Too Hot in Jaipur
105 degrees and humid. Too hot to drive, too hot to sleep, too hot to do anything but sit in a restaurant and order cold drinks – welcome to Jaipur.
We moved on from Mt. Abu yesterday, which while still fairly hot, was cool in comparison to where we are now. I didn’t get a chance to take any photos in Mt. Abu so I won’t linger on it long, but it’s known as a place to get away from the heat in Rajasthan, and is a popular honeymoon spot for newly married couples. We had hoped to do some climbing in Mt. Abu, but unfortunately all we found were some unprotectable slab climbs that weren’t worth the effort. We spent the three days lounging around, walking around the town, and generally being pretty bored.
Now we’re in Jaipur, which is about 500 km northwest of Mt. Abu, but much hotter as it’s at a lower elevation. Jaipur is known as the “Pink City” but really it’s another hot, dirty Indian metropolis. We hired an auto-rickshaw for the day today and drove around to see a few tourist sites – the best of which was a palace complex:
We also stopped by a factory where they make textiles, and I got some presents for my family (getting Christmas out of the way early). We also hiked to the top of a really (too) tall minaret so we could get a view of Jaipur
That pretty much leads me up until right now – we are here tomorrow as well, which I plan to spend reading by the pool and trying to keep reasonably cool. Then on Monday we drive to Delhi, which is supposed to be slightly more hot than here, if that is even possible. We had a whole week alotted for Delhi, mostly because the a good portion of the group needs to hang around the Chinese embassy and work out their visas. Seeing as how I don’t need to do that, I plan to spend a day or two climbing, a day to see Delhi, a day to go to Agra and see the Taj Mahal, and then I’m going to hopefully take the first bus to Manali and take it easy in the mountains while I wait a couple days for the group to catch up. It’s a cool 56 degrees there today, which sounds GREAT.
A philosophical thought to contemplate in the heat, and with cool brews by the pool, can a beer belly become a necessity of life?
Grandpa
Grandpa
June 6, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Well you have to expect heat in India in the summer. Cool looking palace. Mom says buying presents for the family sounds like a good way to spend your time!
From the end of your post sounds like there is climbing near Delhi? Definitely do not miss the Taj Mahal!! Mom is jealous (both Taj Mahal and Petra before us.)
So how come Manali is so much cooler??
Dad
June 7, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Manali is at just about 2000m, so it’s much cooler (it’s in the Himalayas). I’m thinking about taking a train to Agra and seeing the Taj Mahal but it’s 107 degrees there today – too hot to enjoy siteseeing.
Paul
June 9, 2009 at 3:45 am