Journal post entry 2 Saturday/Sunday January 4/5

Jaipur!

This was the first day we got to "sleep in" although there won't be too many days like this. That said I still woke up around 5:30 and went for a very short jog down the street in front of our hotel. It was dark, and the air thick. Our day included a visit to Amber fort just outside Jaipur. It was the original home of the maharaja prior to the development of the walled city of Jaipur. 

Jaipur is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan.  I found its history to be fascinating.  Evidently it was founded in 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, after whom the city has been named.  Today Jaipur has a population of 3.1 million and is known as the Pink City of India.

As we were told by our guide, Jaipur is unusual among Indian cities in the number of, and the width of, its gridded streets.   We visited the observatory, Jantar Mantar, which is one of the World Heritage Sites.  Clearly astronomical sophistication has existed within India for many generations.

Another beautiful site we visited while in Jaipur was Amer (or Amber) Fort just outside Jaipur.  Amer Fort was built by Raja Man Singh I and is known for its artistic style of Hindu elements. With its large ramparts, series of gates and cobbled paths, the fort overlooks Maota Lake. We returned later in the evening to see a nighttime presentation of the fort’s history.

Sunday morning we got up bright and early for the long bus ride to Agra where we got to visit the world’s most beautiful mausoleum – the Taj Mahal. Quite frankly, so much has been written about the Taj Mahal that I’m not sure where to start or even if it’s really all that important. I’ll just say that I came away duly impressed. There was fun incident prior to stepping from the Taj’s gardens into the building site itself where an early teenage girl with her “auntie” wanted to take my picture with them. It was kind of fun knowing that I may be a little different. The drive back to Delhi that night was harrowing, to say the least. Fog that was so thick I’m not sure the driver could see the lines in the road. Fun times, and we made it.