February 17

We awoke refreshed, having slept well. Our room – the whole hotel, for that manner – is Islamic architecture. We have curved arches in our room! We readied and went down to see about breakfast. The hotel manager took our order and entered it, said it would be 30-40 minutes. We ordered a lemon crepe, some muesli with yogurt and honey, four pieces of toast with butter and jam, and a two cup pot of black coffee & pot of chai. It did arrive in 40 minutes (this time it was muesli) and was good! We are eating on the third floor on a rooftop terrace at the front of the building. (Our room is on the fourth floor and there is another rooftop terrace, but not equipped with tables and chairs.)  Also our hotel has an atrium that the rooms open out onto. Pretty cool!

At 9:30, we went out to catch our booked tuk-tuk. (We did not go with the taxi driver from last – he wanted way to much money!) While we were waiting I saw a lady painting one of the outside arches with a small paint brush! After a 10 minute wait, we discovered our driver was there the whole time – failure to communicate. That aside we climbed in and went out and about. I know I have talked about traffic, but I never mentioned how traffic comes to the road. They just go out, not looking. The merging is the responsibility of those already on the road! And driving about, we saw more camels (definitely in a different area of India) and they are used as beasts of burden,not just for photo shoots. Also the old part of Jaipur is a World Heritage Site. We pass through a gate and you know you are there. The building fronts are all red sandstone color and line the broad street. 

We arrive at Gaitore Ki Chhatriyan, as our first stop.This place is a bunch of pavilions with the cremated remains of the royal members of the Kachwaha. The morning light was great and every way you turned was a great picture. There were not any placards to describe the site. It was beautiful. Again they go all out for their dead. But as I write this I remember the Pyramids were burial places of Pharaohs, and Jerusalem has their big cemetery on the Mount of Olives. Hummm… Also there were monkeys, of course; parkettes and other birds, they were being feed oranges; the squirrel/chipmunks; and donkeys!  We were there 30 minutes or so, until 1035.

Next stop, Amber Fort/Palace. Stunning!! 😍 Great light here as well. The amber color stands out very well. The fort is situated up on a hill overlooking what remains of Maota Lake in front. (It collects rainwater as it runs off nearby hills and was the main source of the palace's water.) All around on the other hills are walls, like the Great Wall in China. The walls serpentine up and down along ridges. They would have provided extra defense to the Fort/Palace. Anyway we climbed up some stairs and ramp/street to the fort. We saw elephants trekking up with tourists. We enter the Sun Gate. Now it becomes clear why it is sometimes called a fort or palace. The outside, definitely is a fort, but here, inside… Amber Palace is more fitting. Through the gate you enter a big square and just soak it in. Now we pay the entrance fee and go up a grand staircase into the palace area which opens up to another square area, but with majestic buildings and a garden. This is how everyone who came in the past to visit the King would have entered. The first building is the Diwan-i-Aam (Hall of Public Audience). It is an open roofed area of series of arches – outer ones are red sandstone and inner ones are marble. Next building is  Palace of Raja Man Singh. Its front entry is embellished with magnificent frescos. The walls are also decorated with tiles of two shades of light blue and some cream colored ones. Then we enter a second square area and here is one of the main attractions of the whole Amber Palace, the Diwan-i-Khas. It is the Hall of Private Audience. Wow! It is inlaid with beautiful mirror glass – in the walls and in the ceiling – offset with patterned tile work! It still reflects images and light. It is gorgeous and very crowded for good reason. Now we just meander and 'get lost' so to speak. There are so many other rooms, and stairway areas. It is like a maze. We spent 2.5 hours here, from 11:00 to 1:30. We bought a Coke and Limca; found our driver, Fakru; and loaded up – onto a new place. Our driver is semi aggressive, and has driven the wrong way on the road – this still blows my mind even after two months of witnessing it!

Anyway, we arrive now at Panna Meena Ka Kund. These maze of steps leading into a pool are quite prevalent. this one is painted cream yellow and makes them more noticeable than the black stone and just cement ones we have already seen. Also there is a bit of very green water at the bottom with turtles in it. A guard has been stationed at all of these pools to keep people from going in them, and they are not shy about blowing a whistle at you if you attempt a step in! Across the street from this is a ruin of a temple, Bihariji Temple. We walked about it and then back to our tuk-tuk and moving on.

Next, we are taken to the Water Palace, Jal Mahal. It is literally in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake! Unfortunately you cannot go to it. So we just lined up on the promenade area and took pictures like everyone else. We watched people feeding the fish, so that the Cormorants could feed on them. It is fascinating how they can slide a whole fish down. Then we bought a couple slices of pineapple for a snack, and more water. It is just after two pm. We load back in our tuk-tuk and Fakru, our driver wants to take us to the bazaar and/or factories making (and selling) things. We declined.

Now, we go to Jantar Mantar, which is the Astronomical Observatory. A Raja, Sawai Jai Singh, the patron of astronomy of his era in India, had it built in 1734. The “instruments” are huge – more like buildings! They are still accurate, and they were renovated in 1901. Finished we again go across the street to The City Palace. Again we enter through a gate to a big square. In the the center was a large two story building that was only partially open (first floor) with a tapestry exhibit. A man was painting on the outside, small detail work (like I saw the lady this morning at our hotel). Then through another gate opening onto another square, but this had the Palace. Beautifully painted and at least six stories tall. We went inside,but only saw the dining room, or multi-purpose room. We could not take pictures. The candelier was huge, but it complimented the large rectangular room. We were only allowed to explore here and we exited. There were other exhibits and shops, but could not explore up into the Palace itself.  🙁  One other building had huge golden pots and three dressed Sikh men they let me take a picture. They wanted to have me with them for a picture, but they would have wanted money, so I opted out. We left and back in our ride to one last place.

We went to Wind Palace, it is just a photo op. But it is a massive appearing five or six story building, and painted very nicely. We loaded back into the tuk-tuk and our tour is complete. Fakru takes us back to our hotel and Jeff paid him a tip. We went into our room to charge my almost dead phone (from taking so many pictures). We went right back out to eat, starving! Decided on Munch Box Restaurant. We ordered a Rajasthani Thali, Khichdi, and a salad: fruits, veggies, nuts, beans and pasta with a dressing. Jeff had a masala lemonade, and I had a lemonade iced tea (first Ice cubes I have seen in a really long time). It was a lot of food. We finished and went back to our room. I started this blog (did not finish it till the 18th, though) We went to bed early, nine-ish.