Through the Rear Window: Traveling to Jaipur

I enjoy going on road-trips, even when I’m just a passenger.  A treat for me was relaxing in our tour van as we drove around Rajasthan.  There’s a lot of interesting stuff to see from the rear window, and I’m often sitting there with my camera in hand hoping to capture some images of average people in their everyday lives.  Not all of it’s pretty, but most of it’s interesting.  It’s a little tricky to get good photos from a moving vehicle, but I tried my best

Parts of the countryside are quite lovely, like this field of canola.  It could be a farm scene from just about any country in the world.  The warm climate of India lends itself to several crops (3-4) harvested from a given field each year.

Getting around is as much a challenge here as anywhere in India.  You’ll find colorfully dressed people waiting for the bus….

(Note the presence of fine turbans on a number of elderly gentlemen.  The quantity of turbans you’ll see seems to be directly related to how far you are from Delhi.  Very few younger men wear them, so this may be a disappearing facet of life in India.)

Motorcycles are an extremely popular way to get around.  It’s rare to see just one passenger on a scooter….

More common is to see multiple passengers on a motorbike.  Below we see a family of four, not at all a rarity.  I saw 6 people on one motorcycle (my personal record), mostly kids.  Safety helmets don’t have much of a market here.  I would not have taken my family on such a vehicle, but then again I can afford a car.

You’ll see lots of animals when you drive about.  Cows seem to have the run of the place, especially in cities.  They can pretty much go anywhere and do anything they want to.  I wondered what they find to eat because there isn’t much grass around and I was told by our guide that people leave their cooking scraps (mostly vegetables) on the curb for the cows.

This nursing sow was memorable for her enormous size.  Must have weighed 300 pounds or more, and she’s got a family to feed in addition to her own needs.

Camels are quite popular in Rajasthan and still commonly used to transport people and goods.  They’re homely animals, in a dignified stoic sort of way.

And there are many herds of goats and sheep, both generically sold in shops and restaurants as “mutton”.  So mutton is a bit of a mystery meat in India.

Where there are animals you’ll find dung, which seems a valuable resource as lots of paddies are dried for fuel.  Thousands and thousands of paddies were spotted drying on our journey.  As it doesn’t seem to get very cold here, I’m assuming the dung is used in cooking fires rather than to heat a home.

You’ll often see people taking a modest bath by the road….

And women gathering wood as best as they can, again presumably for cooking fires.

There are many shantytowns, like in many regions of the world….

And lots of people who didn’t seem to have much to do.  Not that there isn’t a lot of work done in India — there certainly is.

You’ll see all kinds of commerce, such as this street vendor of used doors and windows….

….or more upscale retail shops like these.

Finally we were in Jaipur.   A wonderful city, and the journey there was most interesting.

Last weekend’s One Clue Mystery photo (below) featured one of the gates of Jaipur.  The city was recognized by Bob Cranwell, Professor Abe and George G.  Good work gentlemen!