Pink Palaces and Brown Orphans

Is that lady Di in the back of that Rickshaw?
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Next stop? Jaipur!

The road to jaipur was surprisingly good - I didn't know they knew how to build roads in India, apparently they do, or at least they have built ONE road well! The even have fences here, I couldn't believe it, first real fences I ahd seen in India.

On arrival in Jaipur bags were dumped and it was straight on to an orphanage. The orphange has been set up by an orphan, and is run with the intent of giving the children skills/education that will allow them to support themselves with paid work when they are older. This place was wonderful. The children makes arts and crafts which they then sell in an on site shop, the money goes straight into the artists individual bank account set aside for their future!

At the orphanage
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The lives some of these young girls have led is sickening! One girl (who was mentally and physically damaged but recovering slowly) was married off to her husband at 8 years old, where she was pimped out for 5+ years until somehow she escaped and found herself at the orphanage. It really tears at your heart to see so many beautiful young girls with such horrifying histories.Idia is full of poverty, and after a while you get very hardened to it and become a little jaded, then you turn a corner and WHAM something that really moves you stares you in the face. These girls were so full of spirit, so delighted to see us and so proud of what they had achieved..........it was very hard to stop myself from purchasing everything they were selling in order to make some kind of difference.

The race is on.........
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One young girl showed me around the jewellery section and was pointing out different things, I thought that she may point out some of her pieces so that she would make a little money out of it, but instead she was picking out the things that she thought were most beautiful that her friends had made. Seeing someone in that kind of environment being so selfless in India was quite something!

Jaipur itself was large and bustling and full of Indians trying to sell anyhing they possibly could to westerners! Even halters for horse, which I was actually quite tempted by! I managed to bargain a bangle seller down from 1200 rupees to 300 rupees for 3 sets of bangles......which I was quite proud of until one set broke an hour later!

A sly python charmer photo......
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The pink palace was quite beautiful, and the surrounding countryside. Our guide however,left quite a lot to be desired.......I somehow managed not to hear a word the man said.........either wandering into a room before him and being upwind (which given that he was a rather greasy indian was not such a bad idea), or getting carried away taking self portraits, or actually,god forbid LOOKING at something in one of the rooms and being left well behind, only to reach the group as they were departing. I refuse to believe that leaving the pink palace with no more knowledge than when i entered is ANY fault of mine! Although i do seem to recall that they imported the massive marble columns from Italy, and that the Maharaja had 5 wives!