Amber-Jaipur(India)

So..I decided to cycle down to Amber fort..
no need to tell you all..it's very tiresome..
about 24kms up/down..in the heat..
one needs concentration in the traffic as well..
but once in the outskirts of Jaipur town..
I cycled alone..crossed Jal Mahal..nice place..
it's a palace surrounded by water...and hyacinth flowers..
I believe on page 26 I related of an earlier visit to Amber fort..
a fort in Hindi is called *qila*I visited lots of them on this trip..
Amber palace..stands on a rocky hillside..it's very impressiv..
http://www.indiasite.com/rajasthan/jaipur/amber.html
it's a very touristical place..too touristical in fact..
I locked my bicycle close to a tea stand..
I felt so damn thirsty..took one drink..
which I never should have taken in fact..
the drink was pure sugar cane liquid...which they make fresh..
squeezing the cane..trough some pressing machine like stuff..
a dark green liquid is served into a glass...
what I did not notice..where the flies..
I got dysentery after this trip...and was sick for 4 days..
you really get the shits when having dysentery..
symptoms can include heavy diarrea,general weakness..
point is..keep drinking liquids..otherwise you dehydrate totally..
coming back to my Amber fort visit..the villagers here..
are used to hords of tourists..which arrive by busloads.
they know how to trick or tackle them into their scams..
Amber was full of touts..trying to sell this..offer that..
I knew how to talk my way around..a bit of hindi..and a joke..
I always told these dudes..I was poor myself..
bit of insight and philosofy of Indian live was needed here..
Indians are curious folks..they will ask you 100 questions..
in these days..I had a big mouth..I could talk very well..
I still can do that today..but we are on a forum here..
too much sarcasm..too much false pretentions..
makes one silent..often..keeping our mouth shut..is a good option..
so..Amber village..I first went to see a small temple..
I talked to a villager..in broken Hindi..he invited me..
for a cup of tea..in his home..his wife+2 small kids..
sitting shy in the background..this dude..was maybe poor..
but not stupid at all..he said..he learned a lot from tourists..
but..as any Indian..the contrast beween rich/poor struck him..
American tourists..payed maybe the amount..
of his whole month income..just to get up to Amber.
by elephant ride..it's just a thrill for these tourists..
clicking the camera..giggling old ladies..with pots of money..
they had a good time..and a good pic to show..
they had been in Jaipur..funny contrasts..funny world..
the house of this dude's family..was just one room..
a kitchen...and a*palang*=bed..that's all he owned..
in fact..i wanted to be polite..and offered him..
some roupies for the tea..and guess what??
he refused it..he said..I had been his guest of honour..
and they don't pay for tea..my mistake..
I walked up the steep hill to the castle..it's a good climb..
I sweated like a horse..but a Coca Cola on top was in sight..
that crazy villager with his *rawanahatta*=kind of string instrument.
was still walking alongside the rich tourists on elephant backs..
monotone sound he made...on top..he would ask for *baksheesh*
amazing amount of *langur bandars*as well=wild monkeys..
Amber *qila*is amazing..the Rajput architecture..is overwhelming..
it has lots of Moghul influences..again Indian history..
India is such a network of history..it's amazing to stand in front
of these temples,forts,and ask yourself..
how could they ever build this??it's a mystery to me..
after a visit to Amber..walked down to the village..
took my bicycle...and cycled back to Ruby's place..
as told before..I got the shits..
and stayed 4 days in bed...feeling like hell..
crazy Tiger