“There's a race of men that don't fit in, A race that can't sit still; So they break the hearts of kith and kin, And they roam the world at will. They range the field and rove the flood, And they climb the mountain's crest; Their's is the curse of the gypsy blood, And they don't know how to rest.”
- Robert Service

Sunday 26 January 2014

Jaipur (by Michael)

We’ve spent the last two days in Jaipur. This is the largest city we’ve been to since leaving Delhi. I’d enjoyed the (relatively) laid back pace of the smaller towns. Jaipur came as a bit of shock again. But there’s plenty to see here.

We started with a walk through the pink city, which is more a rusty-orange. Apparently it was at one time pink. The paint changed, but the name didn't. The pink city is the oldest part of town. A planned city, it's a grid of streets lined with shops and kite-filled trees. As far as I can tell, it’s essentially one big market. The focus of the market changes as you walk further into it: from jewelry to textiles, to electronics, to furniture. Walking through here is hectic, fun and stressful.

The pink city of Jaipur
We also visited a block printing shop, where patterns are stamped onto fabric by hand, with a separate pass for each colour. We saw Amber Fort, and ended the day with a hike up to a temple atop a hill full of monkeys. On the way back down we saw a third of the Chinese zodiac animals jostling for food. Sadly, no dragons.

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