Beasts of Burden - Jaipur, India 092710

After Oliver devoured an entire bowl of porridge and mashed banana, our driver picked up for our trip to the Amber Fort. Guess what? He had a copy of the state newspaper with our photo on the front cover!

We eagerly anticipated riding the painted elephants and marveled at the views on the way to the fort. I was very intrigued by the walls that zig-zagged up the hills, reminding me of the fortified walls in The Lord of the Rings, and bringing to mind images of the Great Wall(s) in China.

On the way, we stopped to watch a snake charmer and his cobra. He told me to touch the head of the cobra, saying "It's okay - poisons removed". Yeah, right - not a chance, dude.

Only Snake Charmer We Saw in India

Touch him? No way!

Close enough - still within striking distance - yikes!

A QUICK touch of the tail!

Well, one words sums up the way the elephant ride started out - terrifying. We rocked back and forth so much that it took a while for us to relax and even come close to enjoying the ride! There certainly was not much holding us in that perch atop Jemna, our elephant.

Ali bought a quilt for Oliver while riding the elephant - multi-tasker that she is. I think the vendor just caught her at a weak moment! It brings to mind a line from "The Jungle Book", in which Kitty's father says, "India would be a damn fine country if it weren't for the bloody elephants!" It was a relief to be on terra firma after that ride.

The architectural details of the fort continued our experience of beautiful historic sites in India. The colors here were a bit different - from the yellow sandstone (hence the name, "Amber") to the turquoise used in the decorative elements.

This was also the first place that we saw mirror tiles and colored glass used in the inlay designs. The way it reflected light in all directions was beautiful, as there were mirrored tiles everywhere in one section of the fort - even on the ceiling.

While I took in the pictures of the outer wall of the harem, Oliver was attracting a crowd of high school aged students in the inner harem courtyard. That was one time when all the attention was too much - it felt invasive, bordering on harassment. We actually asked them to stop taking photos of us - it really felt uncomfortable.

Pick me! Pick me!

I wonder what they saw from here...

The pictures in the harem were painted onto the pink sandstone - an apropos color for a harem? Some showed women in very sheer clothes, some very demure images, others of warriors, and one I found particularly amusing -  an erotic image of a couple preparing for intercourse. Oddly enough, I was the only tourist walking around in this area, looking at the outer wall. Everyone else went directly into the inner courtyard, ignoring and ironically missing the wonderful art on the outer wall. Go figure!

Trying to find our way back down the hill was a challenge, as there were no exit signs and everywhere we turned we kept running into vendors blocking our "escape". Tired and hot, we called it a day early and prepared for the overnight train ride to Jaiselmer. Little did we know what lay ahead...

Jaipur, India 092610

We took the train from Delhi to Jaipur with Oliver sleeping most of the way. It was to be a full day - complete with monkeys, rip-offs, photographs for a newspaper, and jewelry shopping.

We began by driving through the Pink City and climbing a minnaret, rewarded with a fantastic view of the city and its Amber Fort. At the base of the minnaret, a photographer asked to take our photo for the state newspaper's cover story on tourism. He seemed legit, so we agreed, and off we went to an astronomy place. I do not recall its name, probably because it wasn't very memorable. It seemed a rip-off for what we paid for admission - not impressed.

Sand buckets at gas stations

In the Pink City

The Minnaret We Climbed

The Dome of the Minnaret

View of the Amber Fort from the Top of the Minnaret

View of Jaipur

Ali, Oliver and I Atop the Minnaret

Building Built for Viewing the Palace Women

At the Astronomy Place

After lunch, we went to Molto Bello, a jewelry factory that the driver recommended to us. I did not know that Jaipur is famous for its silver jewelry and its gemstones. It was interesting to see the machines that the workers use to cut and facet the stones.

Gateways that just popped up in the city

One of the Jewelers, Oliver, and Our Driver

Following our jewelry experience, we went to the Monkey Temple on the edge of the city - monkeys everywhere! Not only were there monkeys, but goats, pigs, and dogs, too. The monkeys can get aggressive - one swiped half the bag of peanuts I was carrying right out of my hand! I did not see that coming at all.

Returning to the haveli at dark, we watched a puppet show before getting a much-needed shower and sleep.