Jaipur, India - 17 October

After having the luxury of “sleeping in” this morning to the very late hour of 6:00 am we loaded onto the bus all cheery and chipper…not really but it was a nice fantasy. We were off to the Amber Fort for a morning of cultural enlightenment. This was the morning that we were supposed to have our elephant rides (I’m still bitter). Unfortunately, there was a festival at the fort and the crowds were swarming everywhere. I think the bus ran over a couple of people as we navigated the narrow streets leading to the fort and if we didn’t then it’s due to a major miracle.

At the end of the public road, we disembarked from the buses and loaded onto jeeps (this was where the elephants would have happened). The jeep ride was enjoyable but how could it ever compete with an elephant? OK – I’m going to take a deep breath now and let go of my elephant issues.

When we reached the fort we had a 45 minute tour of the place and marveled at the architecture and the details of the rooms. One room in particular had tiny convex mirrors embedded in the wall so that when a candle was lit in the room it was reflected everywhere. We were given some time to ourselves so we wandered around and enjoyed the view of the countryside, the melee of people in the square below and history of the place. My favorite part of the visit was watching all of the people. The women were so colorfully dressed and their children were adorable so I got permission to take a couple of photos from a family that was visiting the fort.

After the fort, we drove back into the city of Jaipur to visit a carpet shop where we were given several demonstrations on the making of carpets and also batik fabric. It was a nice photo opportunity too. It was a fascinating process but it turned into yet another infomercial because we were led inside to the showroom where we were given the opportunity to buy their products. We were finally allowed to escape and we returned to the hotel for a very quick lunch because we had to go to a gem store for another “demonstration” and shopping opportunity. Arrgh! After that we were allowed to wander through a real market and haggle with the shop keepers. I’m actually getting better at it although every once in a while, I’ll stop to ask myself why I’m negotiating a better price when in reality it amounts to just a few cents difference. I’m sure I pay much more than necessary because I just don’t like to deal with the hassle.

As we drove back to the hotel at the end of the day, I took some photos of the city and all of the activity that was going on. Indian cities are fascinating places to visit but I don’t know how I could ever live in an environment like this. It’s an incredibly intense place to be. We had two hours at the hotel to relax and unwind a bit before going out to dinner at the Alsisar Haveli which was the very elegant residence of a raj before the system of nobility was abolished in India. The family turned their home into a luxurious hotel and restaurant. We enjoyed a delicious meal and then had the pleasure of meeting the owner of the hotel, Gaj Singh. He was incredibly gracious and charming and agreed to talk to all of the students at their tables. It was a very special evening for all of us.