India 2017: Jaipur

Jaipiur as a city was somewhat of a disappointment.     Yes, the hotel is lovely (the best yet, but located a distance from the centre), and the Divali dinner last night was great, but I expected more from the old town, described as the "Pink city".   In fact, it's all rather shabby.    We drove past the Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds), and continued to the Amber Fort (named after its location, not its colour).   This involves a jeep ride for the climb up the hill; an interesting experience. The Fort is, as we've now come to expect, a series of chambers and courtyards, and quite impressive in its own way.

This was followed by a "shopping opportunity" (featuring semi-precious stones, for which Jaipur is traditionally noted), lunch and then a visit to Jantar Mantar, a historic observatory and the City Palace.   The observatory was fascinating. A guide explained how each of the large instruments was intended to operate, but since I'm not an astronomer, I couldn't really follow the details.

Dinner in the evening was at Ikaki Niwas, a B&B operated by a Rajasthani family. It's operated by a husband and wife couple, and as is typical, the house (a large one) is owned by the husband's parents, who also live there. The husband spent some time working for a large US company and both he and his wife speak excellent English, yet the family arrangements are still very traditional.   We were briefly introduced to the mother. Dinner was preceded by a cooking demonstration, mainly conducted by Devika (but the husband took over briefly when she went to settle the 3 month old baby!)   At dinner I sat next to Devika (the wife), and the interesting discussion around the table covered matters such as arranged marriages (as hers was), big weddings, family life, the prevalence of mobile phones in India (even amongst those who at first sight might be thought to have other prior calls on their means) and more.