Hoping Elephants do Forget

Today I finally achieved one of the main objectives of my trip to India – I can finally proclaim: “I have ridden an elephant!” and with only minor regrets the morning after.  This was my final weekend in India and I decided I would finish it in style with a trip to Jaipur.  Located in the state of Rajasthan and the final point of the golden triangle Jaipur is famous for its magnificent places and mountain forts, elephant rides and a very different culture to the Delhi region.   

Like always, the day started early and we were on the road by 8am.  The quality of the car was better than before and had the luxuries of reclining seats, air conditioning and came with a marginally better standard of driving.  Although double the price of the taxi last weekend (10 rupees per km) it was definitely good to have the additional comfort especially with the 35degree temperatures outside.  Another welcomed pleasure was travelling with some friendly faces again, namely Anja and Gareth, my managers from London who arrived last week.

First stop on our itinerary after arriving at 1pm was Fort Amer.  This grand fort is located at the top of a nearby high point and can be either reached along a rough road through the old city or on elephant back.  Our aim was to take the elephant ride up but language difficulties meant our driver deposited us atop in front of the fort’s gates.  Doh.  Trying to make the most of it a guide was hired who took us around and explained the history of this interesting place.  It used to be the secure-hold home of the Maharajah controlling the area.  In it he housed himself and all 9 of his wives along with an army of servants.  Despite being built well over 300 years ago this place has all sorts of mod cons including air conditioning that is produced by running water down walls and along floors.

The tour guide took great pleasure in showing us all of the wonders the fort holds including numerous tales of dubious likelihood.  In particular great pleasure was evident when he showed us some of the artwork adorning the walls in the fort…

If you look carefully you may be able to see why our guide was so interested in this pattern.  Apparently a lot of the artwork in the fort revolves around the Karma Sutra and with a grin on his face the guide showed us. Perhaps it is true, but for some reason I can’t help suspecting it actually just our guide who was the pervert.  Beauty is in the mind of the beholder I guess.

After the fort we found our driver and again tried to explain our common desire to ride an elephant.  Finally he cottoned on and took us on a short drive to an elephant rank!  A whole row of elephants all lined up waiting to extract extortionate amounts from tourists.  The elephants were adorned with colourful chalk patterns covering their faces and trunks, and each had a two person saddle on top.  After our driver negotiated us a decent rate the inevitable, but amusing challenge presented itself – how do you actually get on top of an elephant?

A few minutes of ear tugging and yelling later the handlers had persuaded each elephant to kneel down at the side of the road. We were beckoned to step on the elephant’s front leg and had to literally climb up its side until we made it into the basket.  Not exactly the most elegant manoeuvre in the world but it wasn’t long before we were plodding down the road taking a ride simply for the sake of it.  It was an awesome experience that I’ll never forget, plodding along the street and rapidly gathering a fan base of local kids that started to chase us.  Perhaps it was this that convinced my elephant to quicken his pace resulting in a rather rapidly increasing heart rate! 

Thankfully it didn’t last too long and just around the next bend we reached the end of our journey to nowhere in particular.  A short slide down onto the pavement later and we back on solid ground. 

The rate our driver had agreed upon earlier was 600 rupees (£7) for both elephants but this didn’t stop the handlers trying their luck and asking for 600 per elephant!  Cheeky little sods! Thankfully our driver (who had been following us all the way in the car) resolved the issue with a little wave of the hand and saved us from being ripped off.  At the time it seemed very noble of him but in hindsight it was more likely a manoeuvre to ensure we had enough cash for his fleecing later on.  Better the devil you know I suppose.

When I informed my Indian friends that I was going to visit Jaipur they all enthusiastically told me that if I did nothing else I simply had to visit a place called Chokhi Dhani.  Billed as an ‘ethnic Rajasthani village’ it is situated about 15km from Jaipur and is supposed to be a recreation of a traditional Rajasthani village.  Included in the ticket price of 250 rupees is an all you can eat Indian meal and entrance to all of the attractions in the park.  The meal was interesting, but tasty, however the village itself was more of a cross between Lego Land and an especially lame carnival. 

I appreciate that I’ve never been to a real Indian village but I’d be pretty confident placing a bet that they don’t usually have a ferris wheel, boating pond or magic show in a traditional Rajasthani village.  Still, it is definitely worth experiencing if only to take a ride on the wheel which is quite an interesting experience.  Only costing 5 rupees (6 pence) I figured I didn’t have much to loose though of course I’d failed to account for the potential medical bills that could follow! 

Unlike most western wheels where motors are the norm, apparently traditional Rajasthani ferris wheels are not only man powered but also man stopped!  Sitting in a chair that wobbled a little too much for comfort, once the wheel builds up momentum and gets spinning it can only be stopped by men jumping and vainly hanging onto chairs as they pass.  The theory is that the additional weight of the man will counter the rotational force and the wheel will stop.  However, amusingly (or disturbingly?) this doesn’t always go to plan and the man is often lifted up a good 5 meters off the ground before a second man quickly jumps onto the next car to add additional weight and the wheel comes to a stop.

Needless to say I was glad when I was finally off the ride and back onto solid ground.  Having wandered around all of the village and seen most of the attractions we decided it was time to leave and head back to the hotel.  Stopping to pickup some cheap beers on the way home we spent the rest of the night playing cards at the hotel which was very enjoyable, particularly Anja’s shocking defeat at hearts (with a final score of well over 300!).

The hotel we were staying in is located in downtown Jaipur and is actually more of a small castle than a hotel.  Adorned with exquisite décor and fine furniture the hotel was far beyond what we had expected to get for the £30 a room per night price tag attached to it.  After a tasty continental breakfast the next morning we checked out and headed towards the final attraction for the weekend, Fort Nahargarh. 

Like Amer Fort Nahargarh is perched upon a high point and overlooks the current location of the city of Jaipur.  Not quite as impressive as Amer it is still worth a visit if only for the magnificent views of the city far below.  If you look carefully it is possible to see the ‘pink city’ that Jaipur is famous for.  Although actually just a single street, all of the buildings in this area were painted pink in 1876 for the royal visit of Prince Albert and Queen Elizabeth II.  I’m not totally sure why they thought painting the town pink would be the perfect welcome for a royal family but it certainly makes the place stand out from everywhere else I’ve seen in India.

Finally back on the road to Delhi we arrived at Anja and Gareth’s hotel in time for dinner.  Somewhat unfairly their hotel is significantly more plush than my apartment (ahem, who is actually doing the work here guys?!)  An enjoyable Italian meal and 2 bottles of wine later it was time for me to head home and catch up on some sleep. 

This has been a great weekend full of many laughs and definitely a fantastic way to spend my last free time in India before departing in a few days time.

This entry was posted on 19/03/2007 at 11:33 pm and is filed under Sights and sounds of India. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.