December 1, 2014. More Jaisalmer

We strolled around the market and had lunch at various food stalls.  Our guide promised us that we would not get "Delhi Belly"!  

Really tasty.  Fried balls of various things, like potatoes, lentils, chilis

December 1, 2014. Jaisalmer, part 2

This town is called the Golden City, due to the color of the buildings.

A custom in this town is to paint a mural indicating the wedding of their children.  The elephant is a sign of good luck, as our guide is pointing out.

Puppet-making is famous here.

Beautiful architecture.

Then, we went to the fort.  Unlike forts in other towns, this one is still in use, with shops, restaurants and hotels.

December 1, 2014. Wonderful Jaisalmer

Our guide picked us up for a tour of the city.  First we went to a holy lake.  People feed the catfish, as they are a reincarnation from a god.

Then, our guide walked us around the backstreets if the city, which is a heritage site.  This man is making a popular Indian sweet.

This is a typical street, with beautiful architecture, and cows.

Here is the milkman delivering milk to a housewife.

November 30, 2014. On to desert city of Jalismer

We had another great breakfast outdoors at the old-style villa.

Then, we drove about 6 hours southwest to Jaisalmer through the desert.  It was sparsely populated ...mostly just cows, camels and goats.  

We arrived at another luxurious hotel.  This one was built to replicate a historic fort.

This is in front of our room

George is pretending to take an outdoor shower.

Then, we had a drink at the pool.

We are really in the lap of luxury,

November 29, 2014. Jodphur, part 3

The 3-wheeler guy owns a spice shop, too.  Recently, he had the good idea of offering cooking classes to teach the foreigners how to use the spices they bought.  This is the wall on his home's rooftop.

The wife had each of us make a chipatti (kind of like a tortilla)...even George

We enjoyed the feast sitting on the rooftop floor.

Then, Meredith cooked a pasta dish for them.

We talked with their 2 children, then met the parents and brother's family, who live downstairs.

Nice evening.  Then, we rode home on the 3-wheeler, even more thrilling in the dark!

November 29, 2014. Part 2 in Jodphur

We grabbed a 3-wheeler and went back to the downtown market.  We 3 fit just right....can't imagine how they squeeze 15 into one!

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We are going to the 3-wheeler's house this evening for a cooking lesson.  Meredith will prepare a dish for them, too.  So, we went shopping in the market for some veg.  Here she is selecting tomatoes.

The cooking class was fun.  It was amazing how much the wife could prepare in her tiny kitchen

See next post for more pictures.

November 29, 2014. Jodhpur

We had a beautiful al fresco breakfast, then went with our van and driver to see the sights.  We went to the historic fort.  Jodphur is called the Blue City.  From the top of the castle, we could see the city below.  In olden days, the upper caste people painted their homes blue, so they would be recognized.  Now, anyone can paint their homes blue.  You can also see the huge, long wall that surrounds the old town and castle.

I asked about the word Jodphur that we use in English for the name of polo pants.  Our guide told us the story.....years ago, one of the maharaji traveled to England.  The ship sank on the way, and his trunk with all his clothes was lost.  He was wearing his Jodphur pants.    He went to a tailor to get them repaired.  The tailor asked what kind of pants they were.  He was tired and just yelled, "Jodphur", so the style of pants became known as jodhpurs.

The fort and museum were very interesting.  We saw pictures and items from the time of the maharaja....the chairs they used on top of the elephants, their weapons, and the palanquins used to carry the royalty

Back at the parking lot, our ride awaited us......

(Not really)

Then we went to the market in the old part of town.  Lots of stuff, including beautiful fruits and  vegetables, lentils, snacks, clothing, pots and pans, spices, and just about anything else you can imagine.... 

 

We stopped at a spice shop, famous here, and Meredith bought some spice mixes.

We returned to the hotel to rest.  George luxuriated next to the pool....

November 28, 2014. On to Jodhpur

We drove about 7 hours northwest India from Jaipur to Jodhpur through the dusty desert. It was a busy highway with lots of trucks.  We passed through the city where the marble at the Taj Mahal came from, so there were lots of trucks hauling rocks.

We have a really nice driver.  He will be with us all the way, until we fly back to Hyderabad. He took us to a lesse shop.  It is a type of buttermilk drink.

Jodhpur seems to be a delightful town, not so big.  We think our hotel is a former villa owned by the royalty.  It is plantation-style with lots of verandas and patios, and lots of ceiling fans, so pleasant in the heat. 90 degrees high today.

We strolled around the town, and found this hole in the wall place to eat.   It literally is a hole cut out of a cement wall.  It was tiny, only 3 tables.  It definitely is not where the tourists go.  This is the menu.

We sat down, and were served 3 bowls of food....one curry, one lentils, and one cauliflower soup.  All served with never-ending naan.  As soon as we ate some from one of the bowls, the server filled it up again.  Each day, there is a different set of 3 dishes, sort of a set menu, all vegetarian.  All for less than a dollar each for all we could eat.

We are looking forward to exploring more of Jodhpur tomorrow.  

November 27, 2014. Sightseeing in Jaipur

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Jaipur is called the Pink City as the old buildings were made with a pinkish terra cotta.

This is a famous building with the pink facade 

Then we went to the most important building here called Amer Fort.  Meredith was elated that she could ride an elephant, like the royalty used to do, up the hill to the main part of the palace.  There was about a one-hour queue.  Our guide had us stand in line while he somehow got Meredith to the front of the line for the elephants.  Then, he ran back to us and had us run to the van, where we whizzed through back streets up the hill.  Miraculously, we arrived just as Meredith did.  She was looking really happy.

Here are the elephants going back down, like they did with the moguls in the 1700s.

 It was interesting to learn how the kings, queen, and other wives lived.  In the summer it hits 49 degrees Centigrade, about 135 Fahrenheit, so they had elaborate cooling systems.  Lots of gems embedded in the walls for decoration.

 

See next post for more pics

November 27, 2014. More Jaipur

We spent most of the day visiting important historical sites, including this water palace.

There are lots of camels in the streets, used to haul heavy goods.

We stopped at this vendor's stand for a tasty spicy snack called Navratan  with dried lentils.  He squeezed fresh lime and added diced red onions, chilies, and tomatoes.  It was a work of art.

Then we went to a handicraft shop.  Block  printing is famous here, and they let Meredith make a block print.

Then on to a carpet shop where we watched them weave rugs from camel hair.  They really wanted us to buy one...

Meredith is looking for some wedding jewelry, so our driver took us through a residential area to tiny shops to look at their gems.  Indians spend a lot of money on gold and gems for the wedding ceremony.  We really only were looking for costume jewelery.  

November 26, 2014. Nightlife in Jaipur

We explored the hotel grounds and stumbled upon this puppeteer next to the swimming pool.  He spoke Spanish, so it was fun to talk with him.  He put on a show, then gave us a puppet. The puppets are wearing traditional clothes from this area.  

Then our driver took us to a restaurant where there was typical dancing.  We ate outside.  It was a little cool, so they brought a small charcoal grill to warm us up.  We ordered a thali,  which is a platter of small dishes, so we could sample lots of regional foods.  

The women danced with lots of things on their heads, and soon they pulled George out to the dance floor.....

Very nice welcome to Jaipur!  

November 26, 2014. Next city, Jaipur

Our driver picked us up in Agra and we hit the road toward Jaipur, about 200 kms away.

We stopped in historic Fatehpur Sikri, home of one of the moguls before moving to Agra.  He had 3 wives, one each...Christian, Hindi, Muslim, each with her own part of the castle.

We stopped for lunch in a roadside restaurant.  

 

November 25, 2014. Part 2

There are many kinds of transportation.  Here we see human rickshaws.

There are also horse-drawn carriages 

We walked around the town of Agra, then back to the hotel.

November 25, 2014. Amazing Taj Mahal

We watched monkeys from our hotel window, frolicking on the rooftop of the nearby apartments and cell tower.

Our driver and van picked us up after a nice Indian breakfast buffet at the hotel.  We were surrounded by Germans, Koreans, and French.  

Our first view of the Taj Mahal seemed like an apparition.  It almost seems to float.

We had an excellent guide who gave us the history of the Taj Mahal and the symmetry of the buildings and grounds.  Its size is deceiving.....see people in the distance. 

The Taj Mahal is actually a mausoleum, built in the 17th century by a mogul to honor his dead wife.

From there, we visited a famous fort.  Then we went to a shop that sells marble artwork in the style of the Taj.  

We had lunch at a nice restaurant greeted by this distinctive chap.   

 

 

The street sights are different from central India.  There are a lot of horse carts, as well as ones pulled by camels and water buffalo. 

More pictures on next post