Day 32 the Road to Jaipur
Sunday January 6th, 2008
Another fitful night sleep – I awoke to find an email saying that our roof was leaking, through the laundry room and into the kitchen. WHAT!
The email was not even from the house-sitter – it was from Jake and Wendy – she had noticed the mess and then headed out of Town.
It turns out our friends – what great friends we have we love you guys and thank you came through for us and said they would check out the house in the morning.
There is not much more we can do and we are already an hour late meeting our driver. We grab some muffins to go and hit the road at 9am for the 260km drive to Jaipur.
Endless peoples – roadside stands. Trucks, cows, camels, elephants all sharing the highway. Monkeys on the roadside.
Everything is going pretty well until we come to a slow-down – there is road work being down and the oncoming lanes of the 4 lane highway are diverted into the fast lane of our side – we are driving along in this condition for a while until we come to a near standstill – shortly after we come to the scene of a horrific accident. A motorcycle in the middle of the road between the oncoming traffic and our lane with 2 bodies a man and a woman lying lifeless. Our driver exhibits as uch emotion as I have seen simply saying oh-no as we pass by I am reminded of a movie Red-Asphalt that I was required to watch in drivers training. I had told Allysha as soon as I realized what was happening to put her head down – she did so but kept asking why – I am glad I did but it was too late for Aria – she witnessed the tragic scene. I was thinking why are the cars not stopping and was about to ask our driver to pull over so I could render first aid when he simply uttered they are dead. I was immediately overcome with grief – this couple – husband and wife? Very young – obviously deceased and traffic continues on around them. I lose my battle and tears escape down my face -I can sense Aria is also crying – even as I type this I cannot contain my grief for these 2 strangers – lost in a poll of billions but so very real and a part of my experiences and memories. I think of my grandfathers recent death and suddenly the things weighing on my mind seem less important. I place my hand on Arias should and have Pam give her a tissue. Her face is turned away but I know she is devastated. So am I. The drive continues is complete silence – I am trying to get my voice back to inquire about ambulance services etc.
We come to the midway point and pull over at a roadside resort for some drinks, toilets and leg stretches.
Aria gives me hug after we get out of the car. At some point I have to tell Allysha what happened as she will not stop asking – when I tell her she thanks me for having her look down. Aria is in tears again. So am I. I love my family.
When we are back on the road I am actually very nervous that we could end up in an accident and dead – I put that thought quickly out of my mind.
The mood slowly lightened in the car over the next few hours. I cannot find the words to describe the drive – the chaos – people everywhere – roadside structures painted as billboards – hard to tell which ones are being used and which are abandoned. Shops everywhere and sometimes in the middle seemingly nowhere a huge resort/hotel –no local attractions just a resort next to a highway.
We come into Jaipur and drive by the Amber fort -we stop for a couple photographs. It is amazing – the walls built on the ridgeline seem similar to the great wall of china – only smaller. A few more km's and the road opens up on a valley. There is a dam that creates a lake in which there is a Water palace – completely engulfed by water. We take pictures and negotiate a short camel ride for the girls. They are happy – all I can say it camels are very pungent. We drove a hard bargain originally 600 rupees we got the ride for the girls for 200 – still probably high but the girls were happy.
We checked into the Hawa Mahal – it seems nicer than the Singh Sons (Delhi Hotel) except for the small white pellets they have in all the drains in the bathroom. They smell like math-balls and Pam asks a porter to remove them. We eat dinner in the hotel. They have internet access but it is 100 rupees per hour. I decide to wait. I have some blogging and work to do.
