Virendra's Blog

Recently I visited the pink city of Jaipur.

Well the trip was OK and I cannot complain. The place is good, people are well behaved (after seeing Delhi I don’t even want to compare) and there are places you should see.

It was the planning before the trip that was great.

I do not like buying tour packages.

You get tied up with a fixed schedule and a group of oldies (well I can tolerate them), families with most mischievous kids (have they stopped manufacturing kids of my kind?) and stupid couples showing off all the love (one more month my dears and let’s see if you even think of another trip together).

So I went ahead with planning on my own. First – when? Vacation plans for me and wife should match or rather vacation plans for our bosses should match.

Fortunately for us, Lord had mercy and we were given a Good Friday. It was all smiles for both of us, until my client decided the deadlines for my project should be delayed so we could implement it on some day off (Good Friday, that is).

ALARMS! ALARMS! ALARMS!

Suddenly all my life flashed before my eyes. Wife had been telling all her sahelis about it and if the trip did not materialise, I was a goner. I prayed hard and visited the local Temple, Mosque, Church and Gurudwara. The deadline was delayed even further and I was reborn.

That done, came the trickiest part – where to stay? Did you know there’s a hotel in Jaipur with a room for which they charge 108,000 Rupees per night (yes that’s a cool one hundred and eight thousands). No, trust me there is. And this was the kind of rooms Google kept throwing at my face.

Whatever happened to the B&Bs, the budget hotels, the dharamshalas, those wonderful Rain-Baseras, the sidewalks and railway platforms … ?

When I could actually figure out some hotels and called them, the responses were so much like I expected for sometime, it was like I was calling the same number again and again…

Begin Transcript

[VPS] Hello.

[Hotel] Hello.

[VPS] Is this hotel – XYZ123?

[Hotel] Welcome sir. How can I help you?

[VPS] I am looking for hotel accomodation between dd-mm-yyyy to (dd-mm-yyyy)+3.

[Hotel] How many people sir?

[VPS] 2.

[Hotel] Kahan ki PARTY hai sir? (Where is the party coming from?)

[VPS] Party!!??

[Hotel] Aap kaun si AGENCY se bol rahe hein? (Which travel agency do you work for?)

[VPS] Agency!!??

[Hotel] ??

[VPS] Listen my friend, I need a room for me and wife for 3 nights. I am calling from Delhi.

[Hotel] I am sorry sir. We are full. But you can check with us on the day you reach here.

Hang up.

End Transcript

No wonder people always prefer to join a travel party arranged by some good agency.

I did manage to get a reservation in JaiNiwas guest-house (which turned out to be a comfortable and highly economical decision).

 Maybe some other time I will talk about the trip itself …