Jodhpur to Jaipur

After a very chilled out time in Jodhpur, my next stop is Jaipur. The train journey took 6 hours and it was very enjoyable, even if I had to wake up at the crack of dawn to catch it. I got to watch the sunrise and the ticketmaster made sure I was comfortable and kept feeding me and ensuring I was okay. No one bothered me cos you don't mess with the ticketmaster!

Jaipur is part of India's "Golden Triangle" and at the heart of it lies the Pink City because of the old walled quarter. The traffic is really heavy and crowds very dense, which makes this place quite difficult to explore.

I am staying at Pearl Palace, a lovely little guesthouse which is known for it's excellent rooftop terrace.

My first day here I met 3 Brits and we went to the old city and then to a bird zoo, but after hours so we got let in for free which was lucky cos it was dark and we couldn't see anything and I would have been annoyed if they had made us pay.

In the evening I met 6 more Brits from Manchester who are all travelling together. It was like an episode of 'Friends' the Indian version. I ended up having dinner with them and agreed to go sightseeing with them the next day.

It has also just dawned on me that I don't have a cold but an allergic reaction to the smog. I have had a consistent heavy cough, sore throat and runny nose since the day I arrived and have met so many tourists who are suffering from this. The cities here are so polluted that it's hard to breathe. Diesel fumes, dust and sunshine = heavy smog. I feel my cancer cells multiplying minute by minute. I wonder what the lung cancer rate is in India?





Just taking it easy at the train station.


The ticket master insisted we have our photo taken together