Jaipur: Camels, Chaos, and Con-Men, part II
We were in town at the time of a local festival called Ganguar, which featured parades on consecutive nights featuring marching bands, dancers, camels, elephants, horses – the works. Crowded, wildly colorful and with the exotic flair of Rajasthan – it was a great spectacle.
I remember from previous trips where someone holding a small basket in front of their chest would walk up to me, open the basket, and a cobra would pop-out at eye-level. At the risk of sounding like a party pooper, I found that to be rather annoying. So, I’ve been keeping a keen eye out for anyone walking around with a basket held in front of them, and haven’t encountered any yet. There are a few obligatory snake charmers across the street from Hawa Mahal, and I gave them a few rupees to do their thing. They played their Indian flutes, the cobras swayed, then they petted the cobras and asked if I wanted to do the same.
A test that we always use when presented with an intriguing but potentially dangerous opportunity is “if one of us died doing this, would the other feel like an idiot telling our parents?” In this case, though the owners said the snakes had been milked and were not poisonous, I decided that yes, Michelle would feel silly telling my parents “He died while petting a cobra.” I passed.
India is well-known for having a wide variety of con-men and scam-artists, and Jaipur ranks near the top of the list in this regard. Jaipur is a center for gems dealers, and this has spun-off a side-industry of con-men who try to befriend you over a period of days, earn your confidence, then ask you to buy some gems from them for resale to a business associate overseas. The “gems” they sell are junk, and they take your credit card number and go wild with it, at your expense.
I view con-men as entertainment, and was looking forward to having a bout with one. However, after a week in Jaipur I had only been approached by the various run-of-the mill scammers, and nothing that sounded too serious. I was actually disappointed about this, and lamented to Michelle that I was disappointed. She looked at me like I had three eyes….
So with this backdrop, on our last day we were out in the Old City and hailed a trishaw to take us back to our hotel. The last two days in Jaipur we did a Big Splurge and stayed at the Raj Palace hotel, a luxurious converted Maharajah’s palace. We tell the driver to take us to Raj Palace, we agree on a price, and hop in his ride.
Immediately it was clear that something was up. Instead of hitting the gas and tearing out into the madness of the street, our guy puttered along a few feet. Very odd. Michelle asked if there was a problem, and our driver said no as he started talking into his cell-phone. We continued to putter along slowly…and I just can’t describe what an odd feeling it was to be driving slowly in an Indian trishaw…until we got to a nicely chaotic traffic circle, at which point another fellow jumps into the vehicle and shares the drivers seat with our guy. Things like this sometimes happen, so we didn’t take much notice of it.
The two fellows up front chatter for a few seconds. We were passing Hawa Mahal, and the new guy starts chatting us up.
“Hawa Mahal,” he says. “Very beautiful.”
“Yes,” I say.
“What country?” he asks.
“USA”
“You stay at Raj Palace? Very nice!”
“Yes. Very nice,” I reply.
“You travel alone, or with group?”
Aha! I now realized that he was asking what sales professionals call “qualifying questions” to size up their prospect. There was no doubt in my mind: He’s a thief! He’s a thief!
I fully recognize that in such a situation others would immediately be repulsed, get mad, whatever. However, I was absolutely thrilled, and furiously reached for my bag to get my camera. As we puttered along, I pulled out my camera, put it to my eye, and waited for the thief to turn around so that I could take his picture!
The driver and thief had been chatting in Hindi the whole time, and I can imagine how the discussion may have went:
Driver: “OK, this is our big chance. These people are Americans staying at Raj Palace, so we know they are very rich. This is our big chance. Do your thing!”
Thief: “Piece of cake. This will be so easy that I almost feel bad taking their money.”
Driver, checking the rearview mirror: “Umm, ok, but for some reason the big guy is now pointing a camera at us.”
They suddenly wouldn’t turn around, so there I was, for probably sixty seconds, sitting there with a camera at my eye, pointed to their backs, waiting for them to show their faces.
Driver: “He’s still pointing the camera at us. I think he’s on to us! Don’t turn around!”
Finally I say to the thief “Excuse me, may I take your photo?”
“No,” says the thief as he starts to turn around, “I’d prefer you didn’t and anyway there’s not enough light and…”
Click! I got him! I got him! I got his picture!
The thief quickly turns back around, and he and the driver engage in very animated conversation. Again, I imagine the dialog:
“You fool! Here we had the Big American Mark we’ve always dreamed of! And he’s back there laughing and taking your photo! You idiot!”
Indeed I was back there laughing, and my picture of the thief is one of my prized photos of the trip!
We’ve been to Jaipur several times in the past, and I’d always enjoyed seeing the occasional camel plod down the street, it’s head held high above the madness on the street. However, on this trip I’ve noticed far fewer camels on the city streets, though there are still plenty of them around once you get outside of town.
Jaipur is a fantastic town for eating. The food was great at our Jas Vilas hotel, and good food can be had at a low price at Surya Mahal restaurant. Michelle’s favorite is a “vegetarian thali,” which is a plate with an vegetarian entrée, rice, bread, etc., for just under $2. Knock on wood – neither of us have had any stomach problems in India!
We went out one day to Saganer, a suburb of Jaipur, to take a look at where some block print fabrics are made. The center of activity was a huge sandy field, upon which fabrics were strewn to dry. It was a big outdoor factory, where huge strips of fabric hung like drapes that were about 20 feet high…and the finished, wet fabrics were brought out by camel cart to be laid out for drying in the sun. There was the usual pack of kids hanging out with us, though this bunch was far less lovable than usual. Regardless, it was interesting and a photographer’s dream.
Our big splurge during our last two days here in Jaipur has been a stay at the Raj Palace hotel. We had splurged at Palace hotels on previous trips to India, and I thought we should do so once again. Raj Palace had all the fixin’s you’d expect for a Maharajah’s palace: Furniture in our room was covered in silver and embossed with gemstones, the floors were marble, the lawn was manicured and featured a croquet ground, etc. There simply are no other places in the world like an Indian Palace hotel!
Most travelers spend a couple days in Jaipur and move along. We’ve ended up staying here eight days, mostly for good reason. For one, we spent a couple days ironing out our plans for the remainder of our time in India. We considered going to Kerala and Goa in South India, but we concluded it’s probably just too hot down there to enjoy. So, we’ve booked a trip to Ranthambore, a hotel in Delhi and a flight from Delhi to Hong Kong, sadly meaning that we’ll be leaving India in a few days. We'll enjoy it while it lasts!
Bob’s ratings: (1=terrible, 5=ok, 10=fantastic)
- Jaipur overall: 8 (if you like chaos)
- Hotel Madubhan: 7 (as midrange hotels go)
- Jas Vilas hotel: 8 (as midrange hotels go)
- Raj Palace hotel: 8 (as India Palace hotels go)
- Amber Fort: 6 (impressive fort, but enormous tourist crowds on our visit)
- Surya Mahal restaurant: 8 (for inexpensive dining)
- Niros restaurant: 6 (somewhat nicer dining)
Next - Ranthambore: "Holy crap, the diamonds are real!"