Day 13 - Jaipur continued
Finally got to sleep in past 5 a.m.! Today was a free day with lots of options to check out. Our guide advised the best plan of attack was to hire a tuk tuk driver for the day and take us to all the sights. Jill and I piled in a car with the American girl to form Team North America. We nickname our tuk tuk the murder mobile as he nearly killed several people.
Our first destination was the Amber fort way up on the hill. The views were impressive and the walls of the fort seemed to go up and around the mountains as far as I could see. There was a floating garden on the lake below the fort and another fort above the Amber fort that we opted not to visit.
At the craft market was a cobra charmer. Mission poke a cobra, completed!
It was a holiday which meant the fort was just insanity. There were just bus loads of school kids, families and Indians from out of town, not to mention hundreds of tourists. The inside of the fort was fairly disorganized. There were no signs pointing the way and it seemed to be a free for all. As soon as Jill and I got near the fort, it started again; people everywhere wanted pictures with us. A group of about 30 school kids came rushing up to us, asking our names and wanting to shake our hands. One girl in a courtyard asked for a photo with Jill and just as I was going to take it, about 12 other people jumped in the photo with her. We're like celebrities here, but for no good reason.
When we had regrouped, we headed off for a photo stop to snap a picture of the floating pleasure palace.
Next up was Hawamahal, an intricately carved palace from which the royal women would watch processions and the market activities below. Apparently, it is the second most commonly visited attraction in India.
Afterwards, our driver took us down a busy road to the ancient observatory. Housed within are many large, complex astrological instruments carved out of sandstone and marble. The sundial in the centre of the complex was HUGE! To read it, you'd have to climb over 100 stairs up a ramp. The sundial is accurate to 2/10 of a second. A highlight for me were the instruments for following the zodiac planets. Of course we took our photos by our zodiac signs.
We had the option of visiting the city palace which was near the observatory, but as we were adjacent to the busy market streets, Jill and I decided to have a wander and check things out. Jill got some Darjeeling tea, we both bought some bhindis, I bought campy little friendship bracelets for each of us, and then we bought very spicy samosas from a street vendor.
A bizarre happening took place in the bazar though. I was walking down what we had nicknamed Sari Alley when a group of about 12 men dressed in saris and with full make up appeared. Our guide had explained that the men are quite common in India and are a manifestation of transgender culture. They are considered to be wide and powerful as the have the knowledge of both sexes. However, they also seem to use this respect to extort local populations. If they hear that a wedding, birth or move has taken place, they will show up at your door and demand money or they'll curse you. Yikes! So this pack of transgender men surrounded me saying "Hello Madam!" and "Where you from?!" I was trying to get out of the lane so I just said a polite hello and kept walking. Then they started yelling "Ooh! So angry!" after me. I may be cursed, I may not, but I do know that a group of sassy men in saris is quite overwhelming.
We safely returned to our driver and the hotel and went out for a meal of Chinese food at a small, clean restaurant with the two Russian girls. It's kind of funny to see Chinese on the menu everywhere here in India, but they call it fast food on many menus.
When we got back to our hotel, a couple of the girls had hired an astrologist to do a palm reading and birth chart. After reading two nearly identical predictions and hearing most of the information would be sent over email later, the price was not right and I opted out. Guess the future just has to unfold as it happens!
This is another 4:45 a.m. wake up call for a short 4 hour train ride to Agra.
Our first destination was the Amber fort way up on the hill. The views were impressive and the walls of the fort seemed to go up and around the mountains as far as I could see. There was a floating garden on the lake below the fort and another fort above the Amber fort that we opted not to visit.
At the craft market was a cobra charmer. Mission poke a cobra, completed!
It was a holiday which meant the fort was just insanity. There were just bus loads of school kids, families and Indians from out of town, not to mention hundreds of tourists. The inside of the fort was fairly disorganized. There were no signs pointing the way and it seemed to be a free for all. As soon as Jill and I got near the fort, it started again; people everywhere wanted pictures with us. A group of about 30 school kids came rushing up to us, asking our names and wanting to shake our hands. One girl in a courtyard asked for a photo with Jill and just as I was going to take it, about 12 other people jumped in the photo with her. We're like celebrities here, but for no good reason.
When we had regrouped, we headed off for a photo stop to snap a picture of the floating pleasure palace.
Next up was Hawamahal, an intricately carved palace from which the royal women would watch processions and the market activities below. Apparently, it is the second most commonly visited attraction in India.
Afterwards, our driver took us down a busy road to the ancient observatory. Housed within are many large, complex astrological instruments carved out of sandstone and marble. The sundial in the centre of the complex was HUGE! To read it, you'd have to climb over 100 stairs up a ramp. The sundial is accurate to 2/10 of a second. A highlight for me were the instruments for following the zodiac planets. Of course we took our photos by our zodiac signs.
We had the option of visiting the city palace which was near the observatory, but as we were adjacent to the busy market streets, Jill and I decided to have a wander and check things out. Jill got some Darjeeling tea, we both bought some bhindis, I bought campy little friendship bracelets for each of us, and then we bought very spicy samosas from a street vendor.
A bizarre happening took place in the bazar though. I was walking down what we had nicknamed Sari Alley when a group of about 12 men dressed in saris and with full make up appeared. Our guide had explained that the men are quite common in India and are a manifestation of transgender culture. They are considered to be wide and powerful as the have the knowledge of both sexes. However, they also seem to use this respect to extort local populations. If they hear that a wedding, birth or move has taken place, they will show up at your door and demand money or they'll curse you. Yikes! So this pack of transgender men surrounded me saying "Hello Madam!" and "Where you from?!" I was trying to get out of the lane so I just said a polite hello and kept walking. Then they started yelling "Ooh! So angry!" after me. I may be cursed, I may not, but I do know that a group of sassy men in saris is quite overwhelming.
We safely returned to our driver and the hotel and went out for a meal of Chinese food at a small, clean restaurant with the two Russian girls. It's kind of funny to see Chinese on the menu everywhere here in India, but they call it fast food on many menus.
When we got back to our hotel, a couple of the girls had hired an astrologist to do a palm reading and birth chart. After reading two nearly identical predictions and hearing most of the information would be sent over email later, the price was not right and I opted out. Guess the future just has to unfold as it happens!
This is another 4:45 a.m. wake up call for a short 4 hour train ride to Agra.
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