Timeless

Priyam has done a series of round up posts on her blog, one of them being her 12 moments of the year through the viewfinder. So I thought I should do something similar too. I don't really have pictures as pretty as hers, but when I started browsing through the 2012 folder, I thought of doing two sets - places and people. So, here goes....  

You saw it earlier in the month, but this sunrise in Rajasthan was definitely the most beautiful one this year. 

                                                                

A numb evening with yellow lights over the river (Panjim, Goa)

Pondicherry's streets were a delight to walk through

I sat here for two hours as the sea breeze and my mind sang in harmony  (Ross Island, Andaman) 

There's nothing I haven't already said about being here. It was out of the world! (Lahaul, Himachal Pradesh)

This drive, these rains were easy to relate to because the alternative was to think about work (Odisha)

The little bubble that I live in was bursting with excitement when I went for this photo exhibition on Delhi's history

Lights and symmetry! (New Delhi)

This comes very close to the sunset that I actually experienced a day later. No company, no accessories, just me, the sea and the sun.  (Wandoor, Andaman)

Before I dozed off that afternoon (By the Bhaga river in Darcha, Lahaul)

An afternoon at a different island at Andaman. Had a damp forest behind me. Corals all around. It was the hour of reflection. (North Bay)

Liberating was the feeling!

And the people...

When Suvvir was nameless and just a few days old. Been five months already/

The palace inside Jaisalmer Fort had soo many artefacts to go through! (with Vidha)  

My moment of touristy happiness. Had just seen the sun rise on the east coast. And this was the only moment we halted inside the Sun Temple at Konark (with Anand behind the camera)

I never use people pictures for my wallpapers. This has been the only exception. (with Swetha at Deepak Taal)

Mommy!

The week that Milan and I completed a year in office (with Priyam and Vidha)

Farewells make me uncomfortable (with Daksh)

Spent some fine time in Goa with Ranjan

My dearest, most beautiful friends!

Evenings at Morrison never disappoint (with Robin, Swetha and Priyam)

From another classic evening at Morrison. Ladies night this time! (with Priyam, Milan and Vidha)

Suvvir's first Diwali with his grandparents

This took a while putting together. Hopefully, I shall only see you on the other side of the calendar now. Much love! 

Something New

Earlier this year, I was part of a workshop which was about social styles in the work environment. The assessment of my style and what was said about it was not just accurate, but also a little amusing. Well, amusing because people make fun of some things I do, but then it really is very satisfying and fun. Like making pretty Excel sheets. Won’t you agree that they can be efficient and presentable, at the same time? I certainly believe so.

So, apart from work-related Excel sheets, I made two personal ones which made me very happy.

The first was some scenario planning I did before heading out to Goa. I usually do not do this when travelling, but I was a little confused about how I should spend my time there. After all, even though I would have had company there, I was travelling alone.

How it finally shaped up was very close to Scenario 4. *grins*     

The other was a direct consequence of having a full time job and living with family. I feel the need to do something new and exciting very often. So I started maintaining a sheet with records of something new that I did every month. 

Something New: an occurrence or an event that has never been experienced before

Most of it was fun, some embarrassing, some inconsequential, and some not worth sharing, but I am glad to tell you that I did have a fair amount of data for this file. :)  

The list itself was a first. I am hoping to scale this to something better and bigger next year.

And since this is directly related to my customary year-end post, I’m clubbing the content below. 

# For a fear of drowning in water, I went scuba diving and 30 feet deep into the ocean  

# Went to watch the Beating Retreat live at Raisina Hill

# Backpacked in the mountains

# Started wearing contact lenses

# Regularly did yoga for six months

# Drove up till 16,500 feet

# For a fear of being at a height of even two feet, I sat on a camel and moved through the desert at 10 feet above ground

# Slept in the open in the desert 

# Went for a rather disappointing sufi music concert at Humayun's Tomb

# Bought my highest heels

# Became an aunt (I know I didn’t have a role to play there). But walking with him in my arms and managing 

to entertain him is big enough!

# Ventured into a swimming pool and felt that it might not be so hard after all

# Had a lot to drink - tried a lot of new drinks and found a new favourite

# Thought that I did not need to be rushed to an ER this year, had this latest accident, and felt royally idiotic!

# I did have more than my share of health-related pain and depression this year too

# Broke a heart

# Had my heart broken (Yes, again!)

# Travelled to my heart’s content!

# Watched a lot of stand-up comedy, didn’t miss any show that came to Delhi from The Comedy Store, Mumbai

# Figured the difference between being short tempered and angry. I used to be short tempered. What I now experience is a calm exterior and a lot of anger inside.

# Declined a rishta only by looking at a guy’s pictures

# Started thinking about getting married

# Made two drastic changes in the hairstyle. Loved one more than the other, got a LOT of compliments for the other.

# Experienced a first real ‘happy anniversary’

# Splurged a LOT!

# Sat on a ghoda gaadi late on a cold winter night. It was one of those *silly grin* moments.

# I listened to the entire Budget Speech of the FM, live

# Started going to a spa

# Stayed at the Taj in Mumbai

# Did a speed tour of the Sun Temple at Konark. The place reminded of history textbooks from school.

# Got promoted

# Went on a blind date for the sheer thrill of the experience

# Made my first real online purchase (not books or movie/travel tickets)

# Cut my own hair

# Watched and loved Sherlock Holmes

I worried about whether 2012 was going to last. I think it was a fairly good year. I don't know what to expect from 2013. At all. It feels like I am approaching a blind turn. But I do not know if I should be slowing down.

Too many question marks. Too much blank space. Very unsure. 

Stupid!

How often do you get reprimanded by the forces that be for speaking too soon or too positively about the self? Happens with me all the time. It's eerie.

I met with an accident today. The fact that I am sitting and writing about it obviously means that it wasn't too serious. But it was nasty. Certainly the worst that I have been in. I am recalling its details in parts, hours later. The body is in pain. The super-thick overcoat saved my back. It being a crowded place had a number of people come to my rescue. 

Being alone, at that moment, freaked me out. The blow on my face was hard. Every muscle in my face felt like it was vibrating. The legs and torso hurt so much that I couldn't get up. I panicked when I figured that some part of my face was bleeding. The chill in the evening air didn't help. But the man who offered water was strong. His voice was reassuring. I almost cried to him. He quickly switched from asking me how I was  feeling to telling me that I was fine. I was on my feet by then. I think he was one of the few who lifted me.   

Neither my family, nor my friends knew where I was headed. I had only mentioned it to a colleague I met in the elevator before leaving the office building. Of course, the person I was going to meet knew, but he didn't know how I was getting there. Or which route I was taking. 

I don't know why I didn't head back home from there. I guess maybe because soon after I felt my injuries were minor. Bad decision though. I should have gone to the hospital. Not consumed alcohol. The whole right leg is blue. Bluer than the blue I could have ever imagined. I am afraid if I go to sleep it would get too stiff. I have more wounds than I realised then. I need a tetanus shot. And here I am, for the first time, regretting drinking. 

Maybe I am overreacting. Maybe I have underplayed it. Anxiety is a bitch. 

PS - I just realised that I do something stupid at the end of every year.

PPS - Merry Christmas!

The Desert Memories

Because I generally do not like forgetting the smallest of details of any good experience, here is a little more about the recent Rajasthan trip.

Two days before leaving I wrote to Prashant in the hope of borrowing one of his lenses - “you still don’t lend your lenses, do you?”. Luck was on my side, and he agreed to lend his Tokina 12-24 mm f4. 

I think my excitement for the trip began only when this news came in. I was jumping in office. Fist pumps too. Small joys, yes? Yes. 

I used it almost the entire time. I later realised that I clicked more pictures than I did even while I was in the mountains. 

As in Lahaul with Swetha, Vidha and I spoke endlessly. About dreams, men, people, work, history, future, culture, dance forms, friendships, music....and we still had more to talk about. 

The masala omelette sandwich in Jodhpur! Someone in office had told Vidha about this shop before we left. But we didn’t think about it until we accidently landed there looking for something else. 98 per cent of the menu had egg based options. Now you know I quit having eggs two years ago because of certain allergies of the stomach. But the warm conviction of the shop owners about how their food won’t do anything to my stomach, and Vidha’s orgasmic reaction to the sandwich had me tempted way too much. So I took the plunge and had half a sandwich. My love for eggs and the sheer time that lapsed since I last had any just added to the deliciousness of that sandwich. It was SO GOOD! It took me back to the ‘cheese omelette and ban maska at Good Luck Cafe’ days spent in Pune. And yes, the stomach was fine later. 

In the desert, I watched the sun set while laying in the cool, fine sand. Such tranquillity. So much peace that I didn’t want to move from there. One of those rare moments when the mind was clear and there were no thoughts. There were no feelings. It was just the horizon I could see and feel. 

Yet again, it was Indian Ocean that matched the mood while on the road. There is something about their music, their sound that blends perfectly with my holiday happiness and rush.

Sixth Birthday

While I was away in Rajasthan, my blog quietly completed six years of its awesome being. I can never quantify the splendidness of this space and what it means to me, but here I am trying to put together six highlights of this entire time with a list of six of my most loyal followers, and some of my most favourite posts of all time. 

The travelogues

From that first one about Chintpurni to this latest one about Rajasthan, I have loved writing out the details of every trip I have made in these years. And the recently put together Travels tab makes me immensely happy. Yes, I waste a lot of time re-reading these posts.

The year-end posts

I started these almost the same time as I started this blog. In fact, some of these used to be around the birthday at one point. They help put things in perspective. Now they almost ensure that I am seeking to do new things and stay on my toes through the year. They even calm me down. They help me let go. They make me love myself more.

  

The fight with Meow FM

This one was legendary. I had made a random remark about the radio station, and would have never imagined it to take the turn it did. Of course, the man in question left the station a few years later and with that died the concept of talk radio, in India. And I must mention that later I even had a civil conversation with him, and invited him to a formal event on radio.

The mushy posts about Shady

Going back to these is embarrassing, but putting them up made me very happy.  And when I do happen to read any of them, I realise that it was a long, long time ago. The time when I still believed.

The times when I have just let it flow

A lot of vague thoughts, a lot of ranting. I have used the blog on the worst of days. I have written endlessly, not caring about how my handful of readers interpret what I write. Doing this helped establish that I cannot do poetry. And well, it’s just helped me a lot.

The six most loyal followers (in no order):

     1.       Subhadip

     2.       Priyam 

     3.       Shreya

     4.       Akshay

     5.       Namrata

    6.       And the few silent followers – Ruhi, Karan, Misba, Sahil, the person in Minnesota, and everybody else that I don’t know about.

    And my 6x3 most favourite posts. I tried shortlisting six, but that didn’t happen. After all, there are 657 published posts here. Again, in no particular order:

1.       What Delhi is to me

2.       Budum-bum-bisshh - from the times when I obsessed about tags

3.       About Dad         

4.       The Most Eventful Quarter 

5.       220 Rocks - the two girls who made life extremely entertaining

6.       Metamorphosis - on having lived a year away from home

7.       The Jaipur Charm - cute guy at the airport

8.       25 - On turning 25

9.       Dot of Happiness

10.   What the Heck - thinking about some people made me happy on a crappy day

11.   Things You Could Only Do on a Residential Campus

12.   Boxers - through the worst phase of life

13.   There is Nothing to Talk About - on growing up

14.   A Defence (for Delhi) - when Manu Joseph lost it!

15.   2012 - the year's travels

16.   Yoga Mornings

17.   Every Day - on being me

18.   According to Flickr – 10 of my most interesting photos as at that date

            

I am excluding all travel-related and year-end posts from this list. Just cannot choose!

It’s a happy happy birthday to my dear Fuchsiaa!!! :D

Achhi Baat Hai

A road trip in Rajasthan, in winters, had been on my mind ever since I started travelling independently. It took a while, but I was pleasantly surprised by how easily this trip worked out. I didn't see any reason in letting earned leaves lapse, and so I decided to take off in the first week of December. Shantanu warned me that Rajasthan is not the safest place around. As a result, I had to seek company and defer my solo trip idea for a little bit longer. I asked a few people, and Vidha agreed. I did not bother asking anyone after that - 'two girls' is no longer scary/adventurous. 

   

I did not have too much time to plan this one, but reading about the Desert Triangle got me excited. We only spent some time figuring the budget and affordable places to stay in each city. And then while running some random searches I landed upon this picture. Excitement levels rose a couple of notches. I even made it my wallpaper on the office laptop. :D  

Source: Google

The plan was to take a train to Bikaner, take the road to Jaisalmer and Jodhpur and then take the train back to Delhi. But we did not get tickets from Jodhpur, so we decided to go to Jaipur instead and then take the train from there. 

With all handovers done, we were ready to set out on the morning of 5th December. 

My research did tell us though that all forts and palaces have rather annoying timings. They open at 10 am and shut by 4:30 or 5:00 pm. It is such a waste of time! I remember being upset about it in Jaipur last summer. 

So, on day 1, we were to reach Bikaner by 3:15 pm. That meant running to the hotel and just about managing to get entry into one such place. We chose Junagarh Fort and got in there by 4:00 pm. The Fort was nice, but I have certainly seen better places by now. 

I must mention here that I saw the sun rise and set almost every day through the entire week. And it goes without saying that it kept the holiday happiness at the highest level. 

Sunrise in Delhi

At Junagarh Fort

Atop the Fort

Bikaner, in general, was a rather dirty city. One of the dirtiest I have ever been to. Over the next few days I actually concluded that Rajasthan is the dirtiest of all the states I have been to in the country. 

The other place I had read about in Bikaner was Lalgarh Palace. We enquired about it at Junagarh and figured that entry there closes by 5:00 pm. One hour was enough to see Junagarh, so we decided to cover Lalgarh the same day. We were anyway scheduled to leave the city next afternoon. But when we reached Lalgarh, we discovered that the entire property is now a hotel, with just a museum open to tourists. It was a big, big put-off! The structure was nice, but we were so irritated that we didn't bother going into the museum. And we were quite hungry too. So we decided to check out the palace (yes, hotel!) in the garb of visiting their coffee shop. 

That coffee shop was terrible with limited menu options. Both our tea and coffee were bad. I can't recall why, but we had ordered nachos. What we got were (deep fried) matthi nachos and having that dish on our table was one of the funniest moments of this trip. Of course, our expectations were high because we were upset about it being an elitist hotel where an elitist wedding was scheduled to happen. 

  

It was one of those days when countless weddings were happening in the country, including in Bikaner. We walked past a few hotels and banquets and took an auto back to our hotel. 

When we got back, we had a chat at the reception and figured that there is no other place we can really visit the next day. Neither of us had any interest in going to Mata Karni Devi Temple, the one filled with rats. And it didn't make sense to go to Gajner either because the arrangement there is apparently the same as at Lalgarh. So we changed our plan of leaving the next afternoon to taking the 5:30 am bus to Jaisalmer. 

While the weather was manageable throughout, this morning bus journey was the coldest of my life! I was freeeezing! And that's why I waited more eagerly for the sun to rise. 

The crack of dawn and then sunrise over arid land was perfectly beautiful. Vidha slept through it. Silly!

The bus was rather slow because it stopped at every village on the way. We reached Jaisalmer only by noon. We quickly checked in and went straight for lunch. Breakfast was an apple and a carrot each that we had picked from Pokran. Thereafter we set out with a little map of the place to check off all the places to see. 

Our hotel

Jaisalmer is the smallest of all these cities that we visited. It is also the dirtiest and most touristy of them all. The city is filled with over-friendly young lads. But since it was small enough, we walked to most of the places, starting with the main bazaar. 

From there we took an auto to Vyas Chhatri and Bada Bagh which are in the super-clean cantonment area. Windmills, on one hand, were very fascinating to observe from such proximity. On the other hand, they completely killed the sunset view from the cenotaphs. Once the sun decided to go a little easy, the city did have the much talked about golden hue. The breeze also got cooler. We were finally feeling comfortable and at peace.   

Vyas Chhatris

Ms. Shukla

At an attempt to get the self timer in place

Bada Bagh
This one is prettier than Vyas Chhatris

The plan was to visit the Gadisar Lake the next morning at sunrise. But we kept chatting till late at night and I was a bit under the weather, so we woke up only at 10 am. We had a few hours before we were to leave for the desert that day, and we used those to check out the main fort which houses more than 4000 people. Originally, the entire city of Jaisalmer was inside the premises of the fort. 

The armoury and weapons were too cool!

US!

Life inside the fort

The golden city

In Jaisalmer, we couldn't help notice the very evidently skewed sex ratio. We just didn't see any women! It seemed very odd, but it was true. And even Bikaner for that matter was only men. Seeing women on the streets was exception, not the rule.  

I remembered this restaurant being reviewed on Highway on My Plate.
The man who runs it is a rather interesting and eccentric man.

The Jaisalmer Fort

And then began the smooooth drive towards the desert. The landscape, the view, the colours and characters kept reminding me of Aamir Khan's Sarfarosh. The desert, the cattle, the white turbans, the muslim men with kohl and pathani suits, and of course, the structures were reeling a movie in my mind. 

At one small tapri we suddenly went off road and I noticed a man with three camels approaching us. Ismail, our escort along with Johnny, Maggu and Victoria was ready to take us for a fun ride into infinity. Getting on to the camels was funny and awkward. Thankfully, I wasn't alone in this embarrassment. And thankfully, it was just the two of us. 

Upon reaching the dunes

Ismail sang folk songs through the two hour journey. One of the songs turned out to be the one from which the famour 'kajra re' was adapted. 

His English accent was impressive too. He had picked up the language over the past 10 years from tourists he takes on safaris in the desert. 

I was extremely apprehensive about this adventure. If anything were to go wrong, the two of us would never have been found again. We didn't know where we were. Ismail's eyes and smile, to me, were extremely scary. I could totally imagine him switching into a monstrous being any moment. 

But Vidha was convinced that we were safe. We also had a few groups of international tourists somewhere around. And well, our booking was based on recommendations by Tripadvisor. So I guess I was just being paranoid. 

All six of us :)

My best picture from the trip :D

The sunset on my right

Dinner

Ismail cooked a basic yet delicious meal for us in absolute darkness. We were done with dinner by about 7:30 pm. 

Thereafter, we were given our mattresses and blankets to sleep. There were no tents there. And our corner only had Vidha, me, one Polish dude, Andreas, Ismail, and Andreas' escort. We could not see anybody else. And well, it was anyway so dark that we couldn't move a step without a flashlight. 

Once in bed, I was absolutely mesmerised by the blanket of stars in the sky which was so stunning that no words can do justice to the sight. I spotted so many shooting stars! The experience was completely out of the world. 

But I was curious about the moon. I knew it was not a new moon night, but I could just not locate it. Clearly, there was something about science that I was not getting. 

I had hoped to click some pictures of the night sky. But turned out my camera is not advanced enough to capture star trails. Guidance from Prashant and his friend, Munish didn't help. Oh, I forgot to mention that Airtel had full network the whole time. It was quite incredible. 

After a while I gave up on trying to click the stars and decided to just gaze at them with the naked eye. 

It was a little cold but not as much as I expected. I don't know when I dozed off, but the slight discomfort of sleeping on an uneven surface woke me up a couple of times during the night. At about 1:45 am, I got up and happened to see the crimson moon shining bright at the horizon. That moment! *sigh* It was BEAUTIFUL.

We were told that our journey back to Jaisalmer would begin early enough. That ensured I was up at dawn and got to see the sun rise one more time.  

The windmills at dawn

Breakfast with the Polish man

Sunrise on my left

All set to head back

The 360 degree view was exhilarating!

After the rides with Maggu

By the time we reached back, our thighs and backs were killing us. It was a lot of exercise, particularly when the camels were running. 

Thankfully, we had booked a cab to go to Jodhpur. We were in no position to take the bus after that. 

Before heading out, we went to the Gadisar Lake. The sun was too bright, but I didn't want to miss it. A few scenes from Sarfarosh were actually shot here!

The place was quiet and least intrusive

Having talked about it for over a week, Vidha finally bought bhaang for herself

The drive to Jodhpur on NH 15 was smooth till Balesar. Thereafter the roads were quite bad. 

Where Vidha lost her iPod

The bhaang had begun to take over

Jodhpur turned out to be much bigger than either of us anticipated. It is a fully developed city. I would probably have not gone there if I knew it was so big. 

We visited the Mehrangarh Fort, which again was quite commercialised. And we happened to be there on a Sunday which meant a LOT of local crowd. 

From there we went to the hotel, Umaid Bhawan Palace. The last maharaja still lives there. And the Taj Group of Hotels owns the rest. 

Yes, we only saw the museum

We did see vintage cars on display too. So hot! So royal! I wished I wasn't a maharani only in my head.

The evening was spent in old Jodhpur. We actually went there after reading some reviews of a restaurant, Panorama View. While the restaurant was worth every penny spent there, the rest of the area was great too! We had omelette sandwiches near the Ghanta Ghar - from a small shop that features on Lonely Planet. One of the co-owners could speak in fluent Korean. These people are so inspiring!

The Ghanta Ghar at Old Jodhpur - the clock was working! 

Coming back to the Panorama View restaurant. It had ambience better than I expected. We had two sounds we could hear there - the santoor and sitar being played in the premises, and the bhajans being sung at some far off mandir in the city. We ordered wine and I drowned myself in the calmness of the moment. 

Mehrangarh Fort at night

The next morning we went to the Kaylana Lake. This one was another surprise. Apparently, tourists don't go there because it's a little away from the main city. But it was clean and rather big. It also serves the city's drinking water capacities. We didn't spend much time there, but our love for water was satiated within those few moments. 

From there we went to the main market to shop a little. Being there was like being in Dilli Haat. There was hardly anything that I had not seen here in Delhi. I just managed to pick one pair of shoes which had a slightly unique design. 

From there we rushed to catch our bus to Jaipur. This bus ride was another six hours on the road. On the way, two main places we crossed were Ajmer and Beawar. Ajmer seemed to be as dirty as the other places I mentioned above. I really wonder why this state has no system of garbage disposal!

But Beawar! The esrtwhile capital of Mewar. It had the colourful women I kept looking for during the past week. It also had the interesting men in sexy turbans and mustaches. Even the carts with heaps of red chillies! I think I am just glad I got to see 'em before leaving Rajasthan. I could obviously not click any pictures of them. 

From Jaipur, we took the double decker train back to Delhi. Not the most comfortable, but it was a nice journey back. One last sunrise, but this one with some clouds in the sky. It had been raining. I stood by the door for a while and soaked in the cold winter morning. 

Few things can make one smile as perfect weather does. Perfect weather actually has many manifestations. To me, even the desert sun brought a lot of happiness. 

We concluded that this trip was a 7 on 10 because the place loses on commercialisation, lack of safety, and lack of basic hygiene and cleanliness. But we did have a great time. We do know we will go back to the desert again. I know I have to visit a few baolis which I didn't get to see during this trip. And well, getting away to a new place is always thrilling! :-)   

__________

For anyone planning to make this trip, here are a few things that might help:

# We stayed at Marudhar Heritage Hotel on Ganga Sheher Road, Bikaner. It comes up as one of the most recommended budget hotels on Tripadvisor. The hotel was okay, and close to the station too, but the street is actually a market for hardware and auto parts. I personally feel one can get a better hotel closer to the larger markets. 

# Shiv Sagar restaurant in the main market of Bikaner is quite nice!

# There are no Volvos/air-conditioned buses plying from Bikaner or Jaisalmer. You will be told of a deluxe bus, but please don't imagine it to be a deluxe one literally. And most certainly don't attempt to travel overnight in a sleeper bus because they are all extremely dirty.

# The Jaipur-Jodhpur route certainly has good buses. The RSRTC ones are most reliable.

# Lalgarh and Gajner Palace, like I mentioned, are only hotels and it's a waste going there unless you plan to stay in the hotel.

# Do prior research about Sam and Khuri, the two main desert areas any travel agent/hotel will take you to. Ideally, don't book any of it before reaching Jaisalmer (unless you're going in peak season, maybe). Every second shop offers camel and desert safaris. And agree upon every detail of things offered in your package before heading out. 

# Don't go to Hotel Mystic Jaisalmer. The location and the food were bad. More importantly, the owner was a creep who is happy to fleece people. Particularly Indians! The rooms were affordable, clean and nicely decorated though.

# Don't eat at Royal Rasoi in the market next to Dhibba Para in Jaisalmer. A meal there was the worst of the entire trip.

# When in Jaisalmer, carry cash! Few places accept cards, and our experience was that ATMs were hardly working.

# Blooming House Home Stay in Jodhpur is managed by a nice family. But it is located away from the main city and all the major attractions. And autos in Jodhpur are a bit on the expensive side. So maybe you can consider some other options near Nai Sarak.  

# People will recommend Hotel Priya for a good meal in Jodhpur. I would say that while the food we had there tasted good, it took a whole day to digest it! Bad, bad oil used for cooking!

# You can book a prepaid auto for INR 440 for a whole day of sight seeing in Jaipur. Available at the railway station. Must surely be available at other places too.

# We stayed at Hotel Kalyan in Jaipur. This one is at a nice location, and not too far from the railway station. The owner's wife loves talking. But otherwise a decent and affordable hotel. 

For more details, drop a comment. :)