the highlight of our time in jaipur was visiting the amber fort. i'm no history buff but it's got to do with the maharajah and his multiple wives and concubines. honestly, i was more intrigued by the elephant ride, and good to know i'm no longer allergic to indian elephants (long boring story of childhood atopy). i mean, rush hour jaipur stylez is kinda cool when you've a row of elephants as far as the eye can see. through it all, i kept thinking of that scene from the jungle book when the elephants were marching with mowgli at the end.
our guide for the day was a former lawyer with a masters in history (!!!) and the mister and i were discussing how when a tour guide earns more than a lawyer, something is seriously messed up with the country. don't get me wrong - not knocking tour guides at all, but our guide was telling us how when he qualified 13 years ago, he was expected to work for a year with no pay, irregardless of his performance. i was thinking of the S$500/month i received while taking the bar exam course but to be fair, considering how that's less than the minimum wage of filipino domestic help, it was more stipend than salary. so our guide switched to tourism and hasn't looked back.
Oh my goodness - I remember those elephants from Jaipur. You sat on the sideways and they kept rocking sideways, and I felt like I was going to fall off over the walls leading up to the fort!!! - Rui
ReplyDeletewell remembered rui! don't think anything has changed since you visited haha. it was exactly as you described, plus some apprehension as our driver balanced my iPhone and directed the elephant simultaneously...
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