Speaking to a group of Australian women at the hotel in Jaipur, one mentioned that she would be attending a cricket match that evening. Never having been to a cricket match, i was excited to take one in live. And while Max did not want to go, I figured what the heck and although ticketless, made plans to meet Di (an owner of several surf shops in Australia ) and Puren, the off-duty staff member joining her outside of the hotel at 630pm.
We took a tuk tuk, which those who have been to bangkok are famiar with - it's basically a giant motorized tricycle cab without walls. We arrived 90 min early to check out the scene and secure me a ticket. As you will see in below picture, while there was a box office sign, there did not seem to be any box office. After much discussion puren found the "box" office; the box office was a literally a 6 inch by 6 inch hole in a concrete wall beneath the sign. Puren picked me up a ticket and we went to find our entrance which took another 40 min. Without puren, I'm probably not getting a ticket or finding the right entrance- id be heading back to max with my tail between my legs. When we finally found the correct one, we had to go through El Al esque security. We had to show contents of our wallets, give all coins and I even lost my mini bottle of purel sanitizer. TSA can learn something from these people. I wasn't sure If this security was due to the threat of terrorism or holliganism but there was no turning back once we were in.
The ambience was electric albeit more tame than I had expected, perhaps in part bc league cricket play (the IPL) is relatively new here and rivalries are not yet very deep- this match was between the Rajasthan Royals and the Delhi Daredevils. Fans were very friendly and many talked to us about our home and what we were doing there- we were the only westerners in our section. Cheers were loud and in between Overs there was a great mix of Indian pop and western dance music blaring.
My experience was made exponentially better by Di, who was able to explain all of the rules and Nuances of a game I had thought to be the most boring in the world. While I can now follow the sport I don't think it will be replacing basketball or football for me.
Leaving was easy as puren had arranged the tuk tuk driver to take us home, but not before stopping off at a local Hindu temple for an 11pm prayer. Bells were ringing and the place was packed and Di and I were the only non-locals for blocks. It felt great to attend the late night prayers and get outside the normal tourist track.
Overall Jaipur was soso, with the highlight being the cricket excursion and learning about Hinduism from our guide. Tourist-wise we also visited the amber fort where rode an elephant and the much hyped monkey temple. While there were lots of monkeys, many were sleeping when we were there and I did not have an opportunity to procure food to put in max's pockets. We did see a guru meditating in a pool for hours.
Lastly,a great anectode from our guide:
When asked about all of the jewelry Indian women have, our guide had this choice response. "Indian women love fine jewels but their most precious jewel is a happy husband." ladies take note!
Next stop Shimla, where I will belatedly attempt to train for my upcoming trek. Hope all is well with everyone.
Jacob
Looks like such a cool trip. Glad you're enjoying. :)
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