Hello, friends! I’m back!
After a month of travel and software troubles, I have found time to edit photos and bought a new editing app for my tablet that makes things much easier. Still, this blog post took all weekend. These photos are from my first two days in India, in the city of Jaipur. So, I apologize for the hiatus and hope you enjoy!
As you may know I have to leave Bangladesh every 90 days to maintain the validity of my visa. It is both an annoyance to leave my work and a blessing to get away and have a bit of vacation. Well, this trip was more than a bit of vacation. I did the whole touristy shebang.
So day one, I flew to Jaipur via Kolkata. There I met Gordon and Carol, the MCC country representatives for MCC India; Sushant, the Connection Peoples Coordinator for India; Pavina, the YAMENer from Laos living in southern India; and Derek, the SALTER from the US living in Nepal. Since Derek, Pavina, and I are the only so called “yalters” in our countries, we got this chance to meet and get to know each other.
In Jaipur, we stayed at a ritzy hotel called Hotel Megh Niwas. They had delicious breakfasts and dinners each night. They also had the most comfortable beds and a real bathtub in the rooms! Local peacocks wandering around the garden and a pool completed the picturesque location.
Day two, after a great night’s sleep and a massive breakfast, we went out to visit some of the local historical sites. Jaipur is called the Pink City, although really it should be called the Terracotta City, since that’s closer to the color. What ever it is called, it was gorgeous. Here are some street shots taken throughout the day.
The first place we visited was the Jaipur City Palace, a palace built for the maharajah of Jaipur. It is still the residence of the royalty.
There were a lot of interior rooms filled with royal splendor, but we couldn’t take pictures inside. You’ll just have to visit yourself to see them!
This courtyard had four grand gates, one for each season. I love this gate, called the winter gate, because it has peacocks! I guess winter is when their feathers shed. The detail, colors, and pattern; it’s a work of art.
I have so many more amazing pictures, but I can’t put them all on here. Your computer might crash!
The next place we went to was nearby. The Jantar Mantar is an astronomy laboratory completed in 1738. “The observatory consists of nineteen instruments for measuring time, predicting eclipses, tracking location of major stars as the earth orbits around the sun, ascertaining the declinations of planets, and determining the celestial altitudes and related ephemerides,” according to Wikipedia. It’s incredible how knowledgeable these people were!
Here Derek successfully drinks two sodas at once. I guess it was tasty! I was hoping to catch him spilling all down his shirt!
The last place we went this day was the Hawa Mahal. More fascinating history, but basically it is a giant facade “built so the women of the royal household could observe street festivals while unseen from the outside.” (Wikipedia)
There were so many tiny windows!
On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a lamp shop. Sigh, if only I had money and luggage space…
Across the street from the hotel, we saw a wedding processions just starting. This is when the groom goes to the bride’s house. Women hold these huge lamps on their heads! I love the way the women dressed! The groom is the one on the horse.
So that is the first and second day of my trip to west India. Stay tuned for day 3 with the massive and even more beautiful Amber Palace, the floating Water Palace, and getting up close to elephants!
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