It's 6pm February 19 in Jaipur, India - no time all the words just now - more later!!!!!
Ross is getting good at greeting with the typical "Namaste" - there are so many awesome uniforms on a lot of the staff at a lot of places. This is at our hotel in Agra, India just as we were leaving.
And about 6 or more of the staff are lined up on the side of the road as our bus of 24 tourists headed out. How sweet is that? The people here are so kind and awesome and friendly - probably the friendliest I have ever seen in any country.
Jain nuns - it is a monastic sect that has both monks and nuns. They wear white, only walk from town to town for meditation, are celibate, eat one meal per day, no meat or liquor or anything grown underground (like potatoes, carrots etc). The were so happy to have their photo taken and accept no donations. I googled it: Jainism - and it's really interesting.
Water buffalo being transported and they sell for about $15,000 each as they have very valuable and good milk to make things like buffalo mozzarella or whatever they have in India.
And a little goat tender and his motorbike alongside the road enroute from Agra to Jaipur.
Welcome to Jaipur, India - the capitol in the state of Rajasthan, which is one of 29 states in India. They are both Hindu themes giving Hindu greetings. I think about 80% of the country is Hindu.
Is this an emergency room? I am very thankful we have not had to use the medical services.
The Indians are very smart people and there is a huge Astronomy Park which working instruments that tell the exact time based on the sun and all the astrological sign information. I am Aries and Ross is Aquarius and the guide said people come here before they get married to tell if they are a good match based on their astrological signs. Hmmmm.....we must be after 46+ years!
And in the historical UNESCO observatory. The grounds are huge and covered with old instruments to tell time and astrological signs. This is mine and I am Aries - Ross is Aquarius - and the guide says people planning to marry come here to have their astrological signs evaluated to see if the marriage will last. Interesting!
This is the resident of the 21 year old King of Rajasthan. He lives her with his "mum" and 18 year old sister. He is actually adopted as the previous King had no sons and he died of a heart attack playing polo when this chosen and adopted King was 14 years old so about 7 years ago. When the full flag and a quarter flag are both flying it means the King is in residence.
And from the front - pretty nice digs!
We made a little stop and this guy was calling me over for a photo with his elephant. So I have about 4 photos but little did I know that he expected to be paid and I had no rupees so he rather glared at me when we left. The elephant was pretty soft and didn't feel too bad. It was lunch time for the elephant.
From the bus I saw this guy sleeping on his bike taxi here called a "cycle rickshaw" and they have their own parking spots - wow did that look uncomfortable and there are so many people here that are so skinny.
At our dinner at a former Royal Palace we were greeted by dancers, a lineup of people, elephants, horses and camels and dressed to the nines!
And since I have had experience with camels I was happy this one did not hiss or spit at me.
Buffet dinner with entertainment in Raj Palace which is now a hotel and I always check out the desserts first to plan the rest of my meal. I love sugar and yes I am a retired Registered Dietitian!!!
This the the male peacock and they are all over the grounds of this 32 acre hotel. The females are called peahens and mostly green and rather boring looking. Kind of like our cardinals in Minnesota - why do males have all the beauty in some species?
And yes, the telephone booth on the grounds outside our room. And I am writing this note Wednesday 2/20 and we got to our room and Ross had misplaced his door card so he called and a guy in a cart delivered a new one! It works:):)
The little passage to our rooms. There are 2 rooms in each of these side streets and it is so unbelievable quiet here and a nice respite from the constant honking. Of course peacocks and some other birds scream pretty loudly and it sounds like they are screaming "Help"!!!
Just a bit different from the cabin resorts in Minnesota.
These flower sellers are everywhere and it must take a lot of work to snip off each blossom and they string them to make the Indian garlands that we have been greeted with so many places.
This is a palace here in the "Pink City" of Jaipur which is called that because many of the buildings are pink from the terra cotta.
Another snake charmer with an Indian cobra and he offered to let us touch it or put it around our neck but when he was charming it with music he would sometimes put his hand out and the snake tongue would strike out. I guess the fangs are removed but the guide did say snakes like to "kiss" people so I wasn't too keen on that. But I have a photo of me holding a boa in Thailand in 1998 - just have to find the photo!!!
Construction everywhere and yes indeed this is scaffolding and it is seen all over the place. It just does not look all that safe to put it mildly! With the crazy drivers, cows all over the streets and roads and motorcycles, rickshaws, bikes and more I can't believe we haven't seen anyone dead!!!
The Amber Fort which was constructed in 1592 and of course for some royal dynasty. Amber or Amer it is called sometimes was once the capitol of the Rajasthan state of India until it got moved to Jaipur. The blue skies were beautiful!
This is inside the fort and there were people paying to ride camels. We did that in Egypt so once is probably enough and also our tour guide said they no longer do this as they had one "accident"...I did not ask for details. It costs 1100 rupees which is about $15.
The sanitation system is not bad but there are notes all over to not put any type of paper in the toilet or in this note it is called the "pot" which is pretty clear.
Another inside of the Amber Fort and it is stucco and painted in beautiful colors and almost 400 years old and since it sinks into the stucco it lasts forever - good idea!
Love the signs - last sentence says: Ovens with multiple mouths were used in the cooking.
The man/woman divide is still very evident. The men are seen all day sitting around in "cafes" and on the streets talking but never a woman. However we do see the women sweeping the grounds at their homes with straw brooms all the time. But to give the males credit they are driving all the vehicles - have yet to see a woman and working in all the shops. Some women are street hawkers.
The gardens of the Amber Court. Such a beautiful day.
One of the fort walls. I think the fort way up on the hill reuires climbing up the hill to see it. That did not look like so much fun.
Just a few of the shiny walls in the Fort and this photo does not at all give due credit as it was gorgeous and sparkly like diamonds and silver and blue gems. And with walking 3-5 miles every day we are doing dang good for 76 and almost 72 years old!
A closeup of the beautiful wall. It was amazing.
Somehow the goat made it up the hill and found his home on this corner. It looks like kind people supply blankets and food so the goat seemed pretty content.
And I looked up at a fort wall and this little bird is looking out of his lovely abode. It looks like somebody had cut and small small pretty cloth to make a fancy bird bed!
Street seller of what I think might be a variety of lentils in a very nice presentation. I have seen way too many trays, cups and utensils being washed with water buckets and hands on the street that I will not be trying street food. No Delhi Belly yet so hope that never happens but some on the tour have had a little of it.
And yes, we took taxis up to the fort parking lot and this is it - how does this work???
Before we had lunch we had a puppet show guy and his little beard/moustache thing is very long and was wrapped around his ears and he unwound it and showed how long it was and said it took 30 years to grow that long.
The puppets and the guy above and his son run the show. The dad plays an instrument and the son makes the puppets and snake dance to the tunes.
Talli lunch which at home we would probably called a "Tasting Menu" - Clockwise starting with white at bottom - yogurt/fruit saice, hot red/green peppers - very spicy, chicken, lentils, cottage cheese balls in gravy, lamb, fried walnut/grain things kind of like falafel, mint sauce and cauliflower veg dish.
This is the Hindu wedding season in India and this was a place where the bride and groom would sit and take congratulations. All the flowers are fresh.
And we save a few of these "Groom's horses" which the groom will ride to meet his bride. The rider is just the horse delivery guy and not the groom. Quite the celebrations apparently!
Three women taking a nap and they were all waving and smiling at us to take their photo from the bus window. I'm surprised at how much locals want their photo taken as I am usually very careful with that so as not to be offensive.
Great story: This is a dentist performing some dental work. The ad to the right shows white straight teeth and our guide said they even do root canals in places like these.
And this is an orthopedic specialist on the street with his sign including cell phone number, medical bag and any equipment and bike to get to work.
There are many medical schools here and several hospitals and this must have been the ENT corner! Remember to click on the pictures to enlarge and see better.
They do sell guns and ammo and it was in the windows of this store.
Typical public transportation and this is one of the nicer ones and always very packed!
I feel spoiled as this is the sunken spa tub in our room and windows all around look out but there is a terra cotta wall. It's a little strange to sit on the toilet and look all around outside.
I feel like a Queen but I'm not!
And ready for the next days ahead and more adventures!
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