Forts And Palaces (and a few interesting things as well)

Hello and greetings from Jodphur, Rajasthan!

I am in a great mood today as we have spent the morning riding bicycles and trekking in the Rhao Doa Desert Rock Park!  I am feeling healthy and energized which is a bit of a change from the past few days.  After the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort, Dad and I spent one more night in Agra (the freezing cold shack with no shower).  Fortunately, I was warmer that night because I wore three jackets to bed.  A bit ridiculous, but it worked!

So ridiculous.

We spent the next day driving from Agra to Jaipur.  Our driver, Ramesh certainly knows how to navigate the crazy highways and small city streets of India.  We have not been hit yet, but we have seen a few people just narrowly miss getting hit by a car.  It can still be stressful to look out the window, so I usually keep my eyes off the road.  On the way, we stopped to see a fort.  I should’ve seen it coming.  The top site in each city seems to be a fort.  Now, it is the top site along the WAY to the next city as well.

Along the highway, there is lots of manufacturing/industrial work happening.  There is lots of work done with sandstone and marble in Rajasthan so here is a typical sight that one sees while driving.

It was very interesting, however, because our guide was very knowledgeable and was able to describe the life of the royalty that lived there.  It was built by a King (can’t tell you which one because they all sound the same to me and I don’t know how to spell any of their names).  He had three wives: A Muslim wife, a Hindu wife, and a Christian wife.  Therefore, the fort was designed to incorporate each wife’s religion.   When examining the architectural influences, it was clear that all religions were included.  It was also a BEAUTIFUL day so it was so nice to be outside for a bit rather than be in the car all day.

Bus ride to the fort (Dad's a little taller than the average Indian)

This is where musicians used to play to entertain the King 

A column that shows the Hindu architecture on the top, Islamic design in the middle, and Christian symbols at the bottom

Here's Dad posing with the "Revenue Building"  AKA where the typical accountant would've hung out during the time of the fort

We also were taken to a Muslim temple while we were there.  With temples often comes beggars or people selling things.  Our guides have told us multiple times to ignore them and not give them any money.  Sure, not a problem.  For me.  Dad doesn’t have a problem not giving them any money, but he seems to have a problem getting rid of them.  When they ask me to buy something, I simply say “no thank you” and keep walking.  Dad, on the other hand says things like: “I think I’m ok” and “I’m not really interested in buying anything”.  What do they hear? “Ok, buy.”  And then they continue to follow us around.  It is hilarious, but also annoying.

Dad's friend

Another friend...

...who would just not give up!

It goes on and on...

Before arriving in Jaipur, we stopped at the “Monkey Temple”.  This was a place that I was expecting to be really cool, but it kind of just gave me the creeps.  There were monkeys EVERYWHERE and the temple seemed abandoned and there were piles of garbage everywhere.  Along with monkeys, there were pigs, dogs, and peacocks.  It was overwhelming, but definitely something interesting to see!

A local woman feeding the monkeys before she shoos them away with a broom

We got to Jaipur and we were exhausted.  However, we still hadn’t eaten anything for dinner.  I got a bout of stomach sickness in Agra and Dad was still sick from before, so eating has proven to be a difficult challenge for us.  Our bodies don’t seem to handle traditional/local food too well, so we are constantly on the lookout for an establishment that is clean more than anything else.  We had passed a McDonald’s on the way in, so that was our destination for the night.  Not only did Dad have confidence in the cleanliness of the operations at a McDonald’s franchise, but I always find it fun to see how the menu changes from country to country so I try to go to a McDonald’s in each country that I visit.

We had to walk 2 km in crazy traffic to get there, but we made it!  Of course, the only meat they eat in India is chicken so everything on the menu was either some version of a McChicken Burger or a Filet-o-Fish.  Dad ordered the “Maharaja Mac” which was essentially a Big Mac, but with chicken instead of beef.  Despite a man blatantly cutting me in line and then ignoring me when I called him out, and a McFlurry that was only ¾ full, it was a successful meal.

Happy Camper

The next day, we had what felt like a million things to see in the city.  Again, we hired a guide who took us to all the main sites.  Guides are great because there really isn’t any information at any of these sites for tourists, so it’s hard to get anything out of it without one.  However, oftentimes the sites that guides think are amazing are not interesting at all to me. 

We started off at, you guessed it, another fort.  This one was “The Amber Fort” and while it was impressive it was…well, another fort.  I understand that these forts are engineering feats since they were built literally hundreds of years ago but I’m getting to the point where they all look the same to me.  

Before heading into the Amber Fort

View from the inside

Selfie because I was bored

Gardens At The Fort

He took us to a few other sites like the "Window Palace" and the "Water Palace".

Wind Palace

Water Palace

Then took us to "Jantar Mantar".  He was REALLY excited about it.  It is an astrological and astronomical observatory that was built in….whatever year it was, it was a long time ago.  To me, it just looked like a weird Indian skate park.  We stayed there for what felt like forever as our guide described each machine in meticulous detail.  After each explanation, my eyes would glaze over and he would say, "You understand?" and then explain the same thing again.  YES I understand, I just don't care.  It was excruciating. 

Sun Dial

I don't know what any of these things actually do

Standing next to the Sagittarius sign on one of the structures...because...that's what tourists do here.

After that, we went into ANOTHER palace.  I can’t tell you much about it except that it was another palace.  It was interesting to an extent, but I didn’t take many photos because I was so tired of seeing forts and palaces for the day.

Literally didn't take a single photo, so let's move on.

Then, like clockwork, our guide says we need to go visit an Indian rug factory.  “Not to buy, just to look”.  YEAH RIGHT.  All day I was telling him that I wasn’t interested in seeing the “handicraft factory” which we both knew was just a tourist trap.  He brought us there anyway.  I was NOT going to go to another rug store that is sold as a “factory”.  But, Dad said “yes” (he REALLY wanted to see how they make the rugs by hand so there we were. 

Dad getting to see the process in a random building on the side of the road

Showing us where they wash the carpets.  

Front row seat to the action

Of course after the “factory tour”, we were brought into a room full of rugs where we had to hum and haw and pretend we were remotely interested in buying anything.  It was very awkward (as it always is) and at this point, I just wanted to leave.  However, they asked me to go into the back room to look at the scarves and pashminas.  Before I had the chance to say “No thank you”, Dad said “Yeah yeah, Annika you go do that, I’m going to go out to the car”.  So, since he completely left me in the lurch to deal with the salespeople, I DID go into the back room, and I DID buy a pashmina with HIS credit card.

Before Dad left me to fend for myself

We ate pizza that night at Domino’s and had an early night.  We both weren’t feeling great, and the 6 hour drive the next day was no picnic.  However, we are feeling better and as I said earlier, our time in Jodphur this morning was really great.  We’ll save that for the next post, though!

Sending love and hugs to you all as Christmas quickly approaches!

A