Saturday, August 26 Amber Fort, Shopping in Jaipur

Vijay was annoyed because everyone was late this morning. He complained, “I need a stick to beat everyone who’s late”, and then when Nikhil asked for the fans to be turned on, he joked, “Nikhil, you are so difficult”. We drove to Amber Fort nearby. From there, we rode elephants up the steep hill to the Amber Palace. The dark Asian elephants were dressed in colorful robes and painted with bindi and decorations. It was really fun, but the entire way we were harassed by touts on foot. Amber was the original capital, and the fort was ornately decorated with gold, mirrors, and intricate carving. The fort housed swimming pools, ancient air-conditioning systems, gardens, and fountains. The fort overlooks the city of Amber and through the green hills, Jaipur is visible. Everyone was taking group photos incessantly. From there, we passed a beautiful palace on the water, for which we didn’t get to stop because Brianna told us we could just Google it. Next we saw Jantar Mantar, medieval India’s largest observatory. It contained many sundials and astronomical tools used to calculate seasons, time, and the stars. The main sundial was so big that it was marked with ticks for minutes, and you could see the shadow moving across it. It was also completely accurate. During lunch I was embarrassed when Katie asked “What is wrong with this country? Why can’t they just have beef instead of mutton?” Why don’t we just cut up Jesus Christ and put it on a skewer and eat it? After lunch, I headed out to the Old City for shopping. Jaipur is the center for Indian handicrafts because it is here that generations of families produce their unique items. I bought a large number of camel leather, pointed-toe shoes. A tout came up to me and I got him to give me some puppets for 80 Rs. I took a bicycle rickshaw to Hawa Mahal, or Wind Palace, the major landmark of Jaipur. It is a five story sandstone building with honeycomb windows jutting out, from which royal women could inconspicuously watch the main street. I tried shopping for fine Rajasthani fabrics, which were expensive. The reason, I later learned, was that most of the fabrics were wholesaled to Delhi, so they were actually cheaper there. It’s like the Basmati Rice; the high-grade rice cannot be bought in India because it is made exclusively for export. I haggled wall hangings and Indian paintings down to 40 Rs each. I spent $40 and two hours at the painting shop.