Hello all

We are writing this next entry to our blog a safe distance away from all the action we met in Jaipur.  Dont worry all is well nothing bad happened just a quick brush with the maffia!!!

Ok ok rewind ...maybe we should set the scene a little first.  Arriving in Jaipur after a truly hellish sleeper bus journey (Claire couldnt even lie down flat or sit up properly) we arrived at 6am.  A rickshaw wallah took us to a rather nice hotel and haggled the price of a room down to 300Rs a night for us...and so we slept for the day in the Jai Mai Palace.  In the evening there was a knock at the door ...who could it be???  Enter Anant ...what to say about Anant???  A typical middle class indian (small, skinny with too much money) with a mock italian flare (pizza! pasta! Amore!  Bella!).  Offering to take us out for the night to his local hang out ...The Rock.  Feeling like we have been inside too much today we agreed and so caught a rickshaw to the place.  Our Rickshaw driver ...another notable character in the Jaipur tale... was called Rafeek.  Instantly besotted with Helen (who apparantly looks alot like an indian dancer also called Helen ...spooky!) he set about woo-ing her.  Asking her to drive the rickshaw, making sure she doesnt bash her head when we drove over pot holes.  Nice you say?  Hmmm his English skills were ...limited ...and his answer to the question do you have family was no (later discovered to be a blatant lie as he has 3 sons!).  

So we were at the Rock ...as we were to be most nights from then on.  Whislt sitting outside eating cake, Helen was devoured ...not by Rafeek you dirty people...but by the mosquitios.  We arranged to meet Rafeek and Anant the next day for the elephant festival.  

9am the next day we climb back into the Ricksaw and are whisked away to V2 (a restaurant run by jugs of water) and sat waiting for stuff chapati (normally takign about 2 mins to make) for an hour!!!  Claire = grumpy.  Then we headed up to a temple to check out the sights over Jaipur.  Lovely jubly.  Then it was on to a factory outlet to buy buy buy!!  Pashminas galore!  After emptying our wallets it was on to the Elephant festival with beautifully decorated Elephants everywhere in the city.  In the evening it was back to the rock.  Enter Nix ?our new Indian friend?also with limited language skills and personality.  A bit of a pretty boy with his motorbike and raybans he also took a liking to our Helen and there was a little tension in the air when Rafeek was around.  The next day was going to be the festival of Holi where people throw coloured Tikka powder around and generally get drunk and celebrate.  We agree to meet with Anant and Nix the next day to celebrate with them.

Next morning waiting outside the hotel for our ride, we were well and truly powdered by a group of passing celebratees.  From here we got into a Rickshaw with a guy that had clearly been partying for a long time ?wasn?t entirely sober..we weren?t entirely sure if this was his rickshaw or one he has commandeered.  Of course we couldn?t remain sober for long so it was a quick stop off at the liquor store to stock up on rum and then into a back alley to drink it like a bunch of 14 year olds.  Oh yeah it might still have only been 10:55 am.  Holi holi indeed.  We were then taken to a restaurant where we sat for what felt like ages.  We got bored and kind of wandered off into the city centre to join the festivities.  Meeting up with a couple of Frenchies in the back of a (possibly mafia) truck we found a place where lots of powder was being thrown.  After being covered from head to toe (and a good coat inside the lungs) we escaped in pursuit of a walk around the city.  Unfortunately the drunken men are rather friendly when in high spirits and so we had to retreat?the mafia bus rocked up and took us back to their hotel as we had checked out of ours.  After Helen showering we sat down in a small jewelry store over a coke (the drink!!!) and chatted for a while with the head honcho.  Long flowing locks, an air of arrogance and the bank roll to back it up (plus T-shirt reading ?my dad is my ATM?) he played the part well.  Feeling guilty about our earlier desertion of Anants gang we tried to contact them to no avail.  So we headed off with the head honcho and his pervy side kick to what can only be described as a Rajasthani Chessington world of adventures (minus the rides).  Rode a camel though and danced terribly with a poor Rajasthani lady.  We bumped into the simple yet charming Nix on our rounds (after escaping for a little while from the pervs).  Nix accepted our apology without really understanding anything.  The pervs soon found us and macholy defended their ?territory??.  So it was back in the mafia mobile to the hotel and straight to bed ?avoiding the invitation for drinks on the roof.  Feeling more than a little creeped out by the situation we had managed to land ourselves in when Anant called we agreed to meet the next day.

Morning day 3 ?.with what felt a little like a hangover we were picked up (a safe distance from our hotel as they would not come within 500m of it) by Anant and Nix on their scooter and motorbike.  Taken to an Italian restaurant (Helen is thinking Italian mafia) we are made to feel incredibly guilty and told of our hosts identity.  Confirmed by the lonely planet as a generally seedy character and one of the maffia ?. Shit!  After a while we set off on a sight seeing tour.  First off is Amber fort ?driving in a small car with 5 people in..up a hill surrounded by jeeps ours didn?t make it all the way up.  Arriving at the top after paying a hefty entrance fee we were treated to amazing sights and a beautiful palace.  It was a nice relief after an awkward car journey.  After the fort we headed back into the city and took in the palace of the winds and city palace, both beautiful and highly decorated.  Feeling a little tired we were dropped off (again at a safe distance) at our hotel.  With our new knowledge we kept our heads down and legged it full pelt into our room.  Door locked we relaxed.  Meeting up with what will now be know as gang 1 (Anant, Nix, et al) we took a hair raising car ride (thanks to Nix?s incredible driving skills ..ahem) which often involved catching a good bit of air (soooory!!!) back to our old favourite the Rock.  Another choco sundae and a ludo game later (highly competitive) and a quick drink in a seedy bar another day in Jaipur drew to a close ?of course not before the bedroom dash. 

Day4 ? Claires birthday wooo wooo.  Lie in until almost 11 followed by a walk to the bazaars and a bit of bartering over sari?s.  Mammoth lunch of tandoori chicken and our old favourite aloo jeera (curtesy of Helen).  Waddling back to the hotel, avoiding as many Indians as possible (don?t want a rickshaw!!!!) we napped and packed ready for our departure the next day.  Avoiding gang 2 (pervy maffia guys) we meet up with gang 1 again and are scootered to a random jewelery shop supposedly to get henna done.  Helen got herself another boyfriend who placed a necklace round her neck (risky stuff) worth around 10 000 pounds.  We also got a matching pair of anklets ?not quite in the same price range? but free so all good.  The niece (henna artist) didn?t show so we drove off to a market and got it done on the side of the street for a cheap 25Rs.  Of course no night in Jaipur would be complete without a trip to ?yes you guessed it ?The Rock.  Sundae ordered ?. Cake arrived before with truly embarrassing music and candles?Claire shrinks and dies in her seat.  A custom in India apparently is that you should give the birthday girl a bite of your cake before you eat so I had 4 slices of cake shoved down my throat within a minute.  Feeling a little bloated the sundae arrives (Noooooooooooo!!!!).  Helen devours it nicely and we play yet another game of ludo (we win!!).  Final stop in Jaipur was a swanky and expensive bar.  Oh but they don?t have any money.  We dig our heels in ?neither do we!!!  After a cocktail and a few photos we are driven back to our hotel (well you know as close as they dare go), say our goodbyes and dive into our hotel room.

Sneaking out at 5:30 the next morning we hot foot it to the railway station and caught our train to Agra ?.home of the Taj Mahal.  Will give you an update on Agra later as this is already running on a bit.  The important thing is we made it through Jaipur without any fights or shoot outs ?at least to the best of our knowledge.  If you hear of gang warfare in Jaipur on the news we started it.  Ooops!!! 

Hope your all well and enjoying the crappy weather ?its too hot for words here at the moment.  Chin up.  Well write again in a week or so.

Love you all

Helen and Claire xx