All that glitters IS Gold

Rambagh Palace

Polo Bar

Our Bathtub with dome and chandelier 

All Gold Plates

Gobi (Cauliflower) Eggplant and Rice

Dining Room

What a dinner!

We were packed and ready to leave for Jaipur. We were supposed to be picked up at the Taj Hotel at 9am for our ride to the airport. Traffic can be impossible in Bombay by 9:10 our driver had not shown up. We decided to take a taxi to the airport. The doorman of the Taj hailed a cab for us. About half way to the airport the taxi driver’s phone rang. It was the Taj calling, our driver had finally shown up and they wanted to make sure we had tickets. We were amazed - how did the Taj know we were in that cab, and how did they know how to contact the taxi? We asked the taxi driver and he explained the Taj knows and approves and watches every taxi that picks up a Taj Customer. It was amazing. It was like being in a surveillance state when it was working for you not against you. They told the driver to wait and make sure we got into the correct terminal. Amazing service!

Once we had cleared security we headed for our gate. We waited patiently for our flight reading the morning papers. All of sudden I realized somehow, I had misplaced my boarding pass. I ran back to security and they were no help, but finally they said they would re-issue a ticket for me at the gate. I ran back to the gate and went up to the police at the gate. I look down on their desk and saw my missing ticket. I was very relieved, I have no idea how they wound up with it. I retrieved it and tried to tip the cops. They visibly refused any money. It was clear that they were not corrupt and didn’t want to be associated with being tipped for doing their duty.

When we arrived at Jaipur all I can say is that it was chaos waiting for our bags. This was the old India (in a new airport). Teaming crowds, narrow spaces, no information. Cathy kept saying if her brother Michael arrived in India, he would get off the plane, experience the chaos and immediately turn around and take the next plane out of India.

We eventually retrieved our luggage and found Vijay our driver for the remainder of the trip. It was great to be re-united with him, we are very close to Vijay and his family. The traffic at the airport was amazing. There were machine gun toting guards and vehicles with mounted machine guns. There have been serious terrorists incidents in India recently, and there have been threats against the literary festival.

Vijay drove us to the Rambagh Palace where we are staying. This was the Palace of the last Maharaja of Jaipur and is quite new by India standards. Our room is extraordinary.

Here is video of our suite.

We will be quite happy here.

We then drove over to the Diggi Palace where the festival will be held. It was like the proverbial Indian Wedding all coming together at the last minute. There were workers everywhere. Tents were being erected, signs posted, fresh paint applied. We went to the book store which was in the process of being stocked. They allowed us to wonder about. It was good, for it gave us a chance to discover books that we will buy there. We will only buy books that can't be found in America. We don't want to lug around extra books.

We returned to the Rambagh and had drinks in the Polo Bar. We ate an amazingly good dinner in their opulent dining room. All of our tableware was made of gold! Plates, serving pieces etc. This was dinner with bling! The Maharaja certainly knew how to live large.

Tomorrow the festival begins under intense security.