Amenities, Conveniences and Inconveniences
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My first bedroom in India, at the Metro Heights Hotel, Karol Bagh,
Delhi.
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This is the ceiling fan in my first hotel room. I couldn't help
thinking it looked more like an airplane propeller. In many (perhaps
most) places in India, this is what they call air conditioning.
The "window unit" air conditioner is a luxury, and as far as I can
tell, central air conditioning is unheard-of.
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This trains was so modern that it actually had air conditioning as
well as the fan. Never mind that it was winter and we were about to
travel into desert-like areas where the temperature fell into the 40s
at night -- the air conditioning ran full tilt all night long. Some
of our neigbors stuffed socks into the vents to keep from freezing.
At least the fan could be turned off!
Train station, near Delhi.
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We always seemed to be booked in double rooms, but there were no other
single men in the group, so I wound up with my choice of two beds.
Many people found the beds here painfully hard, though mine did not
bother me. Of course since every room was unique, I may have just had
good mattress luck.
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The sheets were colorfully tie-died. Apparently the owner of the
place is an aging hippie, and I think I even heard a rumor that he had
been part of the Beatles circle when they were in India. Hotel
Bhairon Vilas, Bikaner.
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The view from between the beds out the door, to give some sense of
perspective of the room. Also interesting to note are the built-in
mirrors and the fact that all the walls are 18" thick sandstone!
Hotel Bhairon Vilas, Bikaner.
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And, of course, there were lots of hand-made Indian carpets.
Hotel Bhairon Vilas, Bikaner.
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These tapestries with small mirrors sewn in are typical Rajasthani
art. Also interesting is the staircase leading to a tiny door, which
was just marginally chained. (It turns out this led to the roof, from
where some of my photos were taken!)
Hotel Bhairon Vilas, Bikaner.
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I don't think these fans were quite original equipment in the
Fort, but they looks like they could be pretty close.
Junagarh Fort, Bikaner.