Education v Intelligence, Cost v Value and an amazing City!

Had the most amazing time in Jaipur, thanks, mainly, to an incredible auto-rickshaw driver called Rafik. I had dinner in a restaurant called the Copper Chimney, which serves fantastic veg jalfrezi and Kingfisher strong red top lager! Perfect! As I left, there is the usual jostle of drivers all asking to take me somewhere, but Rafik asked if I wanted a ride in a Ferrari. How could I refuse? He pointed to the Ferrari stickers on each side of the green and yellow tut-tut and we both laughed. That, combined with crazy dyed orange hair and beard and it was a done deal! We arranged for him to take me around Jaipur next day for 900 rupees, negotiated down from 1000. What followed was an amazing two days in which we visited all of the sites on my visit wish list and some amazing suggestions of his own, which were a combination of the very tranquil and beautiful (in a pretty mad city) and also incredibly interesting and definitely places I would not have found myself in a million years! The animals in the streets in a part of the dubbed ‘Pig City’ are absolutely fascinating, with pigs, chickens and goats effectively being farmed in the streets as food by the lower cast groups. Coming from a very poor background, a village in North Rajasthan and with only one week of formal schooling, Rafik has worked his way up through a cycle rickshaw to an auto rickshaw, costing around £1000, which is a considerable investment and incurs high repayments. Rafik is kind, very hospitable, honest, funny and wise. When I asked if he was a Muslim or Hindu, he said that first and foremost, he is a human being and secondly, a Muslim. He said he is not interested in money per se, but in building good personal relationships, with the unstated intention, I think, that money will follow from that, which I think is true. He has more children than a Maharaja and a great pride in Jaipur, its history and its modern, expanding new self. He speaks fantastic English, which he has learned solely through interaction with tourists and he gave me a great insight into the life of the city and India itself. There are a lot of pretty thick people who are well educated. Rafik is not well educated but very intelligent. The look on his face when I gave him 1,500 rupees for the first day was great. Anyway, if you are ever in Jaipur, please look him up:

Trafik Tour and Travels

Mohammed Rafik, Jaipur (Raj.) India

Rafikkan1@hotmail.com

Phone: +91 992 8927919

As a European in a poor country with a great deal of poverty, it is difficult to strike a balance between negotiating hard, because you know that all prices are inflated as a tourist, and paying something that is fair, knowing that you have a budget, but aware also that the difference of a few rupees means not a lot in western terms but a great deal to the person you are speaking with. It is so easy to forget the value of the currency and to get into the pattern of haggling hard over 20 rupees, for example. Is 20p worth the extra hassle? I don’t know how much money I have given away to beggars on the street, but they certainly need it more than I do. On the other hand, a single individual cannot resolve the terrible economic imbalance by distributing money, so what is the best thing to do? In the longer term, it’s probably more effective overall to give money to a good charity, or to try and encourage a more equitable distribution of wealth in a country with such a rapidly growing economy, but where the people who should have a fairer share, don’t. When I ask people where the money goes the general consensus, almost unanimously from a good number of people, is, the Government, Business and the Army. Anyway, in the short term I have determined to pay on the basis of value rather than cost, so if I think the value of something is reasonable, I will pay that, almost regardless of the cost. This will probably mean I’ll pay a little over the top, but I will be getting good value and the person who I buy things from, will get a good price. That sounds fair to me.

There's posh! My Hotel in Jaipur - Sajjan Haveli

Jaipur is the Pink City - Well, more orange, really

ASDA's ethnic isle can't compete with this one single stall

Watching the cricket World Cup for free

Door in the City Palace

Top of another door. Maybe instead of doors in general, I should specialise in the tops of doors only? Anyone know what that is called? Not quite a portico, not an alcove. Hmmm. Maybe it is just door frame?

Giant Sundial at Jantar Mantar astrological gardens

This building is actually a sun dial (depending on the building's shadow) and an astrological tool

Royal Albert Museum

Jaipur from the Iswari Minar, a minaret

Hawal Mahal, Palace of Winds. Cool and colourful

Two boys slowly emerging from giant trapdoor at Hawal Mahal

View of astrological gardens from the top of Hawal Mahal

Galta or Monkey Palace

Immediately after being blessed with good luck at the shrine to Hunuman, I stood up and struck my head on the very low stone doorway. Blood everywhere. I didn't know iodine appliction was a spectator sport. I'm not sure this monkey worshipping business is all it's cracked up to be!

Not in the guide books, but incredibly beautiful

The Amber Fort, about 15km from Jaipur

Amber Fort Gardens

View from Amber Fort of its extended fortifications

Journey back through the outskirts of Jaipur. Brunch anyone?

If only the spelling matched the aspiration. I do like such optimism, although I'm not sure I'd want to be perfect!

Travelling Light. Yep, that's it, although I now have 2 shirts!

Good man Rafik