December 8 Jaipur

We left at 10 AM and stopped to get lassi ( sweetened yoghurt and cream) on the way....superb!! Then we stopped at the Wind Palace...a magnificent facade of terra cotta. Jaipur is called the pink city, because of all the terra cotta pottery buildings. Just see the pic. The palace had all the windows for the harem of the Maharaja, who kept them away from normal life, and other men. They could only view regular life from the windows!! We viewed it from a building, which we climbed to the top, and stood on the roof top. We climbed back into the tuk tuts, with Zakir Hussein, our driver, and went to the Amber Palace. We saw elephants on the way, and also on the parade ground inside the enormous palace. We climbed up many steps to the top of the hill, where the palace was located. The ancient city was walled, so we saw it snaking across the mountains. Jaipur is in a valley, and was originally walled. It was an incredible palace...actually a 3 in one palace, made by 3 kings, with a fusion of architectural styles. One Hindu king, one Muslim, and British style. The decoration was very ornate, with mirrored designs on the roof.....incredibly beautiful. We saw the King's apartments for his vast harem, and he had eunuchs to manage the women. The drainage system of the palace had 3 huge water holding tanks. We saw the toilets, and secret passages, which let light in but did not allow men to see the women walking in the secret passages. I took pics of elephants, with mahouts on the parade ground, and we came across a snake charmer, who played his ethnic instrument well. The two cobras were apparently defanged, but they swayed nicely to the vibrations of his music. Afterwards we drove to a restaurant for lunch, but on the way, stopped to see the camels.....which were a delight, as was the palace in the middle of a lake. I have the pics!! If I don't blog, I will never remember any of this!! After lunch we went to the money palace via tuk tuk. Zakir Hussein was our driver......he is a singing driver.....he sang for us, and each of us sang for him as he drove. We walked up a hill, and took many pics of the monkeys on the way.....huge numbers of them. A guy on a motor bike had a huge bag of fruit and veggies, which he proceeded to give to monkeys all along the way. We had bought peanuts, but often those fat monkeys wouldn't eat them....so one wonders why so many humans are in need of food, and so many monkeys are overfed. The monkeys here are tame, as they get so much food from people. They were sitting on our shoulders, heads, taking peanuts with their hands, and often you put the peanut right into their mouths. They were such a huge source of entertainment, and there were so many of them. We did see a cow with 6 legs. You have to see the pic to believe this!! We got as far as looking at the monkey palace, which looked interesting. It is deserted, and apparently leopards are around at night. We left, and it was a long way to walk back to the tuk tuts who were waiting patiently for us to be done. We came back to the hotel to scrub monkey off our skins, and have a good shower, and wash our hair, to avoid any monkey viruses!! We went on the tuk tuts to the gem place. It was explained to us but no-one was working as it was evening. We spent time looking at the gems. Amazing prices, and I wish all the ladies in my life could have seen them. I don't buy gems as jewellery is such a personal choice. We had the best cup of ginger/clove/cardamom chai there, and drove by tuk tuk to the textile place. The process of block printing was explained to us. I got a block print of an elephant on my long sleeved T shirt. Vegetable dyes are used. Then we looked at lovely textiles, scarves, table cloths, clothes etc. I bought a cotton, block printed table cloth, with napkins, and a silk scarf. Then by tuk tuk to a restaurant. It was a lovely but very late meal. I didn't eat much, but enjoyed the band of harmonium, tabla player. We watched two women doing traditional folk dances, with on to 5 pots on their heads. The top pot had a fire in...see pics!! The dancing was great. They invited me to put a pot on her head, and I danced with her. Their skirts twirled, and they danced around a fire. Music was great....the women had bells around their ankles, which added to the music. Elaborate hand movements typical of Middle Eastern dancing. It was a great evening. I took close to 500 pics in one day!!!! The hotel we are in, The Bissau Palace is decorated like the Amber Palace we saw, and had elaborate decorations as the pics show.