Jaipur

Jaipur
Originally uploaded by qiubuo.

Jaipur, like Toulouse, is known as a pink city, and you can see why in this picture. It is part of a major "triangle" for tourism, and 50% of those tourists are French, so the Bellons and I fit in fine. Jaipur was an early experiment in urban planning, and it is easier and more pleasant to navigate than most Indian cities today. Not surprisingly, today the central area of the Old City, near the "Wind Palace," is dominated by people selling things. The Alliance Francaise would be happy to know that their students are putting their skills to good use by following French tourists around. We got out of our car on one side of the street, where we were greeted by a carpet salesman who then appeared two more times on the other side of the street. We also saw a man selling drums about five times -- he lowered the price to about 50 cents but we sadly didn't want a drum. And then there were two cute little boys who each said "I have a very small shop. It's right here." and opened a plastic bag to show us their keychains. One of them followed us for an hour, tried to teach us Hindi, and showed us his school.

The Observatory, Jaipur
Originally uploaded by qiubuo.

Jaipur's observatory was built in the 19th century by the maharaja, who had an interest in both astronomy and astrology. These observation towers each represent a sign of the zodiac. This photo is taken from a much higher observation tower with steep steps; on the way up we met several tourist very slowly making their way down.

The Amber Palace, Jaipur

The highlight of Jaipur is the Amber Palace perched on a hill above the city. It would take hours to walk through every room of this immense structure, where the maharaja and his family once lived. From the highest towers you can watch elephants bathing down below.