shopping in india

We were "forced" to visit at least one agency-sanctioned shopping center every day that we were in India. Except for the carpet place in Jaipur, they all sold the same things-- clothes, jewelry, furniture, accessories-- that all looked the same.

Now that I think about it, there are probably hundreds of carpet places in the cities that we visited. But I enjoyed this one anyway.

I have a new appreciation for expensive handmade carpets, the operative word being "expensive".

They also have a woodblock printing workshop.

As we were leaving, they gave Desmond the piece of cloth that he "personally" printed as a souvenir. But actually, there was a stack of identical ones, already pre-made, under the table. The demo was fun, at any rate.

third day in india: more jaipur

We spent the whole morning at Amber Fort and then we went back to our hotel Le Meridien Jaipur for lunch. Afterwards, our tour guide Mr. Singh took us to see Jantar Mantar, an observatory that was built in A.D. 1726...

And the City Palace Museum which is still a royal residence of the Maharaja of Jaipur.

amber fort: group photos

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

photo by Meg

by Desmond

by Jerry

third day in india: amber fort

After an intense carbo-loading session at the breakfast buffet of Le Meridien Jaipur's coffee shop, we set out to explore Jaipur.

First on our itinerary was Amber Fort. Everyone in our tour group decided to ride the elephants which, after my almost mystical experience in Chiang Mai, I could not bring myself to do. I just felt so bad for the poor creatures who had to trudge up and down the hill all day in the heat, carrying uncomfortable chairs on their backs, and for what? To entertain tourists who don't know better.

I had also read that some of the elephants are suffering from malnutrition.

second day in india: lunch & dinner

When we arrived at Hotel Laxmi Vilas (yez, that's how it's spelled) in Bharatpur City for lunch on 23 September 2012, it was already 330PM.

It's actually a palace that was built by the maharajah's brother in 1887 and converted into a hotel in 1994. So interesting! Too bad we didn't stay there. We could have, since it's only one hour away from Agra i.e. Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri. Plus Bharatpur has its own attractions such as the Iron Fort and the bird sanctuary. Ah, well.

views from inside a bus

Before I start on India, let me get this out of the way first. I am cringing as I type this because I never thought that I would ever do something like this, but what's done is done...

I joined a package tour.

There are so many reasons I don't do package tours. I could go on and on, but my biggest beef is the complete lack of interaction with the local people. No, asking the tour guide insipid and asinine questions does not count.

Sunset at India Gate, New Delhi, 25 September 2012. We didn't even get off the bus.