Day 10 of Rajasthan trip -- Jaipur

Our last day of the infamous Rajasthan trip! It’s been delightful – rich in wealth, art and beauty, people have been kind and engaging, enamored with the kids (to a fault), so willing to help. (Also so willing to have us spend and donate money!)

The shops we entered have pulled out tons of linens – seemed assured we’d drop 100’s of dollars in minutes – maybe lots of tourists do?

Some of what we saw was unpleasant; no doubt every country has that – trash here there and everywere (trash cans I notice, are rather scarce here). Children coming up to cars on busy streets begging. One particularly poignant site: a toddler, nude, sleeping on the pavement in the market in Pushkar, no one nearby attending him that I could see.

But overall, I am captivated by what I’ve seen of India so far – the dancers, music, saris, turbans, bargaining (love the markets!), the jewelry these women wear, the forts in their grandeur, the changing countryside : flat and dry, sandy and brushy, hilly with stone fences, hilly with monkeys and brushy trees, green mountains, rock walls, sand dunes, patchwork crops, thatched houses, stone dwellings, havelis, on and on.

But about today – we got moving early – ate a quick breakfast. The waiter mistakenly brought Jai 2 orders of yogurt and barindi (?) – some knd of cooked flatbread. It was quite good.

We made a quick stop at the Howa Mahal, Palace of Winds. It was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh so women of the court could discreetly take air and watch the street activity below. Five stories, the building is one room thick so wind passed easily through it and with water thrown on the latticework, the breeze would be cool.

The façade – with a delicate honeycomb design – has close to 1,000 windows and is pink sandstone.

As we left, we saw our first snake charmer – fascinating in a repulsive way.

We zipped on to Amer Fort, up on a mountain near Jaipur. It was originally the city center but as population grew and water sourcing became a problem the capitol shifted to Jaipur (early 18th century). Building of the fortress began in 1592 by Raja Man Singh and construction continued by Mirza Raja Jai Singh and Sawai Jai Singh over a period of 125 years.

When we pulled up we saw lots of other tourists with the same plan – early start to ride an elephant. Thus we cued up – nice morning to be outside and a great lawn area for the kids to play, so the wait wasn’t unpleasant. It was amusing to see all the marketing going on up and down the line – puppets, t-shirts, turbans, toys, elephant knickknacks, books, post cards, etc. The views were fabulous – could see the 11 km. of wall circling the fort and coming down the mountains.

Before long it was our turn on an elephant; Sanchel was his name. The kids and I hopped on one side, Jai on the other and we had an iron bar to hang onto on four sides, one that lifted for mounting/dismounting. We stood on a platform to get on, with a cushion to sit on. And up the ramp to the fort we went. It felt a bit like a boat ride, swaying back and forth on old Sanchel.

Each elephant’s face and trunk was decorated colorfully, with a big red cloth over the back.

We dismounted in the 1st courtyard of the fort (Jaleb Chowk) and looked around – lovely mix of Rajput and Moghul art & architecture. One of the gates, with a latticed corridor above, was used by the queen who, always in purdah (hiding) would await the king’s return from battle and sprinkle scented water and flowers down on him.

The next courtyard featured the Hall of Public Audience. The prettiest room, in my mind, was the Sheesh Mehal (Palace of Mirrors), decorated all over with tiny bits of mirror on the walls and ceiling.

Near it was a lovely garden (Islamic design) with a wide variety of flowers. From the top of the fort we could see Jaigarh Fort on the crest of a hill.

In the oldest part of the fort were 12 apartments, one for each of the king’s queens (2 special ones for his favorites). One of the apartments had a deep square bathtub in the center. Apparently the queens could not go to the king’s apartment; he used secret passageways to visit them. They also weren’t allowed into each other’s apartments so instead congregated in their own courtyard, where entertainment was often provided. Eunuchs were used to guard their premises.

Incidentally, the fort was never attacked – too well fortified. How’s that for a play on words?

We walked down to the car then, hounded most of the way by a photographer who’d taken our photo on the way up. Unfortunately, none of the photos were good so I passed. The guide walked me through Kanak Vrinkara Gardens – a set of gardens and temples below the fort with a great view of Man Sagar Lake (apparently oft used in Bollywood).

We also stopped at the Jal Mahal, a lake palace not open to the public. It was used for entertainment by the royal family and is called the Floating Palace because it does look like it's floating. (It did not originally have water around it, an artificial lake was made around it after its completion).

The place we stopped for photos was on the lake, a lovely area for strolling – lamp posts and plants decorating the pink stone walkway.

Our guide left us in the market once our tour finished, as we wanted to wander and grab lunch. In search of a necklace for Claire we were offered 2 (both of which she liked) – 1 for 50 R, the other 15. We ended up getting both for 15. Go figure.

I found a skirt, and our other purchase was hard candy.

For lunch we had more street food snacks – I really like those filled fried potatoes. Harder to find something the kids love. We wrapped up the market an hour or so later – Jai got several items, which he tried to pass off as my purchases.

We relaxed on the rooftop terrace of our hotel before dinner, then headed to Chokhi Dhani, an entertainment “village” I’d read about. Part museum, part Indian style carnival: camel and elephant rides, pony and oxen cart rides, human powered ferris wheel (I have my doubts it’s up to any code), roaring dinosaur and lagoon, puppet shows, juggling acts, magicians, dancers, etc. You pay a fee to get in, most things are covered within that cost.

Kids had fun on the carts and Jai got into an altercation w/ the guy running the tin can ferris wheel.

Dinner came w/ the entry fee – we sat on the floor (padded cushions) before short tables and ate with our hands (and the help of one small spoon). I loved it, tried all kinds of yummy items that I’d love to re-create but wouldn’t know how to start. Novelty was lost on the kids as, again, they’re suspicious of sauces. They were all over the pop corn we spied later. The place had lots of snack booths, and one man was stirring an immense bowl of milk over a fire, making some kind of drink – I was too full to sample it.

Nice way to end the trip!