Oh my god… the honking. This can’t be real.  My ears hurt. My nerves frayed. It never stopped. The noise was bad enough, but the way people drove. Cars. Trucks. Tuk Tuks. Scooters. Weaving in and out. Between. Around. Chaos on steroids. And what about pedestrians and cows (!) casually crossing the street.”Watch out!” I silently screamed.  It was all too much. 

I had just arrived in Jaipur the night before from my lovely Thailand and my system wasn’t ready for this onslaught. Would it ever be?

Let’s back up.

The flight from Bangkok was a breeze. A little over four hours. I always think of India as being on the other side of the planet. But I guess that’s where I was. And the $150 flight made it a no brainer. Except I had never been to India before. Honestly I was a bit fearful. How would I handle the crowds? The poverty? The noise! But I wasn’t about to travel the world and leave this huge, magnificent country out. It was time to take the jump. 

Luckily I was traveling with my old friend Bruce. He has been to India many times since his first visit in the 60’s. It felt good to have a guide to help me navigate this otherworldly land.

We landed and breezed through immigration. But it was late — almost midnight. I had booked a hotel a month earlier so I texted them to tell them we were on our way. They seemed confused. Then I was confused. It turns out that I had booked for March… and it was February!  Damn. I gave a long long sigh as I settled onto a chair. It doesn’t happen often, but this wasn’t the first time that I have messed up. Over the last three years, I have booked so many flights… hotels… whatever. How can you not make a mistake? As Bruce bit his tongue, I jumped onto Booking.com (my go to booking site) and found a nicely reviewed hotel the the right part of town. We hopped into a taxi and took the short drive there. 

There is something unnerving about driving up to your hotel and seeing a small weathered sign hanging outside what appears to be an industrial warehouse nestled in a small alley.  “Are you sure this is the place?” I asked the driver. I was tired and not ready for more adventure. I shuffled out of the car and down a dark corridor into a large five story open space with rooms on all four sides. It kind of reminded me of Morocco. A young man with a curled up mustache greeted me warmly. Okay, I can relax. We made it. As I signed in, another smiling man took our bags and headed up the elevator to our rooms. 

My room was surprisingly nice. It was clean. The bathroom was small but otherwise modern. But as I looked around. Something was amiss. “Where are the windows?” There were none. I have to admit I have this thing about sleeping in a room without a window. I’m probably not alone. But since this room cost $30 for the night and I was exhausted. I let it slide. 

I unpacked. Brushed my teeth and got into bed. It was plenty comfortable. Good night.

I slept better than I anticipated. I was told that breakfast would be ready at 7:30. I headed down for coffee right on the dot. 

I thought India would be hot. But it was surprising cool, even cold. I bundled up (no heaters anywhere) and nestled into a corner of the small dining room. I was the only one there. But the coffee was good. Okay, this place isn’t perfect but it’ll do.

An hour later Bruce emerged, bags in hand. He did not have the night I did. The one thing that sleeping in a room without windows gives you is quiet. Never thought about that. His room had a window and he couldn’t sleep at all because of the incessant noise from the city below. 

“We’ve got to move” he insisted. I sighed, then shrugged. “Okay. I’ll see what I can find.”

Back to Booking.com I found another place with an excellent rating — a 9.3! Hard to beat that. I packed my bags. A sweet Tuk Tuk driver named Bablu was ready to help. Within a few minutes we arrived to yet another broken alley, this time lined with tiny shops selling a wide assortment of light bulbs in every color imaginable. The hotel’s name was painted above a pair of steel doors, slightly ajar. There were boxes everywhere. Young men were moving them about. Must be where they store all those lightbulbs. An arrow pointed up, so we packed ourselves into the tiny elevator and headed to the second floor. 

A lovely woman from Nepal who spoke no English answered the door. She proceeded to lead us back to the first floor, through an unmarked door, down a small terrace to our rooms.

As I opened the door, I was a bit shocked. Yes there was a bed (with only a bottom sheet). And thankfully a small window. And a bathroom. But it had all the charm of a prison cell. Underwhelming would be a understatement. And a 9.3 rating? You’ve got to be kidding me.

I started to realize that India was going to take some time getting used to. 

Bablu was waiting to take us to lunch. We slid into the ancient TukTuk. Lurching onto the busy street the onslaught began again. 

Okay. This was my first time ever in India. I knew it would be different. I thought I was ready. And maybe I was. But my body wasn’t. To be fair, the day wasn’t totally bad. We had a lovely lunch. The waiters were smiling. I’m a big fan of Indian food so this was heaven. 

After lunch we once again blended into the chaos.  But I began to feel worse. My head hurt. My tummy unsettled. The fumes and the noise crept under my skin.

We did a tour of a few places. We had dinner. I retired early to my room happy that the day was ending. 

But the din from the street below did not end. More horns. I put plugs into my ears, took a sleeping pill and somehow managed to fall asleep. 

Day 2…

Waking up I stared at the stark ceiling. I was okay. It’s a new day. Yesterday was just what it was. I’m a sensitive guy so I gave myself credit — I wasn’t ready for the chaos. But I can adjust. There is nothing life threatening here. Everyone I’ve met has been nice. There is plenty to see and explore. The food is outstanding. And let’s face it — I’m going to be here for two months so I better surrender.

So that’s what I did.