The Pink City

Amber Fort
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Today we took a bus to Jaipur. Jaipur is known as the "Pink City" because it's city center is all painted a deep pink reminiscent of the pink sandstone and marble that the area is known for. It sounds odd, but it's really quite pretty. Sorry no pictures right now, the computer I'm using is really slow and it would never work. I'll add them in a couple days.

We hired an autorickshaw to give us a tour around the town. We hired him for the afternoon which went into the evening... less than $10. He was really nice. We went to the Hawa Mahal, or Palace of the Winds. It was built so the women of the royal family could watch the processions and city life without being seen by the men. The windows are kind of like honeycombs, so they could look out, but no one could get a clear view of them.

Amber Fort
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Next we went to the Amber Fort. As with many of the forts in India, it's built on top of the highest point, where they could watch for intruders. We saw lots of elephants walking down the hill while we were driving up. They really decorate the elephants here... use a kind of chalk to make intricate drawings on their faces.. it's very pretty. Once we got up there, we hiked up to the fort. We bought our tickets - one foreigner, one Indian. We went up the stairs to the entrance... and they wouldn't let us in. Apparently they thought my friend was a guide and were trying to charge us an extra fee. Finally we went back down to the ticket area and found a policeman... he marched us right back up there and made them let us in.... so there! The fort was very nice, built from red sandstone and white marble.

Hmmm... should I take the elephant or the camel today?
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The Jal Mahal (water palace) was next on the agenda. It's a palace that was built as a summer resort for the royal family... right in the middle of a lake. The lake was a bit dry when we were there, but it was beautiful, nonetheless.

Finally we went to a really pretty temple surrounded by amazing green grass, trees, and flowers. Spotlessly clean (very unusual here). It was built by a rich man to honor his parents and to give a place that all could come (foreigners can't go in to some temples). It was built out of marble and is quite magnificent. It also represents many religions and has places on it depicting Islam, Christianity, Judaism, as well as others.