November 25th 2006
Last night, it became quite cold, so we used the third blanket. The next morning, we found out that there was a window open from outside, but the third blanket kept us warm. There were also very noisy people next door as they kept talking - but since we were tired, we eventually went to sleep.
We got up early to go to Sariska Park, but had to wait for the hot water, the geyser was started at 6 am, we had to leave at 7.15 to meet with the jeep driver at the hotel entrance. Meanwhile, we had tea and waited for the water to become hot. Received breakfast in the room - pot of tea (nice and hot) and tomato sandwiches.
7.15 am - Left for Sariska Park for Safari. The driver's name was Ramji Lal. He was wearing a chaadar (bedcover) around his body to keep him warm. In the open jeep we were able to stand up and take pictures or just stand and watch. We drove around for 3 hours, plus a 1/2 hour in a temple which driver wanted us to visit. Took some pictures, which were all a washout. Maybe, we should have gone later in the day to get better pictures, morning shots were not that good, and most of the animals are also spotted later in the day. Paid Rs 1100 + Rs 50 tip. Did not have change, so we told Ramji Lal to take Rs 50 from Satinder Sharma, in the manager's presence, whom we paid in our total bill.
After returning from the Safari, we went to the open air restaurant to get some breakfast before leaving the hotel. We were waiting for the breakfast, but 2 local security cops stopped by, and they were served first - they were there to welcome Vasundra Raje, the CM of Rajasthan, who was visiting Sariska that day. We were finally served with stuffed parathas with yogurt and pickle and tea. While we were eating, we saw that Saravan Singh was also ready, and he was keen to be off before the streets got crowded for the Chief Minister's visit.
Paid the hotel Rs 3800 which included the Safari bill - as well as room and food. Somehow, in the final bill, we saw the increase of exactly Rs 300 that was discounted the day before. So, Satindra Sharma, very gracious to oblige every step of the way, is still a smooth operator. They had only 3 rooms booked but after us 5 more guys showed up that increased their occupancy.
12.00 noon - Left the Hotel - Sariska Tiger Heaven - for Jaipur.
Uneventful journey back to Jaipur.
2.15 am - Reached Jaipur.
2.30 pm - Reached Hotel Arya Niwas. There were no rooms available, we had been warned before, but somehow, between Saravan Singh and us, we managed to get one smaller room on the ground floor (Room 109). This was nowhere close to Room number 404, but still clean and a bit cheaper too (Rs 800 for the night). We picked our laundry (Rs 130) that we had left behind for cleaning and requested them for some more cleaned today (it had to be dropped of by 9 am or earlier, to receive it the same night) to get it back next morning. They could not commit to it, but finally we got the message that cleaners will bring it back next morning before we left. Most of the items costed Rs 10 per piece that we got laundered, but their rates suggested some items did cost Rs 15 or Rs 20, depending on the size and material etc. The exchange rate we got was between Rs 43 to Rs 44 per dollar. The exchange rate varies daily.
Pavan discussed the travel plans for the following days with the Bansals, with a possible 10 days extention, if needed.
We had been in touch with Sunil to take us back to the shopping area where Neelam and I had gone on the first day to buy Jutis (soft shoes) and bedcovers etc. We decided to go with him in the evening before the stores closed at 7 pm. Settled down in our room, we had decided to leave one suitcase with Sunil, so I removed most of the items that I thought we would not need on this leg of the trip, and packed them in the bag to be left behind in Jaipur, not sure how we would get this bag back later, as we were not going to return to Jaipur. We discussed the possibilities of shipping the suitcase to Meerut, but left it at that.
6.00 pm - Went shopping with Sunil, but did not buy anything as we really did not want to carry more unless I really liked something. I was more keen for Pavan to buy a pair of chappals, but he refused. So, we did not buy anthing at all. While we were driving back to the hotel, we told him how we bought this set of books Annals and Antiquities by James Tod that we have been looking for. He reminded us that he has a bookshop at the City Palace too, and that he sells the same 2 volume set for under Rs 600!!!! Well, we have been had! We paid $33 - equivalent of Rs 1400 (paid at the rate of Rs 43 per dollar) in Mahwa. We told him that we were looking to buy some more books on Rajasthan, which we now decided to buy from him. He said he would ship the books to Bombay, Neelam's address before we reach there.
Pavan insisted on giving Sunil Rs 500 on account (he had paid Rs 250 for a battery charger for us + unfortunately had to pay Rs 100 fine for going past a red light earlier).
After Sunil left with our bag, we went to get some dinner before settling down for the night. Had tea. Our tea kettle that we have been carrying has given excellent service. We have teabags and some creamer too. Since we both do not add sugar to our tea or coffee, one less item to carry.
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