April 10 Enroute to Jaipur

We had our best sleep yet!  The noisy air conditioner supplied white noise that drowned out everything else.  Up at 5 am.  Wake up call at 5:30 am.

While having masala tea in the lobby, the power went out.   We go for a safari at sunrise.  We are told that a permit is required for us to go into the Park.  The government is the one who has assigned our seating.

The male samba deer is easy prey for the tiger, as his large rack of antlers, make it challenging for him to run through the forest.  The bad smell that we are experiencing indicates a fresh kill, the tiger will be close.  we see tiger foot prints in the dust, but no tiger once again.

Ranthambore Park

Breakfast is at 9:30 am.  I love the potato chops and the lychee juice.  We leave on the bus to Jaipur at noon.

At 1 PM we are at another Tiger Treat restaurant.  I have the spooky feeling that we have been here before, but all of them have exactly the same layout as ones that we have seen before.

For a Hindu cremation, they take the body home, bathe it, put new clothes on the body, and decorate with flowers.  More flowers are for more age.  A ritual priest blesses with the last rites, and walks around the body with a vase of water.  Then he breaks the vase, and covers it with pashminas.  The priest now covers the body with bamboo sticks, and the son lights the fire.  They ensure the skull is broken so that it cannot be used for black magic.   The ashes are thrown into the river.

The green vegetable that we keep seeing is okra.  We see people eating it raw and it looks like it should have beans inside but it doesn't.

Sikhs wear turbans made from 6 feet of cloth.  This can act as a blanket.  The style indicates his position, whether a king, prince, employer or employee.

We drive through India's first tunnel, this saves us 45 minutes in our drive.

The red flag indicates a Hindu temple add a green flag indicates a Muslim temple.

Jaipur Palace of the Winds

At 3:40 PM we arrive in the Jaipur textile shop.  Jaipur is know for it's jewels and carving.  The women wear bright clothing to make things lively.  We are in the textile store until 5:40 PM  We watch a block print demonstration.  I paid 10 Rp for the piece that he printed for us.  We are served samosas and masala tea.

Calgary is the sister city to Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan.  This is the most developed area of Rajasthan.

We are into our room at 4:30 PM.  Ramona and I decide to go for a walk around outside the hotel grounds, as we get to the boundary, we are met by 3 (presumably) taxi drivers.  We come skidding to a stop and wordlessly do an about face, into the safety of the hotel lobby.

I do my half hour on the internet.  We are in bed at 9:30 PM

6:30 am is our wake up call, at 7:30 am we will be at the Amber fort for our elephant ride.