The "Pink" City

Snake Charmers...we know you've been waiting for this one.
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Thanksgiving Day!

We headed to Jaipur and checked in to our hotel.  Nareesh brought us to three seriously touristy restaurants until we demanded to be brought to a restaurant where we wouldn't see any white people.  He finally gave in, which meant no commission for him, and brought us to a local restaurant that we could actually afford.  We enjoyed a spectacular traditional Thanksgiving feast of paneer tikka, dal makhani, rice, and naan.  Mmmm...just like home.  Nareesh scored us a guide for the afternoon and he joined us for Thanksgiving dinner and explained the history of the "pink" city.  We are "" the word Pink because in our opinion it was more of a burnt sienna or salmon color...semantics.  Pink is the color used to welcome guests.

Thanksgiving dinner :)
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After we ate, the guide hustled us around to see all of the sights we wanted to see..it was great...he even bossed Nareesh around which was a nice change.  The first stop was Jantar Mantar to see the worlds biggest, working, sundial.  It was seriously impressive!  Its accurate within 2 seconds.  There were a lot of other interesting astrological instruments there and we learned quite a bit.

Then we saw snake charmers outside the gate...very scary.

We then headed to the tiger fort (home of the kings 9 wives) then to the Amber Palace.  Another royal residence.  All very beautiful with amazing detail and intricate carvings, that you see in all old Indian architecture...its all breathtaking.

Jantar Mantar Sundial
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Because we enjoyed Jantar Mantar so much, our guide promised to take us to a really good Indian astrologer who would give us a reading/talk to us about our gemstones etc.  Really, we were brought to a jewelry store and locked in the backroom and shown lots of jewelry...no astrologer.  Luckily, they had really beautiful stuff!  Carrie bought me a spectacular...dear god wait until you see it...white gold and topaz ring for only $35!  Its so beautiful....have we mentioned how cheap India is?  This area is really rich in gemstones and gold so you can get superb jewelry for ridiculously cheap prices.  We would have bought so much more were we not on a tight budget...grrr....

We called our families to say "Happy Thanksgiving from India"

The hotel we were staying at was hosting a Muslim Wedding that night.  It was quite a tadoo and really beautiful...they partied a bit later than we would have liked but "Hey you only get married once right? ;)"