Jaipur, the Pink City

Rajasthan -- the very word conjures a mystical vision of India, of maharajas and camels and palaces and jewels. It's still all that and more today.

After a tough early morning train ride from Delhi to Jaipur (see Attack of the Delhi Belly) and a rest at the hotel, I was ready to explore. The Pink City is large (3-4 million people), but feels much smaller. Though the pace is still hectic, the people are friendlier. There's also livestock everywhere... goats, cows, pigs, chickens, dogs, and even camels wandering in the city streets. The entire city was painted a pink color to welcome Prince Albert at one time, and still maintains the tradition today.

Goats hanging out in the alleys of Jaipur

Friendly kids in Jaipur

The three main attractions in Jaipur are the Palace of the Winds, the City Palace (where the of Jaipur still lives today), and the Amber Fort (the ancient city).

The Palace of the Winds, or Hawa Mahal, is a facade that one of the old maharajas built for his harem so they could observe city life on the streets below. It is the symbol of Jaipur and you see pictures of it all over India.

Hawa Mahal, or Palace of the Winds

The most impressive sight in Jaipur in the world heritage-listed Amber Fort. Amber (locally pronounced as Ah-MEHR) means 'sky', as the city was built at the top of the mountain. However, the name Amber is appropriate in English, too, because the fort is a beautiful yellow-ocher color.

The Amber Fort

As impressive as the outside of the fort is, it can't begin to compare with the inside of the fort. Rajasthan is one of the world's most abundant sources of jewels, and the maharajas who built the fort had nearly unlimited wealth in their time. The interior was lavishly designed in Italian marble and inlaid with semiprecious stones and Persian mirrors. Archways and ceilings are painted with bright, stunning images and are still vivid over 500 years later with no restoration.

A woman working on a restoration project in the Amber Fort

In the evening, I was ready for some local culture and went to a movie at the Raj Mandir -- the #1 Hindi cinema in India. The theater itself is enormous, with seating for over 1000 cheering Bollywood fans. It's the thing to do for tourists and locals alike, and nearly every show sells out. I paid 70 rupees ($1.40) for my ticket, which is pricey for a theater in India; the Raj Mandir is like going to the Arclight (for you LA readers).

The Raj Mandir, #1 Hindi cinema in India

I was hoping for a big singing-and-dancing Bollywood movie, but it turned out that the movie, "8x10 Tasveer", was an action-drama that took place in Canada. Interestingly, the movie was in a mix of Hindi and English. The movie was good, but more interesting was the people watching, because movie-going in India is an interactive experience, and the crowd cheers and yells every time something mildly dramatic happens (such as a withering glance from the star, Akshay Kumar, who kind of reminded me of The Rock).

A bicycle rickshaw in Jaipur

Another early morning train ride would lead to Agra and the Taj Mahal!