Jaipur

From Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, we continued by car to the "Pink City" of Jaipur in the state of Rajasthan. Jaipur is in a hilly area; as we entered, the road wound uphill through narrow walls.  We stayed at a lovely hotel, Le Meridien (pronounced by the locals as "Lee Meriden") where we were greeted with music, marigold necklaces, and cool drinks.  They didn't have our reservation, but they upgraded us to a suite anyhow.  This hotel places an emphasis on local arts -- in the evening they had drumming, dancing, and a Rajasthani puppet show.  The elevator featured a soundscape that made you feel as if you were being flushed -- that part was just weird.  We found a rooftop bar and had pizza under the stars.

Our first tourist destination was the Amber Fort, built by a maharajah about 400 years ago.  Our guide, Sunil, was great at creating images of what the palace was like in its heydey.  The palace featured a central sleeping area covered with small mirrors that would have reflected candlelight and moonlight.  This would have been richly carpeted and hung with silk curtains blowing in the evening breeze.  There was an early form of air conditioning involving water & air currents.  Underground passages provided a secret means to travel from one palace-fort to another.  It was fascinating.

At the end of the tour, Sunil took us to the "official" store where we learned about the traditional methods used for block printing and carpet weaving.  This was all part of a sales pitch of course. We were tempted by some beautiful carpets, very reasonably priced, but we just don't do that on vacation.

Early risers can ride elephants (locals say "elly-fants") up the hill to the fort.  We were lucky enough to see them bathing in the afternoon, and in the streets again later.  Steve fed some rolls to one from the car window -- it was fun but a little scary too.

The other site on our list was Jantar Mantar, a 400-year-old observatory.  (Interesting that most of the sites we've seen have been about the same age.  I guess it was the Indian Renaissance.)  It had just been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Our driver couldn't find the place at all the first day, but we went back the next morning and I'm so glad that we did.  The place was like a sculpture garden, but instead of art they had very large scale astronomical "instruments."  This first picture, for example, is a sundial.  It's said to be accurate within two seconds.  Pretty impressive that this maharajah chose to use his power and wealth for scientific (or at least astrological) purposes.

The observatory was peaceful and green.  There were some workers cutting the grass, but no one was trying to sell us anything or take us anywhere.  All of a sudden, a whole bunch of monkeys appeared and ran along the wall.  We took lots of photos.  Here's one of the best.