April 11 Jaipur

We are up at 5 am. This is the most sound proofed room yet. We are right beside the metro and we don't hear anything. The subway is only 75 yards away.

 Breakfast is at 6:30 am. and we are to be on the bus at 7:30 am.

 We take photos of the Palace of The Winds from the roof top of the building across the street. I have the Local Newspaper.

 Driving here, we see huge mangoes the size of pumpkins on carts, for sale. We are enroute to the Amber Fort.

 We see the Palace in the Lake - the Summer Palace.

 Your last name indicates your caste.

 We see the Great Wall of Jaipur.

 There are lots of Bougenvellia in bloom.

 At the Amber Fort, we ride the elephants up the hill. There are 36 rooms in this fort, for the 36 patrts of the city. 36 rooms to collect the cities taxes. We took photos at the Ganesh Gate. An elephant trunk up is good luck. The buildings are of marble and sandstone. Blue elephants are powerful. Blue gives protection. We see the Hall of Mirrors. The mirrors were imported from Belgium in the 17th century. 

We pay 100 Rp each for the elephant photos. Then we have a jeep ride down. We each pay another 100 Rp for the second set of elephant photos.

 At 11 am we are back on the bus.

 At 11:10 we are at the City Palace. A lot of Bollywood films are shot here. This is in the very center of Jaipur. There are 16 vases, all filled with water from the Ganges. These are the largest silver jars in the world.

 I bought a peacock fan for 100 Rp. After getting back on the bus GK tells me that the peacocks are killed for their feathers, and this is illegal. The tiger is the national animal.

 School is from 7:30 am to 1:30 PM.

 We are at Jantar Mantar at 12:30 PM. It is so hot, 38 degrees C. I was really excited to see Jantar Mantar, but I am miserable in the mid day heat. The definition is "instrument calculation".

At the Jewellery Shop

 Next we go to the Chocolari - Jaipur snacks Jewellery Shop. Some of the group opted out of the jewellery shop tour. At 1:30 PM we are at the Jewellery Store. Jaipur is the center of cutting and polishing of gems. The Star ruby is only mined in India. It is the star of India. I had a Limea-pop. Then we went downstairs for our Lassie in clay cups. We stay until 3:30 PM.

 Never before have I been so confused by the floorplan of a hotel. Ramona tells me it is laid out like an inverted swastika. I never did figure it out. I found one way into the room and had to repeat that way every time, or else I would get lost and go back to the lobby to start again.

 At 4 PM we meet at the hotel lobby to visit the Bazaar tonight. We are in the market from 4:30 to 5:30 PM. It is a sensory overload, the noise, the smells, the dirt, the pushiness and all the shops are selling the same things.

 We see cricket and soccer being played out on the fields. The other bus got a speeding ticket.

 Our farewell dinner is at 7:15 PM. The men were all given turbans to wear. It is nothing short of spectacular. There was a lovely buffet and a fabulous presentation of puppets, a band and a dancing presentation. There were speeches of appreciation for our guides and drivers.

 I did my half hour of free internet and we were in bed at 11:45 PM.