Rajasthan --
Just a couple of quick notes. I just got back from a two-day trip to Rajasthan... the bordering state to Delhi of which Jaipur is the capital. This is the view of our "hotel". The round room at the end was the one that I slept in. Actually... I didn't "sleep" in that room for two reasons - (1) that two-story rotunda-esq room was a sitting room off of my bedroom and (2) the whole thing was too spooky and I barely slept at all.
We were told it was a "heritage" hotel. I was envisioning something similar to these great "Pousadas" that I stayed in with my family on our trip to Portugal about a decade ago. Pousadas were these wonderful old buildings (castles, convents etc.) that the Portuguese government purchased, upgraded and made into first-class hotels. Well... this wasn't EXACTLY like that. The "Rajmahal Palace Hotel" (fortunately for them there are two hotels in Rajasthan with the same name - both that are "heritage hotels"... and it is the NICER hotel that comes up on a Google search). It is some old home (more than 300 years old) that the "Maharaja" of this area (Tonk - about a 7hr drive from Delhi) lived in. The house has been passed down through generations and they've listed it on some websites (otherwise it is an abandoned house). It was actually one of the cooler "business" hotels I've ever stayed in... quite an adventure. But... it was so spooky that I tried with the lights on which made it to difficult to sleep - so I slept wearing one of my "United Airline" eye-patches. Adding to the discomfort was the flimsy twin bed and inconsistent electricity. So, all of the lights (and, more importantly, the fan) would go on and off all night. The owner was so surprised to have a reservation (he said "from CNN" - but I think he would be surprised to have any reservations at all) that he drove 2 hours to meet us.
Anyway... I came here for adventure.... and it indeed qualified.
Nothing... ABSOLUTELY NOTHING... however, compares to the adventure "behind the wheel" in this country. Here is a "snap" (as the Indians would call them) from my trip back to Delhi... a nail-biting, 9hr journey.
I'd love to have my parents come visit... but I'm absolutely sure that being in a car in this country would be too much for my Dad.
It's not that the picture actually SHOWS anything... but it captures the feeling of the trip. I always try as hard as I can to sleep on these trips -- trying to block out the shear fear I have from the chaos unfolding around me on the road.
Ok... I've got to get back to work --
-sd