Day 3 - the name of the game is commit
Fun bus facts of Jaipur:
- The royal family is not originally from Jaipur. They are from central India. In 1036 they left in search of better lands. Upon arriving in Ahmed, which is naturally surrounded by hills, they conquered it and proclaimed it theirs. The area used to be controlled by the Meena people who were tribal men. Chhipa were another tribe but super lazy but somehow created the press printing they have now. Upon a population boom they moved the capital to Jaipur in 1727. Royal family is from the sun dynasty.
- Jaipur was a planned city for 200k people. It's now 6.5m.
- Since the royal family is from the sun dynasty, there are Suns on all of the lampposts.
Our first stop today was the Palace of the Winds. It's a facade created for the royal women to be able to snoop on the markets without having to be fully covered. It is championed as a pride of Indian woman as such. Queen's and noble ladies were not allowed to leave the palace but had tons of windows to see the bazaar. I guess it's better to watch other people than be stuck inside without a source of entertainment.
We passed the Raj Hotel. It is Asia's most expensive hotel at $40,000 a night. It's a former royal house.
Our next stop was the Amber Palace. It's absolutely spectacular and overlooks Jaipur. It is fortified and has its own tunnel to the fort. Construction took over a 127 years. There are three courtyards each with distinct personalities. The first was built in 1592 and is a blend of Hindu and Islamic architecture. It was painted with precious stone waste after the cutting of the stones. The second was called the mirror palace. There was over a million concave mirrors imported from Belgium decorating the main square. Christina and I went on adventure in the upper walls. We found this amazing view of the world from there. Not a clue how we got there. The third courtyard was boring to look at but had a cool story. It was the 12 apartments of Ahmed the Great. Each unit was self sealed and each wife could not go into the others apartment but the king had a private set of stairs to each apartment. Sneaky bastard. The entire book of Kama sutra was painted in this courtyard. The main queen had her own jacuzzi tub where there was a giant tank heated by fire and pumped into her tub by a copper tube. Interesting to see the technology way back then.
We lost a member to sickness but she was plain stupid. She drank local tap water thinking she would be fine. She literally puked from last night until today. What's more embarrassing is she is mid 50s. She fainted mid way in the palace and no one could find her so we got to worry and stand in 48C heat waiting for her. Super impressed.
When crossing all roads the name of the game is commit. If you commit traffic finds a way around you.
Since it is Christina's birthday we stop to ride camels on the side of the highway. Such a touristy thing but a cool experience. My camel was Bubbly and we can't remember Christina's. Both of our camels had two humps. It was about 52C out when we were doing this activity. Hot hot hot.
The bad joke of the day: what's the difference between a camel and your husband? A camel only has one or two humps but your husband humps you. There's also a bad British colonel joke which is that the colonial visits troops in North Africa and wonders wonders why the men are not horny. The Sargent tells him they use the camel. The colonel comes back to visit this area again and then drops trough and jumps the camel. The colonel is beside himself laughing. The colonel orders the Sargent to tell him why. The Sargent responds the men use the camel to get to town.
The last stop today on tour was the Water Palace which had some history I wasn't paying attention to. If you care, google it. I don't.
Lunch was at a hotel with the doorman having the greatest moustache alive. He could curl the ends and look like a sultan. Lunch was roasted cauliflower and naan bread. Simple but tasty. We lost a lot of people to heat stroke after lunch.
The afternoon was spent at a textile factory and a jewelry factory. Very pretty things.
Tonight's dinner is at a vegetarian place so we will see the type of food eaten.
Tomorrow is an early start at 7 am to hit the road for Agra.
AFN
Fun bus facts of Jaipur:
- The royal family is not originally from Jaipur. They are from central India. In 1036 they left in search of better lands. Upon arriving in Ahmed, which is naturally surrounded by hills, they conquered it and proclaimed it theirs. The area used to be controlled by the Meena people who were tribal men. Chhipa were another tribe but super lazy but somehow created the press printing they have now. Upon a population boom they moved the capital to Jaipur in 1727. Royal family is from the sun dynasty.
- Jaipur was a planned city for 200k people. It's now 6.5m.
- Since the royal family is from the sun dynasty, there are Suns on all of the lampposts.
Our first stop today was the Palace of the Winds. It's a facade created for the royal women to be able to snoop on the markets without having to be fully covered. It is championed as a pride of Indian woman as such. Queen's and noble ladies were not allowed to leave the palace but had tons of windows to see the bazaar. I guess it's better to watch other people than be stuck inside without a source of entertainment.
We passed the Raj Hotel. It is Asia's most expensive hotel at $40,000 a night. It's a former royal house.
Our next stop was the Amber Palace. It's absolutely spectacular and overlooks Jaipur. It is fortified and has its own tunnel to the fort. Construction took over a 127 years. There are three courtyards each with distinct personalities. The first was built in 1592 and is a blend of Hindu and Islamic architecture. It was painted with precious stone waste after the cutting of the stones. The second was called the mirror palace. There was over a million concave mirrors imported from Belgium decorating the main square. Christina and I went on adventure in the upper walls. We found this amazing view of the world from there. Not a clue how we got there. The third courtyard was boring to look at but had a cool story. It was the 12 apartments of Ahmed the Great. Each unit was self sealed and each wife could not go into the others apartment but the king had a private set of stairs to each apartment. Sneaky bastard. The entire book of Kama sutra was painted in this courtyard. The main queen had her own jacuzzi tub where there was a giant tank heated by fire and pumped into her tub by a copper tube. Interesting to see the technology way back then.
We lost a member to sickness but she was plain stupid. She drank local tap water thinking she would be fine. She literally puked from last night until today. What's more embarrassing is she is mid 50s. She fainted mid way in the palace and no one could find her so we got to worry and stand in 48C heat waiting for her. Super impressed.
When crossing all roads the name of the game is commit. If you commit traffic finds a way around you.
Since it is Christina's birthday we stop to ride camels on the side of the highway. Such a touristy thing but a cool experience. My camel was Bubbly and we can't remember Christina's. Both of our camels had two humps. It was about 52C out when we were doing this activity. Hot hot hot.
The bad joke of the day: what's the difference between a camel and your husband? A camel only has one or two humps but your husband humps you. There's also a bad British colonel joke which is that the colonial visits troops in North Africa and wonders wonders why the men are not horny. The Sargent tells him they use the camel. The colonel comes back to visit this area again and then drops trough and jumps the camel. The colonel is beside himself laughing. The colonel orders the Sargent to tell him why. The Sargent responds the men use the camel to get to town.
The last stop today on tour was the Water Palace which had some history I wasn't paying attention to. If you care, google it. I don't.
Lunch was at a hotel with the doorman having the greatest moustache alive. He could curl the ends and look like a sultan. Lunch was roasted cauliflower and naan bread. Simple but tasty. We lost a lot of people to heat stroke after lunch.
The afternoon was spent at a textile factory and a jewelry factory. Very pretty things.
Tonight's dinner is at a vegetarian place so we will see the type of food eaten.
Tomorrow is an early start at 7 am to hit the road for Agra.
AFN
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