Everywhere I go I want to travel by rickshaw.

For the first time in my life I've been furious at beggers. I usually leave them a coin or two or a little something to eat, but here, I've decided to let go of that practice. I've ended up on more than one occation, after giving something to a child or their parent, being chased by hords of their friends/family/other children, who will not take no for and answer and swear at you or tug at you if they don't feel you gave them enough. Apart from that, I think I've found paradise.

We're in Jaïpur, the so called pink city, which in my opinion isn't very pink, but still well worth a visit. There is a kite-festival going on, and children as well as adults, poor as well as the rich are out in the streets or on their roof-tops flying kites. We've found an oasis of a hostel, with the most amazing hosts which have turned around some of the ails we've encountered travelling in India. (If you're reading this and looking for accomondation in Jaïpur, check out the Travellers Nest!) they have't tried to sell us any thing, they give honest and good advice when we ask for help, they are both very interresting and interrested(!) people with whome we've allready had a few really nice conversations. Our room is beautiful, simple and clean, and we have hot water whenever we want it. They well deserve their top-rating in hostel-world.

We've also seen the mandatory Taj Mahal and baby-Taj in Agra, and that's about all the good things i can say about that city. I thought I was well over being tricked by people who are just trying to sell you things and benefit from you somehow, but they really are everywhere here (apart from this hostel, yay!). The driver who took us to the not-so-great-but-still-ok hotel in Agra from the train-station showed up at our hotel the next day after a firm "we'll call you if we need you" to show us around. Buying services from people who are constntly trying to make plans for you can be really exhausting, and we'd had it up to here when we went on to Jaïpur. We got a taxi/driver all the way, which was quite expensive, but still well worth the money for us, since the road between Agra and Jaïpur turned out to be magnificent in itself and we had te oportunity to stop and take pictures. it also helped that he didn't speak much english and thus couldn't talk us in to weird shopping-deals or the sort. He did make one stop we didn't request though, at a place that wouldn't let us invite him as our guest at our table since "the drivers had to eat in another room", something we also encountered in Agra. Just an example showing that the cast-system is alive and well.

But back in Jaïpur the only problems we've encountered to speak of is tummyache due to gluttony. We originally booked in for one night, but decided to stay for 3. We've been hiking in the mountainside up to this fort where the king used to live while hunting tigers (there extinct in the region now), seing wild monkeys up close aswell as many other pretty wild animals.

We've decided on not going north at all, and perhaps leave Rajasthan all together after this and head south. If all goies as losely planned, we'll be catching a train to Mumbai, with a stopover in Udaipur for one day, then go onwards from Mumbai to the south Goa-area and Hampi, and if we can miraculously find the time, look around further south for animal reserves and tea-plantations. We just don't have enough time to see half of what we wanted, espessially if we're going to continue spending 3 days on each place. But hey, it's vacation after all, innit?