India

Our first stop was in the capital city of the state - Jaipur. The wonderful thing about a country like India is that due to its scale, its diverse geography, its mass of people with its still flourishing caste system as well as its rich and ancient history - every part of the country contributes something else to the tourist industry. Except for in the main cities, each region offers unique products and what you are able to find in one town you may very well not even be able to find in the next. Jaipur is one of the world's major gem producers and you can find precious and semi-precious gems everywhere.

Of particular interest to Janine was a specific style of hand-blocked cotton fabrics that she had spotted before...which comes from Jaipur. We set off for a morning walk about inside the walls of the old city of Jaipur (also called the pink city because the buildings are predominantly made from a pink/brown coloured stone), which is bursting at the seems with bazaars and old buildings. We then visited the Hawa Mahal in the old city. Built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, Hawa Mahal is supposedly the most stunning sight in the city of Jaipur. The palace, part of a huge complex, overlooks one of Jaipur's main streets and was originally constructed to offer women of the court a vantage point, behind stone-carved screens, from which to watch the activities taking place in the bazaar and the surrounding streets. This practice of having women confined to their homes is called "purdah".

We also managed to make quite a few purchases. On the list was a pair of matching toe rings which we bought to help communicate Janine's marital status to the Indian male population.

A little cultural moment was when Janine headed off to the post office to post her brother a letter. You purchase the stamps for your letter inside and then you walk out of the building, to the other side of the parking lot where a table stands. On this table is a grimy pot of gum glue which you then use to fix your stamps to your letter. The letter is then posted inside the building again.

The afternoon was splurge time as we headed to the revolving OM Tower restaurant with views of the entire city. The food was fantastic - just the right way to kick off an evening that was going to prove to be something quite exceptional. Johan had managed to book us a room in the tower of the fort high up on the hill overlooking the city. The fort only has one room to offer and this room was it. Once all the tourists had left the scene and the fort was locked up for the night - we were its only residents. Magical! The only other company up high around the fort is cute monkeys who slept outside our window.

The next morning our driver took us to the Amber Palace. We decided to employ the services of a local guide because this palace has little passages and rooms attached to it that is something to be witnessed - apparently, with the servant quarters alone amounting to 1200 rooms - one can easily get lost! Nothing was planned on a grid system or anything like that, the whole place is a maze! The particular king had twelve wives and there is a courtyard with three royal living spaces on each side of this courtyard. There were watch guards placed in watchtowers to ensure the wives did not enter into each other's rooms - to prevent jealousy. Also the king had secret passages to each of these women. He was a man in control!

The palace is rigged with all the necessary purdah infrastructure and different palace living areas - some heated and some cooled in the most elaborate ways to help the nobility cope with the different seasons. The queens had to be carried or pushed around the palace because even their saree alone weighed more than 9 kg!

From here we hit the road again and we were on our way to Pushkar.