Had some trouble getting into my blogger account because the language had somehow been automatically reset to Arabic and wasn't recognizing my user name and password.
Anyway, out the door at 5 AM to get to the Delhi train station for a 6 AM train. Hassles with the taxis. We insisted (as we learned the hard way) that the driver turn on the meter, and we had one foot out the door if he refused. Although a clear meter price, he tried to insist on quadrupling it when we arrived at the train station. He said (heard it before) "Then pay me nothing. It's free". As has become our solution, we throw the proper amount on the seat and leave.
In the train station, we deflected the men in fake uniforms who offer to check your reservation so they can tell you that you have the wrong ticket and can buy the right one from them.
For "breakfast" we bought a coke and a 7 Up. We were warned that you can't trust the bottled water unless it's in a good hotel or reataurant because not only do people refill used water bottles with tap water (really bad) but enterprises have cap sealing machines to make them look new. Don't know if it's true or not but enough suspicion to make me stay away.
Our group of 10 assembled and found our platform in the crowded train station. Because of the early hour, the air temperature was OK. Later in the day, it got to about 115 and was pretty much intolerable.
The train, although not looking particularly clean or well maintained, was quite pleasant. Reclining seats, meal service (!) With delicious vegy food and multiple pots of tea and bottled water. Quite pleasant ride of over 4 hours. When you make a train reservation, they ask name, age, sex and veg or non-veg - their words, not mine.
When we arrived in Jaipur about four and a half hours later, we went right to the tourist office at the train station. From a local who Alex chatted with on the train, we learned what to expect for the going rate for hiring a car for the day (Although the scavenger hunt rules usually don't allow hiring a car and driver, it is permitted in Jaipur and in Agra). Sherry was negotiating with the tourist office, which wanted four times what we understood the going rate to be. Alex and I went out front to see about getting a taxi and were swarmed. We struck a price deal (after dismissing the claim that rickshaw is better because of open air. We insisted on a car with AC because we had distances to travel) and the guy said to follow him to the car. We said "No, bring the car to us". "Well...it's on its way; it's just getting gas". Excuses. Lies. We ended up choosing the quadrple price option and got a quite decent AC car with a driver who spoke a little English.
First scavenge we chose was to go to the post office and mail a postcard back to the Santa Monica office of the Global Scavenger Hunt and buy an extra stamp to put in the scavenge proof book where we log our timeline and gluestick in all the ticket stubs for proof. Many of the scavenges require a team photo at the place so teams aren't tempted to split up and get more done.
While I waited for Alex to buy the stamps and postcards I looked at the other two rooms in the post office. Wow. About 6 older men wearing wrinkly dull clothes were hunched over, sitting at a long table, presumably sorting mail. There were tall piles of mail balanced haphazardly on the table. The wall was painted dull yellow - possibly 100 years ago. Oppressive heat made it feel like - why would anybody be able to work? Not the best conditions for getting anything done.
And, it looked like some of that mail might have been sitting there for a long time. Next stop was the old city where a bunch of scavenges were close to each other. We had bought a Lonely Planet ("LP") guide at the Delhi train station. We used the mapped-out walking tour of the old city, as I had wrongly assumed that the car couldn't go in and we would have to have the driver wait for us outside while we did the tour that LP said would take one hour. Really stupid move. (1) The tour covered much more ground than we needed to. (2) It took much more than one hour. (3) Our car could have come into the old city and parked right outside the entrance of several of the attractions we needed to go to. In fact, we bumped into Jackie and Sylvia at Jantar Mantar and their driver with AC car was waiting right outside. Oh well It looks like a sculpture garden but is equipment for measuring - sundials, zodiac, etc.
Next was City Palace, which is a dominant building in the old city but we just couldn't find the entrance. Dead ends, locked gates, etc. One scavenge was to find something from the Guiness Book of Records in the palace. (One of our travelers is in the book twice, but that wouldn't help). The largest silver vessels in the world are there in the Hall of Private Audiences, but weren't there.
Then, to Palace of the Winds (Hawa Mahal), which is really neat. Lacy honeycombed screens are carved of sandstone and hid women so they could watch what was happening on the street but preserve their modesty without being seen. Next was to have a drink and enjoy the view on a rooftop across the street from Hawa Mahal. Problem was - there are no cafes. All of the second floors are occupied by jewelry sellers and they invite you up for the view so you can see (and buy). Thus, we bumped into completing another scavenge - finding a local stone cutter and seller. Finished with the scavenges in old city, we needed to rejoin our overpaid driver who we were paying to sit while we trudged in the heat. We decided to take a rickshaw back to the gate where we left the driver. Negotiated the price in advance, enjoyed sitting down with an awning over our heads, and the slight breeze of movement. Then the rickshaw stopped in front of a shop in the bazaar. A man strolled out and waved to invite us in to look at his wares. NOT AGAIN!! We told the rickshaw driver to take us to the gate or we woulld pay him nothing. This is getting tedious already. He turned the rickshaw around and took us back in the direction of the gate where our driver was waiting but he stopped at Ajmer Gate - one gate short. We told him to keep going but he refused. Alex gave him a few rupees and we hoofed it back to meet our driver.
We drove out of Jaipur to visit the Gator, a royal tomb; and then up to Jaigarh, a watch tower way up in the hills - an incredibly refreshing contrast. It looks over the city of Amber (known as the Pink City and which we didn't have time for, thanks to my bad planning this AM - and which required our third elephant ride in a week - enough already!) We didn't go into Amber, but we saw it from afar, up on the hill with trees creating a little relief from the heat. The scavenge was to climb the watchtower, but it couldn't be climbed. It was old and crumbly and a guard appeared motioning us away. Last scavenge for the day was the Sun God Temple at Galta, also known as Monkey Temple. We drove to the bottom of a valley and down a dusty road with cattle and monkeys lolling along the sides. It was so hot and the place looked like an oven with hardly anyone around and shimmering in the heat. We got out and found a religious looking guy and asked him the question for the scavenge - "What is below the temple?" As we understood it, the answer was "holy water" - but honestly I can't imagine there is water anywhere.
(One of the scavenges we didn't do was to visit a deserted city, Fatehpur Sikri, deserted due to lack of water supply). As we drove along the road, I had noticed a woman by herself out in the hot hot hot sun, kneeling and trying to work a dusty field. Her work looked so futile.
Having finished as many scavenges as we were going to finish in Jaipur, we headed to the hotel we arranged for the night - the Oberoi Japiur. A former palace, it is gorgeous and the service is exquisite. Upon arrival we were handed a homemade ginger drink with lemon. The staff are so helpful and polite. It felt so good to arrive. I headed right to the pool in the palace garden where peacocks roam. Everyone strolled in around the same time, took chairs under umbrellas, ordered lots to drink to rehydrate. I had one liter of water and a diet coke.
The 10 of us who had travelled together had dinner in the palace dining room. It was glorious.
We had arranged for a bus to pick us at 6 AM to take us on the 4 or so hour trip to Agra, where the Taj Mahal is located.