Continuing my journey off the bus, we arrived at the wedding. The temple the wedding was held in was a beautiful structure made of marble and stone. The entire temple was decorated with flowers and garments in a lavish manner. The Wedding itself was nothing short of spectacular; my words fail short of its awe.
I was excited enough to be be in India for a wedding, but I was not expecting to see an elephant that day; especially an elephant with a tiger on it. This elephant carried the groom from down the street to the temple entrance.
There was a stark contrast between the magnificent temple and the neighboring people’s homes. This was very striking to me. I always think of places being gradually segregated economically, but it appears that in India the divide is sudden and exists with just a foot of concrete wall.
The above picture is just to the east of the temple.
I’ll leave the wedding itself private, but it was something I will never forget. The ride back from the wedding to the hotel was again an adventure. I made sure to avoid the Yellow bus. I really didn’t want to know what was going on outside in the highway. It was hard to see outside anyway; dark as the night was the Indian highway.
Once we got back to the hotel, we were again ready to party. The lounge was reserved for our use with endless drinks. Unlimited boose.
What can I say? Unlimited boose, no driving and no real responsibilities in the morning? You can guess by the title. I overdid this one big time. I had tons of fun that night, but I must say the details are blurry and scarce in my mind now. Starting to hit late 20s. Sometimes I need a slap in the face that I’m not 18 any more and can’t drink any amount of boose I want and get away with it the next day.
The following morning we were to gather at 10AM sharp and go on a day trip to sight see and to shop. I had an issue: A big freaken hangover. It felt like that elephant from the day before had been crushing me with its feet.
Sitting in the back of the bus does’t help you either. By the time we got to the first stop on the bus, I was ready to die. I asked the tour guide to get me a taxi back to the hotel.
This hangover turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the photographer in me. I was able to take photos of India instead of what I could get at a gift shop later in postcard form. I could take pictures of India.
Here are a couple of shots from while I was waiting for the Taxi to show up:
Man with a missing arm
The men to the left were the people running the bus company.
In addition to going to a wedding in India, I got to witness a part of a funeral. The above picture also give you a good idea of what a typical street is like. Full of color, people and automobiles.
Talking about automobiles, I really enjoyed the way all the trucks were decorated. Reminded me of Japan 20 years ago when they had Deco-Trucks full of lighting and artwork.
At this point, my Taxi arrived and we were off weaving through the streets of Jaipur back to the hotel.
Motocycles seem to be the favored mode of transport. I can understand why. The streets are chaotic and with the amount of people, it would be a lot easier to navigate through traffic. The billboards were all aimed at motocycle buyers instead of car buyers in India.
It seems that everything was moving everywhere. Above picture is my favorite from the entire set. To be continued….