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Jaipur

By Alexander Schlosser

September 25^th, 2023

Or: Days of enduring digestive discomfort while fiercely guarding personal space

When planning my India trip Jaipur was at the top of my list right from the beginning. I can't quite recall what initially sparked that excitement, but the more I read and heard about the city, the more I looked forward to finally visiting it.

However, soon after my arrival I realized that Jaipur, like many places, appeared more vibrant on social media and in travel blogs than it did in reality. It did indeed possess the rich colors, intricate architecture, and cultural heritage often praised online, but the pictures and videos I saw were carefully chosen and framed. Not that this is too surprising; well-known cities like Paris are also almost always reduced to clichés, after all. However, in Jaipur the gap between expectations and reality felt much larger to me. It was still a memorable experience overall, just in a very different way than I had expected. And it once again showed me how social media can influence personal expectations and, in turn, an entire trip.

When I boarded the overnight train in Delhi I was all excited: I immediately became a fan of the sleeping coaches, found the people on board to be warm and helpful, and the views from the train windows utterly mesmerizing.

In hindsight, I might have been somewhat naive to expect Jaipur to provide a calm contrast to the hustle and bustle of Delhi. Additionally, it was an oversight on my part to assume that the city would be easily navigable on foot upon my arrival. Within just a few hundred meters the calm train journey felt far away: I found myself approached by dozens of people, narrowly avoided numerous close encounters while walking along the five-lane roads, and ended up feeling lost amidst a whirlwind of stress and despair.

Unfortunately, this tumultuous introduction to Jaipur persisted in the days that followed. Unlike any other place I had explored in India, tourists seemed to be the one and only focal point of attention here. It became nearly impossible to blend into the background, as every step was met with requests for selfies, offers of transportation, and persistent sales pitches.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the occasional exchange with locals. Yet, Jaipur took it to an entirely different level. And within just 48 hours of my arrival, I noticed a shift in my body language, which became more passive (and perhaps even slightly aggressive) than what I'm used to.

As if all of that wasn’t enough already, a thoughtless visit to a Chinese restaurant added to the initial difficulties — and introduced me to what appears to be an integral part of almost every tourist's experience in India: a severe case of food poisoning. This not only cast a shadow over my time in Jaipur but also kept my stomach occupied for the subsequent two weeks.

What's surprising, though, is that despite these obstacles and frustrations, I later discovered that the photos from Jaipur were among my favorites from my entire journey through India and East Asia. The light, the colors, the architecture: everything that social media had promised was there. However, similar to what I saw online earlier, my photos never really depict the full character of the city. Instead, they frame the place in a way that conceals the chaos and stress that accompany it. It may seem like a delightful trip on Instagram and when scrolling through this blog post, however, in reality, it entailed days of enduring digestive discomfort and fiercely guarding personal space.

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Breathe In, Breathe Out

Downpour

Jaipur

Varanasi, India

Kolkata, India

Atlas Mountains

Jodhpur

Delhi

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