I love this picture and couldn't wait to add it to my blog, so I'm throwing chronology aside and putting my sunset picture first.
I'm not sure if the small blog picture will be as good, but the pillars have the silhouette of boys sitting on the stones and the scalloped edges around them is Nahargarh Fort. We went here to grab a beer and watch the sunset.
It was the perfect day and the perfect place to watch the sunset. The Diwali celebration continued through tonight. I could see the homes decorated with colored lights and the fireworks exploding throughout the streets. My favorite moment was hearing azan being played from all the mosques as the glow from the sunset lit the sky pink and purple. I hadn't even thought about being able to hear azan from so high up. As soon as I heard the first mosque begin to transmit azan on its speakers, I knew it would be special.
I shared the moment with a British couple sitting next to me. The man said it was one of his most memorable moments. It was his first trip to India, but his wife's fifteenth. She worked for an international aid agency that, in her opinion, mismanaged its funds. On a trip to India ten years ago, she asked her driver why the kids weren't in school. He told her that school is not free and most families cannot afford to send their children to school. After she retired, she began collecting money from her friends in England to sponsor schooling for children from the small villages. She makes regular trips to India to oversee its use. She and her husband initially sponsored a few children to attend a good school (about $120 per year) and have now helped build a school with the help of donations from her friends. Her driver (the same one from her first visit) helps her select the children who receive the aid. He was sitting with them enjoying the sunset as well. This prompted a long conversation between me and my driver about corruption in India. Remind me to tell you about it when I'm not so tired.
I ask just about everyone how business is done in India. This afternoon I picked the brain of Sonu, a man who sold me some textiles. I'm pretty sure that if this law thing doesn't work out, I'll join George from Seinfeld and enter the importing/exporting business. Sonu has a factory in Kashmir where he has cashmere scarves made (I never put Kashmir, India and Cashmere (the British spelling) together until I got here). He pays the workers between $4 and $50 dollars to make a cashmere scarf/pashmina, depending on the quality of the scarf. The scarf he pays $50 for the worker to make is delicate and hand woven on a loom. He sells it retail for $240 and people in the US buy it for at least $1,000.
Importers in the US buy, for example, a low-quality cashmere scarf for $10 each. The importer then marks up the price to about $100 to $150, making a larger chunk than he does and a much larger chunk than the weaver. He said he doesn't sell directly to the markets/stores in the US because he can't get people to believe it is good quality/real cashmere. He exports his goods throughout the world.
Being here, one can understand why factories are flocking overseas. The labor is cheap and plentiful and the country is rich in certain resources. A job that pays $7/hr is a dream job for many Indians.
I went to Sanu's retail shop. It was not as cheap as the price the wholesalers get, but the prices were still very reasonable (especially after some aggressive bargaining) and the selection was incredible.
This is the aftermath of my shopping spree. I suppose from my information about Sanu's business you can tell I was here for awhile--three hours to be precise.
He shared some of his coconut cashew sweets with me to celebrate Diwali. It brings good luck to buy things during Diwali. All the ATM machines are empty.... There is also a milk shortage because milk is used to make many of the sweets.
This morning we drove past Hawa Mahal, the Palace of the Winds. The royal ladies sat on these balconies to watch the city happenings.
Chicken curry and rice for lunch. I'm still loving the food.
We then drove to Amber Fort, about 10 km outside the city. This is my new favorite fort. Construction began in 1592.
Amber Fort is sprawling, so I couldn't take a picture of the whole thing.
The smog tends to be a bit of a picture killer. It hasn't rained a drop since I arrived, and I am pretty sure it won't rain during the duration of my trip. You should still be able to see the stairs leading up the side of the mountain and the wall along the mountain's ridge.
View from the top of the fort looking out at the wall. The king's men used drummers to communicate with other men on the fort's wall.
Jai Mandir, the Hall of Victory, was my favorite room in the palace. It has mirrors throughout the inner walls. At night, they would light candles that would flicker and reflect in the mirrors, giving a warming effect on a cool mountain night.
Inside the mirrored chambers.
The mirrored ceiling.
View of the inner courtyard.
The king who built the fort was muslim and had many wives and concubines. There are many rooms where his wives and concubines lived. The rooms were located near each other but arranged so that the king could move among the rooms without the other women knowing.
Only the king's mother was allowed to show her face in public. Above is one of the windows in the concubine's room where she could sit and watch the activity in the town's center. The walls of the corridors where the women lived was higher than where the men lived, an additional measure to prevent women from being seen in public.
Along the far wall are the small windows with the window screens.
The king also had a lake built and a garden with irrigation installed. The water system was initially installed to keep his saffron plants cool in the summer months. It was still too hot for them to grown, but as a result, he had a lush garden.
They also used flowing water to keep the rooms cool. Water flowed through the rooms, down this ramp in the small archway, then out to the garden in the inner courtyard.
The city eventually became overpopulated and there was no room to expand. Access to water also became a problem. The king decided to move the capital about 10 kilometers away to Jaipur.
View of Jaipur from a spot near Nahargarh Fort. In a time span of five years, the population of Jaipur has grown from 5 million to 8 million. Overcrowding is once again a problem.
The building in the center is an abandoned palace. It was built in the center of the lake to keep it cool.
We stopped for pictures during the day and again at night. You can't enter the palace.
It was much prettier at night.
We also stopped at Gatore Ki Chhatriyan, a burial ground of kings and their family members.
These were the pavilions which housed remains of the king's children.
No tourists were around, so we had a small photo shoot.
More camel sightings, but not a good picture.
An elephant painted with bright colors for the Diwali celebration.
After we watched the sunset, I had dinner and watched some traditional Indian dance.
More goat.... I can't say I love goat, but you can put anything in these sauces and it will be delicious. I mixed up my previous comment about roti v. naan. Naan is the one baked in a clay oven, not roti. And I'm told chapati are the same as roti.
The fireworks celebrating Diwali continued tonight. Kids were setting off some serious firecrackers near the restaurant. They were exploding about 40 ft off the ground. The ash was falling into everyone's food and people were running for cover. The restaurant manager had to get the police to get the kids to stop.
One more day in Jaipur tomorrow, then I head to the desert.
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Location:Jaipur, India
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