From Jaipur to Devi Gahr

Akhtar

Dinner by candlelight at Devi Gahr

Part of our suite

I woke up in the middle of the night with terrible cramps. It was really uncomfortable. I spent the night mostly awake, finally deciding to take some antibiotics. Starting around 4:30 there was heavy rains, thunderstorms, and lighting. It was all a little dramatic. This wasn’t Delhi Belly, but some thing else. Finally we got dressed for breakfast (all I had was black tea) we debated going to the final day of the Literary Festival but I didn’t feel up to it, Cathy and John did.

I remained back at the hotel. Feeling miserable. Finally, about 11am I had the hotel call me a doctor. I explained my symptoms, and showed him the Anti-Biotic that had been prescribed for me in the States for digestion problems. The doctor said “don’t take them, take this Indian Medicine, you will be OK in 2 to 4 hours”. Damn if he was not right! I guess no doctors in the world are as adept at diagnosing and treating stomach problems. I am going to make sure that my doc in back home knows about the medicine.

Cathy and John did go to the last day of the festival, but they only went to panels. I will watch them when they are on-line in Feb. We then went out shopping. I was healed and able to join them. We did hit Gem Palace (a favorite) and several textile shops. We returned to the hotel for dinner and a couple of bottles of wine (none for me). John and Cathy had standard Indian fair, for me the kitchen made Kitcheri (boiled rice and mung beans) very easy on the digestive track. The doctor told me to each responsibly for the next 3 days. Since I feel well, I think I will modify his advice, to allow for wine and some other treats. The food is to good to pass up!

The festival was once again a great experience. In America you would never get such divergent views. I especially liked the political, social and historical sessions. The authors were launching many books. We selected the books we wanted and then went home and ordered them thru Amazon, where available. For those books not on Amazon we purchased at the Festival Book Store and had them shipped home. We definitely got a lot of reading ahead of us.

We awoke to lousy rainy weather, but we were leaving Jaipur for Devi Gahr anyway. The previous two times we were in Jaipur it didn’t rain. The ride to Devi Gahr took 6-1/2 hours. We had previously stayed there and were looking forward to our return. The rain had ceased and the weather was very pleasant.

The hotel had upgraded us to a beautiful suite, spacious dinning room, sitting room, views - the works. It was very nice of them. The hotel had been purchased by Lubua, an upscale Thai Hotel chain, we wanted to see if anything had changed. It had for the better!

 On our previous stay at Devi Gahr we had met a wonderful guide, Ahktar, and we were anxious to see him again. He wasn’t allowed in the hotel, but you could meet him outside for a tour of the nearby village. He lived on tips made very little money and had no prospects. He knows everyone in the village and has an incredible personality. We were overwhelmed when Ahktar came running up to us in the hotel, dressed in a beautiful suit, with his own name tag. He was hired by the hotel and named concierge! He has a real career! Even more touching for us, we had praised him in our last trip in our blog, saying the hotel should hire him. They became aware of the blog, and it was instrumental in Ahktar being hired. We are very happy! He took us on a walk around the small village where 4 very young girls (14 year of age) were marrying 4 young boys from a nearby village. He introduced us to the village priest at the temple (who smokes marijuana ever day). Hinduism has its advantages.

After walking around the village, we returned to the hotel for wine and dinner overlooking the Rajasthan mountains. This was a very auspicious start to our stay at the Palace on the Hill.