The Pink City

Cow enjoying garbage for breakfast.
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After ten days of travelling through the lush countryside of Southern India, we took a train North to the State of Rajasthan.  Rajasthan is famous with travellers for its forts, palaces, and shopping bazaars. The climate here is much hotter and drier than in the South, with the dunes of the Thar Desert spreading through the western half of the state. Our first stop in Rajasthan was Jaipur, the state capital.

Jaipur is home to the “Pink City”, a walled area of town filled with shopping bazaars where every building is painted the same pink color. The main street, Johari Bazaar, was particularly lively. Both sides of the street were lined with shops selling textiles, jewellery and bangles.  A sea of motorcycles washed up onto the sidewalk, and small side streets were converted into bustling fruit markets.  Camels pulled carts on the main street, cows roamed freely, and monkeys ran along the rooftops. We had a lot of fun observing life and ducking in and out of shops.

High quality restaurant entrance. Chapati's anyone?
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After being waylaid for a few minutes, Katy and I escaped from the throngs of photogenic children guarding the outer gate, paid our inflated entrance fee and entered the City Palace.  We passed a sweet snake charmer on our way into the palace to see its many interesting sights.  At the center of a rusty red courtyard was a small, open-air structure called the Diwan-i-Khas.  Its walls, columns, and numerous archways were painted light pink. The building houses two giant silver urns that are listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as the world’s largest silver objects.

Bangles. These flashy Indian bracelets are sold by the thousands.
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Adjacent to this courtyard, through the Riddhi-Siddhi Pol gate, is the Prtiam Chowk, a smaller courtyard with four delicately painted doorways that represent the four seasons.  The most well known of which is the Peacock Doorway. “Guarding” these doors were men in white uniforms wearing red turbins.  They must have the best job in all of India. Their only two duties are to stand next to something and wait for someone to take their picture, and then to stick their hand out, palm up, and say “tip”.

Fruit market just off Johari Bazaar.
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Located only a few kilometres away from Jaipur is a small town called Amber. The city is guarded by two forts, Amber and Jaigarh, and protected by a wall that runs atop nearby mountain ridges that encircle the town.

We spent a few hours exploring the stunning Amber fort before the afternoon sun chased us back to Jaipur. One of the forts highlights is the Ganesh Pol, a massive three story gateway that separates two of the fort's courtyards.  I particularly enjoyed the fort’s open air turrets that overlooked the town and surrounding hillsides. Must be good to be King, I thought as I stood there looking out at the buildings hundreds of feet below.

Limes for sale.
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After only a few days in Jaipur, we caught the night train to Udaipar.