Spirit of India Day 9 Jaipur

Sunday April 17^th

After breakfast this morning we went for a tour of Jaipur, the pink city. We stopped at the Wind Palace, which is basically just a large facade for a market area. Then we proceeded to the Amber Palace, which is another built on a low hill behind the local Moghul Fort that sits on the crest of the hill behind. The fort commands a view of the whole area and is also protected by a long wall, which Sameer called the 'Great Wall of India'. It's very impressive and makes you wonder, yet again, about who these people built all of these things before all the tools and machinery we have today.

Most tourists take an elephant ride up the hill to the entrance to the Amber Palace, but we were discouraged from that, as GAP doesn't support the elephants being used in such a fashion in the heat of the 40 degree sun. This is part of their focus on responsible tourism. A few months ago, a tired elephant killed her handler and a tourist. So, we loaded onto a fleet of jeep and rode up the road on the other side. The view from the palace of the wall and the entrance with the elephants coming in was very impressive. The main building in the palace is beautifully appointed with frescoes and little mirrors.

We wandered around listening to the history of the palace and the people of the area. Sam pointed out that a lot of Indian city names have the one of two different endings: either 'pur' or 'bad'. He told us that if the name ended in 'pur', as in Jaipur, it was founded by Hindus and if it ended in 'bad', as in Hyderabad, it was founded by Muslims.

I found a section of the palace that has a shaft leading down and it was full of bats. Got some good photos of that, as well as the gardens and some of the people working there. On the way back to the hotel we stopped for a photo of the Water Palace, which was a summer home for one of the local Maharaja’s of the day.

At the hotel I went for a walk to buy new headphones for my iPod and a flashdrive. Then I went for a swim on the roof and worked on my blog.

At five we went for a drive on the bus to an area outside of the city where Sam knew of a great place for an elephant safari and an outside dinner. Sameer and his brother went to school with the son of the owner of this place, and calls him is cousin. They have a number of elephants that they use for safaris and to play elephant polo! The Indian elephants were all painted and dressed up in the style of the Maharajas. We rode with two aboard each elephant. I rode with Bridgette from Austria. We sat in a chair type apparatus side by side, unlike the African where we sat behind each other horse style. The Asian elephant is smaller than the elephant, but the ride is just as rolling and hypnotic. Half way through we stopped at a 'bar' and we were all given a glass of wine. The ride was about an hour and lots of fun.

Then we went to the real bar beside the polo pitch, for a drink and a time to chat. After hearing about our itinerary, the two Canadian women we had met at the national park, Geraldine and Claudette, asked if they could join our safari tour. Sameer told them he could not include them on our bus, but arranged a taxi for them that followed us. So they too enjoyed the ride. We all had a great meal outside under the Indian full moon with another drink or two. Back to the hotel by about ten. Really a great day and a fun activity.

Found out today that the last Maharaja of Jaipur died today. He was an old man and it wasn't unexpected, but it marks the end of an era. The government decreed that the maharajas were to be phased out after the death of the one serving. Interesting that it happened while we were there. Tomorrow all the monuments are closed for mourning. Good thing we are off.