Jaipur tour

The next day of our tour, after the Taj Mahal, was around Jaipur. It is known as "The Pink City" because in 1876 all the buildings were painted pink before a visit from the Prince of Wales. Today, it is just the old part of the city that remains pink, although it's not really even pink... it has an orange tint to it, but I won't split hairs.

We saw a lot of the tourist attractions of Jaipur: Wind Palace, Water Palace, City Palace (yes, there are a lot of palaces in India), an observatory, but the highlight had to be the Amber Fort. Our visit to the Amber Fort began how I now think all palace visits should....with an elephant ride. You have to share an elephant, so Joel and I got a lift from "Bubbly." Not what I would pick as an elephant name since he (or she, not sure) didn't seem all that bubbly, but maybe he was just shy. We went a little photo-crazy with the elephants and the turbins that Christina and Nigel bought on the trip up. Yes, there are even people following you as you make your way up to the palace on the elephants, still trying to sell you things. But I'll admit that the turins made for some good pics.
The fort was quite impressive. The Maharaja certainly knew how to live. There were bedrooms built for each of his two wives for the different seasons. The winter rooms would get more sun and were full of mirrors to reflect more light. The monsoon rooms had special drainage systems that would fill a pool in the middle of a courtyard. And the summer rooms I can't really remember but I'm sure they were probably built to get a cross breeze or something. If you're going to have multiple wives, it's at least nice to know that he was thinking of them while building his palace. They had a saffron garden on either side of the palace so the wind would carry the smell.
Another highlight of the day was our visit to a textile factory/store. We saw how they print silk and how they make hand knotted carpets. It's amazing how much time goes into making these things. I was so impressed that I made my first purchase of the trip and splurged on a small hand knotted carpet. It was perfect timing to buy since I could send it home with Nigel's friend and it will be waiting for me when I eventually get home and sometime when I actually have a place to live again, I'll get to use it!