Ugh.. Another traveling day. It’s really not so bad in the bus, it is just the packing and unpacking every day or two. We’re getting the hang of it, and have finally figured out that we put the big bags out, then keep the little OSB bag out with laundry (wrapped around our beer and wine bottles) and the little toiletries we need to get ready to leave. Then we hand that to Sanjay at the back of the bus. The traveling tour strategy has been perfected!
On the bus, we’ve all settled into a nice routine. Even though Bhanu assigns seats, most of us don’t pay attention. About half the group sits the back of the bus, while the other half (including Maggi and Richard and us) sit near the front. There are a few who like to always be right in front, but otherwise, there is enough room to spread out, so we each tend to end up with a row of seats to ourselves. This morning is no different as we reverse out trek into the sand hills and dunes behind the Tigress Resort, eventually reaching the paved road without incident. Go Suneel!
Today we only have about 5 hours on the bus, so we sit back, listen to Bhanu talk about Mulla Nuseruddin – I think today was the donkey tale, but it could have been when he was running for President of the US (that moral was basically you get better with practice). I’ll go with the donkey: Nuseruddin and his young son were taking a trip with the donkey. The son was riding the donkey, Nuseruddin walking next to it when they passed some villagers who said what a shame it was the young boy was riding the donkey while the old man walked. The son felt guilty, got off the donkey and Nuseruddin got on. A little while later they passed some old women who chastised Nuseruddin for riding the donkey and making his young son walk along side. So Nuseruddin picked the boy up and had him ride on the donkey with him. In the next village, the people make rude comments about making the poor donkey carry both people in the heat, and how it looked like it was going to drop from exhaustion. Both Nuseruddin and his son then got off the donkey and walked alongside. Passing yet another village, the men all laughed at the pair because they were walking instead of riding the donkey, as that was the reason for the beast. The moral: you can’t please everyone, so do what you think is best!
Street scenes unspool outside the bus window as we listen with rapt attention to Bhanu’s stories and insight: First elephant sighting, cows eating grass that people have collected and put out for them to eat (it’s a tradition to bring good luck to the family), a people hauling leafed branches on bikes and on their back for the cows, a working camel
Back on the “de-constructed” highway, we plod our way through the switch backs, arriving back at the Tiger Treat (3rd tiger sighting!) for our comfort stop.
We arrive in the outskirts of Jaipur around 1:30 after only 5 hours on the bus – not so bad! Bhanu narrates as we pass the Shri Laxmi Narayan temple and the Ganesh temple (both places I wanted to go this afternoon during our “free” time), and I’m glad we did for photos – because once we figure out where the hotel is, these temples and forts are way far away. Pictures from the bus sound just about right!
At the hotel, we do our usual passport/key shuffle and head off to our rooms, conveniently 2 doors away from each other on the 5th floor. We have just enough time for lunch before the afternoon tour, so the 4 of us eschew the buffet restaurant (there’s no way we can do justice to a buffet right now) instead heading to the Road House (to which Bhanu exclaims, “But it is a bar!” Yes, of course it is!). We are the only patrons there, and while the service isn’t as fast as we would have hoped – we did order pizzas after all (and one each for Maggi and I, where we really should have shared, they were so large), we do get excellent attentive service from a very sweet, possibly new, waiter. The guys both get half a tandoori fried chicken while Maggi and I opt for different versions of veg pizza. Once the meals are finally delivered, they are excellent, just a lot more than we can eat at the moment. We make the most of it though, washing everything down with our wine and beer.
And we still have enough time for a bathroom break before meeting the group in the lobby for our afternoon adventures.
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