We saw a lot of cool stuff and did a few cool things, including... riding a elephant! The elephant ride turned out to the the highlight of our trip, but other elements of Jaipur were cool as well.
Last night we did some wrestling with Bank of America, because they locked down our account. I guess they forgot that we were going to be in India, so when we had trouble with an ATM yesterday morning they thought some international identity theft was in progress and locked us out. Those losers. Well today is a new day. We started off with a great breakfast from our hotel's restaurant. And then we were picked up by our driver and guide. He is a different guide that the one in Agra and a much better one at that!
We stopped by the Hawa Mahal for a brief lesson and photo opp. It is a pretty impressive building and was constructed at a time before glass so their windows instead were solid stone but had many intricate holes and designs cut into them to allow the residents to look out but street people to not look in. This building was also unique because it was the location of the of the sultan's harem.
Next up was the Amber Fort. Jaipur (the Pink City) was once one of the three capitals of the Mughal Empire. And as the city furthest to the NW, it was susceptible to enemy attacks at any time. They built a great wall all around the territory and a beautiful fort near the top of a mountain ridge. Instead of hiking up to the top we did what any good tourist would do... we rode an elephant! Aha! So cool. It took an hour to get to the elephants, but 'twas well worth the wait. Vicky had never been on an elephant and I had never really ridden one, so this was a treat. We wobbled our way up the mountain at a very slow pace. Plus because the beast waddles, every other step sent us rocking over the edge of the cliff. This was quite scary, but we had some railings to nervously clutch onto and we came out the other side alive. So all was well. I'll scan in the pictures of us on the elephant soon. This fort was financed by one of the Mughal sultan's great generals who had a power sharing agreement. During all conquests, the sultan would take control of any lands gained, while the general would keep all riches pillaged. That money is the reason why his fort is so beautiful. There was wonderful artwork installed throughout and he had identical apartments built for his twelve wives.
Next, we were off to Jantar Mantar, a place of science, math and astronomy. My nerdy inner core felt right at home. Here, our tour guide took a back seat to one of the men for the facility. The structures there were fascinating and our guide was very knowledgeable. He explained to us the function of each oddly shaped stone device with ease and detail. There is no way to quickly describe what we saw, but I'll try. Imagine walking into an astronomers office and taking a look around his desk and shelves. Surrounding you are strange objects through which he stares at the stars. Many look as if they were created using French curves, while others are perfectly straight. There are sundials and telescopes, gyroscopes and spheres. Now imagine them expanding and scaling to the size of a modern park. They still surround you, but now they drawf you with both their size and peculiarity. Now you have Jantar Mantar. No pictures do it justice, but it is a very cool place where scientist once studied the heavens through calculation and observation and others made predictions for humanity based on the movements of the stars. There were structures for each of the astrological signs (Taurus, Aquarius, etc) and our guides explained that Indians take these sorts of predictions very seriously. We don't, but were impressed by the forethought at which it was all designed.
Finally, we had a quick lunch and then visited the Prince Albert Museum. It was dedicated to him after one of his visits to India and displays a lot of national treasures, as well as a few relics from around the globe (Egyption mummies, European pottery, etc.).
After our long day, we collapsed in out hotel and fell soundly asleep.
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