Jaipur

January 6^th

I can’t believe that this is only our second day in India; it feels as though we’ve been here for a week already. After sightseeing in Agra, we took another 5-hour bus ride to Jaipur and fell asleep as soon as we arrived at our hotel.

Amber Fort

After breakfast the next morning, we loaded on the bus on the way to Amber Fort. The fort was up on a hill, and we rode elephants up the steep path. Amber Fort is known for is its mix of Mughal and Hindu artistic styles. Inside the fort, the walls are covered with mirrors, mosaics, and carvings.

Mirror mosaics in the Jai Mandir, the Hall of Victory inside Amber Fort

Hawa Mahal

Our group stopped at various tourist attractions in Jaipur, Hawa Mahal among them. Hawa Mahal was basically a way for royal women to watch processions in the streets while still remaining hidden from people on the street. It’s kind of odd to think that women took such a subservient role in society because in the Hindu religion, there are many female gods, and the womanly figure is celebrated.

Hawa Mahal

General Observations in Jaipur

1. Public urination: acceptable and common.
2. The garbage: In some places, it looked as though someone had dropped the contents of an entire dumpster along the block. There was an obvious lack of a waste management system in the more rural cities.
3. The fog, especially in Delhi: Monica told us that before the switch to unleaded fuel, her nostrils would turn black by the end of the day from the thick smog.
4. Temples. Everywhere. On the side of the road, in the middle of the street, on the roof of our hotel—you name it. I suppose that the 330 million gods in the Hindu religion merit the large amount of temples. Some were extremely small, barely accommodating one person, and not looking at all like a temple. Others were large and ornate, and drew large sums of money in donation for their construction.
5. Shopping on the streets of India is like walking into a car showroom. You are profiled from the moment you step foot in the shops for the markup you are most likely to pay. Shopping also comes hand in hand with bargaining.
6. Conversation etiquette: Don’t praise Pakistan, don’t criticize the Indian cricket team, and Slumdog Millionaire was not a good movie.
7. There are three things you need for driving in India (according to our taxi driver): a good horn, good brakes, and good luck.
8. The class/caste system in India sill heavily influences social interaction. Gorab was telling us that you can’t change your caste, even if your economic position changes, or you adopt a different profession. For example, Gorab was of the warrior caste even though he’s never wielded a weapon.
9. Dogs and cats are not pets and are treated as vermin. Stray dogs are everywhere, as are cows. The cow is sacred in the Hindu religion, so it is not farmed or killed. Instead, they roam free among the streets and metropolitan areas.