Our Second Vacation - Jaipur

When Dave's sister, Beth, first decided to come to India to visit, she told us that there were two things she wanted to do. The first was to see the Taj Mahal, which we eventually did in Agra. The second was to ride an elephant. We decided to tackle this one on the next leg of our tour in Jaipur. One of the high points of Jaipur is the Amber Fort and one of the best ways to get there is via elephant.

After we made it up the hill, and Beth's driver finally let her off of the elephant, she got a little closer to the trunk.

The Amber Fort is another beautiful palace. This time we were in Rajasthan, one of the states of India. The rulers of Jaipur still own this palace and it is in excellent shape.

On the way back, we were able to see some of the more traditional forms of travel in this region. They had stopped by the side of the road as we had, so it was easy to snap a quick picture.

Another event in Jaipur was the Mhendi designs that Beth and Beth had drawn on their hands. We found some guys along the side of the road that were decorating people with henna, so we worked out a two for one deal.

The last big thing that we saw in the city of Jaipur was the Jantar Mantar. This is essentially a giant collection of astronomical instruments. The big staircase that Beth is taking a picture of below is actually part of a giant sundial. There were many different instruments that were used to predict the angle of the sun in the sky, the rise of stars, and many other facts used to determine horoscopes.

The big event for our night in Jaipur was actually about 20 kilometers south of town. We had a taxi pick us up to take us to Chokhi Dhani, a local Rajasthani tourist village. They had a large meal and a village full of performers. Beth and Beth both got pulled on stage to dance, but Dave adamently refused. There were also camel rides, tightrope walkers, elephant rides, museums, and many other attractions.

Chokhi Dhani was fun, but it was mostly an attraction for Indian tourists. There was nothing written in English anywhere and we were the only westerners there that night. We felt a bit uncomfortable, but had a great time together. It had been a full day, so we slept well that night in preparation for our trip to Rajaji National Park the next day.

Dave and Beth