JAIPUR

Jaipur was my favorite destination in India.  I liked the charm of the Old City, the beauty of the forts, temples, and other sights, and the Rajasthan climate and landscape.  If I ever come back to India, I will certainly spend more time exploring Rajasthan.

Photo of the City Palace (foreground) and Tiger Fort (background) taken from the Hawa Mahal.

Outside of the Hawa Mahal

Inside of the City Palace

Arm-wrestling for an additional discount

We took a day trip outside of Jaipur’s Old City to visit Jaigarh Fort, Amber Fort, the Water Palace, and the Monkey Temple.  Pictured below: view of Amber Fort from Jaigarh Fort (quite a hike).

Inside Amber Fort

The hotel owner's dog was quite cute.

It’s not every day you see a camel passing an elephant in front of a swastika.  Swastikas are literally everywhere in India, especially Jaipur—on buildings, trucks, cars, tuk-tuks, billboards, plastic bags, shirts, etc.   It is a 4000 year old Hindu sign for good luck, and people here seem unaware or unconcerned with what the symbol now means.

We went to a Bollywood movie at a pretty impressive movie theater.  But whoever said “communication is 90% nonverbal” obviously never sat through a Bollywood movie.  Although it was an interesting cultural experience, we had no idea what was going on, so we left at intermission (yes, movies here have intermissions).  In an unrelated story, Keith finally found a dog he liked.

Photos of cute children 1) before and 2) after I bought them ice cream.

We hung out at Tiger Fort with our drivers/guides Abdullah and Jimmy, the self-proclaimed "King of Jaipur."   There are some pretty amazing views from up there, especially when fireworks are going off.

The Water Palace