Jaipur: Rajasthan's Capital, the Land of Maharajas

This was a stage of my trip to India, a very important stage both for what I saw and what I experienced in those few days. Let me preface this by saying that it was 1997, so today moving between two cities would probably be easier, at that time it took several hours to travel 200 kilometres.

The roads were poorly maintained, narrow and full as always of animals, especially camels that were most likely used to transport goods from one country to another. So we left rather early in the morning from New Delhi with a basket containing the day's lunch because we did not count on arriving in Jaipur until the afternoon.

As usual, the road offers many things to see. Small villages that seem lost in time, people working in the fields, a few large factories in the distance, but that was the only note of modernity we saw. There were very few cars, many bicycles, and lots of carts. And still lots of animals.

Towards the middle of the day, we had only done half the journey, we stopped in a meadow near the road to eat what we had brought and then we set off again. We stopped a little later because we had a flat tyre. So we changed it and went in search of a place to put the punctured one, also because it was very easy to get a puncture again due to the bad road conditions.

At one point we saw a sign with an arrow pointing to a tyre shop, so we went into a sort of very big yard, with a wooden shack at the back and other smaller shacks around it. Some pigs were hanging around there, and they came right up to us. They had no fear of humans.

Our host explained to us that that was also a hotel. In fact we saw at the back of the biggest shack, which in front, apart from a long counter, was completely open, a row of hammocks. Dirt reigned supreme in that place and there were people coming in and drinking beer at the counter and watching us curiously.

It took us about an hour to get our tyre fixed and in that time I was a little afraid of that desolate place. Fortunately, they ignored us and we were able to leave quietly.

A couple of hours before sunset we arrived near Jaipur but since there was still enough light we decided to make a stop before going into town. We went to see the Amber fortress. We didn't see the inside of the fortress because it was already closed, we did however see the large square, full of stalls selling spices and all kinds of fruit both fresh and dried.

There are wonderful gardens in Amber, situated on an island inside a lake which I think is artificial. Seen from the top of the fortress they are something wonderful. Another feature that stayed with me was the monkeys. Lots of them all over the place, wandering over the walls, among the narrow streets and even in the market.

There were also other gardens nearby where we took refuge to escape the heat, and walking barefoot on the cool grass we immediately felt better.

There were many people in those gardens, I think tourists although most of them were Indian. At one point we were stopped by a group of boys who saw my son's sunglasses and asked if they could try them on.

One of the boys had a camera and they took turns putting on their glasses, very ordinary Ray-Bans, and took pictures of each other. They were very happy to have the experience, but it seemed strange to us. Perhaps they had seen some advertisement that had impressed them, but they would not have had the opportunity to have them.

As soon as we arrived in the city, also noisy and chaotic like the capital, overflowing with humanity and animals, where the constant sounds of car horns filled the air, we had a nice surprise; the hotel our host had booked for us.

It was located just on the outskirts of the city, but what immediately struck us was the silence once we entered the lobby after a very long drive through a gigantic garden. The hotel was wonderful.

It had been built as the residence of the Maharajas of Jaipur and retains its elaborate splendour perfectly, with beautiful hand-carved marble decorations and sandstone domes and balustrades. And inside is the city's best restaurant, located in the French-style ballroom with huge crystal chandeliers.

Its gardens are wonderful with free roaming peacocks and other birds. We were enchanted by everything we saw. From our room, which was immense and overlooked a porch with wicker chairs and tables from which one went directly down to the garden, to the room where we had breakfast, to the two very different bars, to the swimming pool. In short, everything was perfect.

The next evening we had dinner in that wonderful dining room, where thanks also to an Italian chef we ate really good Italian food. And in the evening after dinner we strolled in front of the hotel lobby or sat on one of the many cushion-covered sofas outside to enjoy the coolness of the evening in the light of torches and candles.

In the city of Jaipur we did only the tourists going to see all that was indicated in the tourist guides, therefore the palace of the winds that had been built for the women of the Maharaja, that could not leave the palace and that looked at the adjacent streets from the minuscule windows that adorned the facade that counts 5 floors and inside a whole series of staircases and small niches from which you could see outside comfortably seated.

We saw the royal palace with a guide who was learning Italian and therefore struggled to explain everything to us in our own language, and shopped in the crowded bazaars. But coming back in the evening after the hot, chaotic and deafening day in that oasis of peace was priceless.

We stayed another day in Jaipur, then left to return to New Delhi, but made a diversion on the way to see the tiger park. Before the park we stopped at a large lake where we were able to take a boat ride and where I, who stayed on land, fed peanuts to some monkeys that were in the vicinity, staying to watch the larger monkeys taking away the peanuts from the smaller ones and me trying to send them away so I could feed those cubs without success.

I also had a close encounter with a monkey, always on the day we came back we stopped in a small village to visit the old part which had remained as it was a century ago and after having done some shopping at a sort of bazaar on the way back to the car, a monkey grabbed the plastic bag I was holding and when I refused to let go of it almost slapped me, again trying to snatch the bag away from me.

She would have won it if a person hadn't come along and chased her away. But in retrospect my fight with a monkey was very funny, even if it was a bit scary at the time.

Monkeys in India really are everywhere. Our host, who also lives in the capital, tells us that they had to lock both the refrigerator and the pantry, because if they manage to get into the house they can open both, and so they take away everything that can be eaten.

But they are endured by the people who also feed them and indeed there is also a temple dedicated to monkeys located in Alta, near Jaipur and here the monkeys are considered sacred and are fed and pampered by the tourists who buy especially for them the peanuts that are sold at the entrance of the temple.

The tour we took inside the tiger park was unfortunately not very successful. We did not see any tigers, but that is normal considering that it is very hot at that time of year and they prefer to lie in the shade in the cool. We did, however, see many other types of animals, which partly made up for the disappointment.

These are areas where there is no tourism and where it is instead interesting to see small villages, rural life, wells, small shops and life as it goes on away from the big cities. One memory has stayed with me. We stopped for lunch in one of these small villages and at a kind of inn we asked for food.

We realised, however, that we had almost no Indian currency but only dollars, so we asked if we could pay with these. But they didn't accept, so to eat we went through every pocket, every wallet to find a few rupees and in the end with what we managed to scrape together they gave us 4 or 5 omelettes that we divided between us who were 9.

On the day of our return to New Delhi we were quite late and so by dark we were still not in sight of the city. The traffic gradually wore off until it stopped altogether and every 4 or 5 kilometres we found a patrol of soldiers telling us the same thing, to hurry back to the city. Our host explained to us that no one travels at night because it is dangerous. There is a lot of crime, especially outside the city limits.

However we were able to get back safely and since it was late and we had only eaten a small piece of omelette for lunch, our host invited us to eat at a restaurant, one of the best in the city, which did international cuisine.

The place was almost full, but not of families, generally it was couples or small groups of men. Women very few. What amazed me was when we got out and headed to where we had parked the car. The street was completely deserted. That street where until two or three hours before there were myriads of rickshaws, bicycles, camels and elephants along with a flood of noisy people and constant honking. there was nothing at all.

In fact, Indians stay at home in the evenings, rarely going out for a restaurant or a cinema. Incidentally, I saw no cinema and very few restaurants and bars.

In the evening when we came home after dinner, we would maybe take a walk in the park in front of the house to cool off or play cards after putting the kids to bed. And after a while, if I woke up during the night I would hear a strange sound almost like a bird call. I asked what it was and our host told us that it was the neighbourhood watchmen who go around all the areas at night and exchange that signal to indicate that all is well.

The neighbourhood where we lived was surrounded by a very high wall and the gates, of which there were two, were closed in the evening and armed guards went around at night for the tranquillity of the inhabitants.

In the neighbourhood there was also an emergency room, various shops, hairdressers and a bazaar, but what struck me as most strange was the pharmacy. Think of a small garage with a metal door. Inside is a counter and lots of small shelves. If you need medicine, the doctor marks the quantity on the prescription and the pharmacist takes the packet and gives you the exact number of tablets, putting away what is left over.

On my trip, I was lucky enough to be in New Delhi on a Friday the 17th. It is a bad date in India and the day for weddings. And that evening there were a lot of them in the city.

So we went out to see the groom's processions, which pass through the streets and accompany the groom to the place chosen for the ceremony, where the bride is waiting. These processions are very picturesque, they have lights and singing and they carry huge drums to get there. The groom is dressed sumptuously and everyone sings and dances as they walk.

We saw several of these processions, more or less long, more or less rich, and following one of them we arrived at a place where pavilions are erected that at night resemble real castles and temples with spires and towers that are all fake and where no trace of them remains the next day.

We approached one of these which seemed the most beautiful and next to the entrance we saw an elderly person welcoming guests. We were there to see the procession of the groom arrive, who by the way arrived on horseback. When the Indian gentleman saw us he came towards us and asked if we were tourists.

We told him we were Italian and he invited us in. Inside there were packed tables, fountains of all colours and lots of people. At the back, covered by golden curtains were the seats for the bride and groom where the ceremony would be held.

We were offered drinks and food and when it was time for the ceremony, the elderly gentleman picked us up and took us under the curtain, seating us in the front row. I was then told that for Indians, having foreign guests at the wedding brings good luck.

So we were the guests of honour at that wedding which left us speechless in terms of pageantry, both of the bride and groom's clothes and the jewellery of the bride and the women of the family. And lavish was also the setting and the refreshments. The wedding was simple and very beautiful. The exchange of a wreath of flowers, and at the end rose petals coming down from the sky.

We passed by the next day where there were so many pavilions the night before and there was nothing left, not even rubbish, it was a barren, dry area, without a tree, really ugly, but for one evening it was transformed into a thousand and one nights.

I would like to go back to India one day.