Day 2 brought Erin and I to Jaipur, or the Pink City, by way of Fatehpur Sikri, an abandoned city situated outside of Agra. Fatehpur Sikri is home to a famous moghul palace and mosque which we explored in the hot sun amidst many touts and "government guides" who all wanted to help you really appreciate the history of the place for a small fee or by also visiting their uncle/brother/father's stall or shop. We managed to avoid them in the palace but not the mosque. We did really enjoy the abandoned city and its red sandstone buildings with intricately carved walls. It was hot, though, in the Rajhastani sun making us very thankful for our air-conditioned car and kind driver.
Jaipur is a pretty crazy city full of motor vehicles, bicycles, and wandering animals making for pretty crazy traffic. It is probably the shopping capital of India. And we shopped a lot. Erin does like to shop and was set on getting a few things in Jaipur so that was our main focus. The shopkeepers (all men) jumped out at us from plastic chairs to try and get us to look in their shop. "Madam, please look!" "Lookng is no charge!" "Looking is free!" "Only look, no problem!" "Very cheap! You like!'" These and many other more and less polite things were yelled at us as we passed by sparkly bangles, colorful saris, camel-leather shoes, and Indian gems. We both bought a few things (well, me one thing and Erin many) and we haggled and bargained our socks off.
We did do some sightseeing in Jaipur as well. The Amber Fort is just a short drive from the walled, pink, Old City. We happened to be there on a day of a big Durga (the Mother of God in the Hindu religion) festival which meant the big temple inside the fort was absolutely packed with devotees and worshippers, some performing full-body prostrations walking up the path. (Each step you lay your whole body on the earth as a sign of supplication). We were bombarded as we hiked up to the palace entrance with begging women and children, many who tried to give us tika (the red mark between the eyebrows for good luck). Pilgraming families bought a string of marigolds and sweets to offer to Durga once inside the temple. Because of the overwhelming crowd, we decided to go into the palace instead of the temple. The palace afforded spectacular views of the city of Amber and surrounding hills. These were a close second, however, to the appropriately named Glass Palace which is covered with cut glass and mirrors of varying shapes, sizes and patterns. We also liked standing on the many palace rooftops and terraces watching Indian women in beautiful saris approaching the temple, a rainbow of bright colors floating by in a river of gorgeous faces and fabrics.
Our guest house, Sunder Palace, was a very quiet and comfortable accommodation with a rooftop cafe and real filtered coffee, two things that make any hotel enjoyable in my eyes. The hallways were filled with tasteful Indian paintings and decor and our room was immensely spacious, big enough for our morning yoga, two couches, a coffee table and dining set.
Erin and I are both making a very conscious effort to surrender to the moment and not get too off-put by hawkers and starers. It's no lie that Indian cities can be overwhelming, even with our cushy transportation situation. Our car conversations revolve a lot around yoga, being present, and having compassion for desperate people who wlll do just about anything to get your money. You can see that desperation in mothers who carry babies and beg for you to buy them a banana, children who run to your car at stoplights, rickshaw drivers who follow you down the street, shop owners who thrust cheap merchandise in your face. What can we do to help? We talk about that a lot, too.
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