Jaipur

Wow!!! Today was a good day. It needed to happen or we'd have gone crazy.. Got down and dirty with the locals and my view of the place has really changed. All started last night reading the Lonely Planet and read stats of 34.7% of Indian population living on less than US$1 per day, and we've been getting a bit pissed off with the constant hassling from everyone... Kind of obvious really but everyone just trying to survive here and not much point getting annoyed at people (I really do mean everyone) hassling you for money, Rupee!!! Sir, Rupee!! It's constant. Even if you've paid someone for something they're asking for more and get pissed off if they don't get it, even though you know and they know they're trying to rip you off. So we've stopped caring about it and have come to expect it which makes it all easier, though still occasionally annoying.
We both bought Indian style long shirts in Dehli and it's the best thing we did (even though we were screwed) cos it's really going down well with the locals. Getting lots of smiles and strange bemused looks at our garb cos we look like a right pair of eejits, bit of an ice breaker of sorts. People are very friendly even if it's always with an alterior motive (see above), we've been invited to all sorts of dodgy spots (very safe really mam!) for chai or a chat. Eventually you end up in their shop or their brothers shop or their friends shop where the sales pich comes, you just expect it of everyone so it's not a surprise anymore. Were on our way home when we were brought down an alley up a stairs and got the most amazing views of Jaipur and eventually a sales pitch in two associated shops :-)
We saw a few amazing forts and palaces today including a really cool observatory but the highlight was finally leaving the relative safety of the tourist sites to dive into the crazy busy shopping streess and mrkets. There is no way to describe the sights and sounds and smells that would do it any justice. The pots and pans shops, the spice and grain and rice and pasta shops, the flaming giant 3ft wide woks surrounded with piles of dodgy looking snacks, some guy even gave us a taste of some foul tasting sugary snack God bless him! Walking around you feel like you've got two big stinging spicy cotton wool balls up our nostrils, and you may as well have when you see the enormous sacks full of chillis and God knows what else! It's absolutely brilliant. People constantly trying to drag you into shops, Hello Sir, Hi how you where do you come from, I have a shop. It's great!Came home a lot happier today, don't think I'll get much sleep though cos there's a wedding next door and the music is mental, the streets outside are jammed with cars and bikes, and thank God I bought those ear plugs!!! :-)