Day 15 - Jaipur - Part 2: Rug, Lunch, Tour of the Pink City, Observatory, Royal Family residences.
After our Fort Adventure we take an indoor break at the Textile Cooperative. They offer us drinks and we get the production show for stamped fabric and rugs. They tell us that 1800 families in the area have looms provided so they can make the rough carpets at home. The final stages of trim, burn and wash are done here. Steve and I decide to buy a small rug for the back hall and have a great time deciding. Shipping it home, of course. Janet and Dan got a kick out of our decision process.
After lunch we get a bus tour of the Pink City. Everything inside the wall is 300 years old. The entire city was painted in 1876 on the occasion of Prince Albert's visit, it is repainted the same color (terra cotta?) every 10 years, paid by the government. This is the year so we see lots of bamboo scaffolding, especially in front of the Wind Palace. We get the idea of it anyway. Imagine a parade along this road and the women behind the windows in this tall narrow panel able to see the parade and nobody able to see them. Oh, the royal buildings are honey colored…all the other buildings are pink.
Can we squeeze one more World Heritage site into our day? Yes we can: Our eighth site: the 290 year old Astronomical Observatory. Nothing like we expected from the name. This field of astronomy instruments was designed by the Portuguese for the ruler of the time (?), and the calibrations still work. Some restoration took place in 1901. The largest sun dial in the world shows the N latitude of Jaipur to be 27 degrees.
The giant clock is accurate to 30 seconds. A bit large for a wrist but more accurate than my watch.
From the Observatory we go to the royal family's current properties. They've opened areas for museums; armory, clothing-robes in the family for 400 years and in perfect condition, big water jugs used to carry Ganges River water to England so the king could stay healthy while visiting for King George's coronation. This area reminded me of how the Biltmore House in Asheville is managed. Our fee was included, and Vijay took care of it, and the money goes into continuing restoration. The family still lives in one of the houses in the enclosure.
On the ride back to 'our' palace caught a shot of the prize winning load on the road. Also stopped at the country garden of that same royal family enterprise. The end of the garden now contains tiny but comfortable cabin/tents for tourists who spend a bit less than in the palace. The garden's water and common areas were spectacular, of course.
After our Fort Adventure we take an indoor break at the Textile Cooperative. They offer us drinks and we get the production show for stamped fabric and rugs. They tell us that 1800 families in the area have looms provided so they can make the rough carpets at home. The final stages of trim, burn and wash are done here. Steve and I decide to buy a small rug for the back hall and have a great time deciding. Shipping it home, of course. Janet and Dan got a kick out of our decision process.After lunch we get a bus tour of the Pink City. Everything inside the wall is 300 years old. The entire city was painted in 1876 on the occasion of Prince Albert's visit, it is repainted the same color (terra cotta?) every 10 years, paid by the government. This is the year so we see lots of bamboo scaffolding, especially in front of the Wind Palace. We get the idea of it anyway. Imagine a parade along this road and the women behind the windows in this tall narrow panel able to see the parade and nobody able to see them. Oh, the royal buildings are honey colored…all the other buildings are pink.
Can we squeeze one more World Heritage site into our day? Yes we can: Our eighth site: the 290 year old Astronomical Observatory. Nothing like we expected from the name. This field of astronomy instruments was designed by the Portuguese for the ruler of the time (?), and the calibrations still work. Some restoration took place in 1901. The largest sun dial in the world shows the N latitude of Jaipur to be 27 degrees.The giant clock is accurate to 30 seconds. A bit large for a wrist but more accurate than my watch.
From the Observatory we go to the royal family's current properties. They've opened areas for museums; armory, clothing-robes in the family for 400 years and in perfect condition, big water jugs used to carry Ganges River water to England so the king could stay healthy while visiting for King George's coronation. This area reminded me of how the Biltmore House in Asheville is managed. Our fee was included, and Vijay took care of it, and the money goes into continuing restoration. The family still lives in one of the houses in the enclosure.
On the ride back to 'our' palace caught a shot of the prize winning load on the road. Also stopped at the country garden of that same royal family enterprise. The end of the garden now contains tiny but comfortable cabin/tents for tourists who spend a bit less than in the palace. The garden's water and common areas were spectacular, of course.
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| They told us the cobra had no fangs. He had rhythm though. |
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| Wind Palace view from the Observatory |
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| restoring the royal homes with the special gem powder paint. |
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| One of two 700 pound water jugs, each filled with 900 gallons of Ganges water for Maharaja to take to the UK when he went to visit. We just drink bottled water. |
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| These guys won, hands down, the 'how-much-can-you-load' contest. |
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| garden area for the camp/cabin area of the Sampore Palace family |
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