggs, spices and chili cost us 30 rupees which is is about 45 cents. While in Jodhpur, Amy surprised me by announcing she not only found the “Omelet Shop” on trip advisor but she had already located it on her map and it was 5 minutes from our guesthouse. When we arrived, we met Vikki, the “Omelet Shop” owner. When we told Vikki that we found him on trip advisor he was concerned that we were not at the correct “Omelet Shop” cart and it was very important that he did not deceive us! He explained that the there was a second “Omelet Shop” across the street, and that was the one that was on trip advisor and lonely planet. We told him that we were more than happy to eat at his cart and then Vikki told us that we did not have to pay until we were done, just in case we did not like our omelet! While he cooked our omelets, he gave us a “testimonial” book to read and it was filled with happy reviews of past omelet customers. I have never seen someone cook with so much pride and excitement as Vikki had for his omelets.

After eating the best omelet I have honestly ever eaten in my life, Vikki informed us of the other services that he offered. He got our attention when he said that he sold textiles and he also told us that if we wanted to take a cooking class at his home, his mother could teach us. Taking a cooking class was something that Amy and I had been wanting to do and we always want to shop so we made arrangements to meet Vikki the following day. When we arrived to at Vikki’s home, we were surprised to learn that he was married with two small children. We were under the impression that Vikki was a single man that lived with his mother. We also learned that his lovely wife would be teaching us cooking, not his mother. It was fun to spend time at Vikki’s home and cook with his wife and children. Our cooking class consisted of learning how to make potatoes and chapati on a small “camp stove”. Even though we were starving after our cooking class, it could not have been a better experience! Of course, we also bought more textiles from Vikki!

I knew Amy and I would travel well together, I just did not know how great we would be! While in Rajasthan, I realized that Amy is my “Travel Soulmate” I am positive that we will continue to travel together. In fact, we are already talking about future travel possibilities