The Pink City of Jaipur

We woke up to a wonderful breakfast served in the Herb Garden.  We could have an American breakfast of eggs or an Indian breakfast.  We had a lovely table right in the garden and they cooked right next to us.  Two ladies mades the best breads right on a grill nest to us.

 

Everything was so fresh as it came right from the garden

I was always impressed at how nice the Indians were in letting us take their pictures.  I loved their
colorful sarees.

After our breakfast we headed to the Amber Fort where we traced Jaipur's history.  The Amber Fort is the former seat of the Rajput rulers of India,  .

With its large ramparts, series of gates and cobbled paths, the fort overlooks the Maota Lake, at its forefront

 

 

 

Ascending the fortress in a jeep, we wandered around the beauitiful palace and visited the Shiladevi temple (which continues to be the private temple of the Royal family) with it exquisite marble carvings and silver door.

Next stop was the open air royal observatory "Jantar Mantar".   Majaraja Jai Singh, the creator of Jaipur loved mathematices and science, sending emissaries to the court of Mirza Beg in Samarkandwho had built an observatoryin 1425. He spend much of his time studying astronomy and constructed observatories.  The most impressive one was the Jantar Mantar built between 1728 and 1734.

 We were all pointing to the sun to our shadows-- amazing feat of science.  The Indians were so smart in building this.

They even had the zodiac signs as I was standing by my Aries. This was a pretty amazing observatory.


Now it was time to shop!!  Jaipur has some of the best shopping in India. The bustling bazaars are filled with souvenirs, carpets, world famous gems and jewelry.  Also we went to a place where we saw the traditional hand block printed fabric with antique textiles and handicrafts.

 

About 3 of us did different blocks and here is what is the finished product. 

After shopping and getting our gems-- great jewelry, textiles, purses, and many souvenirs we headed back to the Villas for an really special treat this evening. 

We departed for Dera Amer for elephant polo which turned out to be so much fun.  This is an estate behind the Amber Fort that was once the big hunting ground of the Royal Family. A manicured Elephant Polo field set dramatically against the hills.  This estate belongs to Udaijit singh, who is the grandson of the late Rao chandra Pal Singh. Therre were horses, camels and elephants.

Horses led the elephants in

Have you ever been kissed by a camel--- lots of slobber!!!

 We greeted with drinks and given colorful scarves to wear.  6 people could play at one time--- 3 against 3.  We sat atop elephants steered by mahouts      
and used 6 - 9 foot cane stickes with a polo mallet head playing in the field.  We had a little tiny ball and do you know how hard it is to hit that ball-- luckily my mahout really helped me as I was leaning way over on my elephant as below.  Oh yes did I tell you it was nighttime and we were playing under the lights.  We had a referee over a microphone calling the game.  I even made a goal which was excitng for me.  This truly was one of the highlights of this trip.

Getting acquainted with my elephant and mahout  

  As I mentioned before the Indians use every hour of the day so after this we were treated to a wonderful dinner in an outside area with firepits.  Again many of the Indians foods were prepared.
It was a glorious night and we enjoyed talking to one another and sharing our stories about the elephant polo.  As we were ready to leave and walking out the most amazing firework show started for us.  They lasted about 15 minutes.  I don't think I could have asked for any better day!!!  What will happen tomorrow???