We've only been here a few hours, and I like Jaipur much more than Delhi. It was very much not what I expected for a capital of 3 million, as it looks like a small town. It's also located in Rajasthan, which seems appropriate. I've never been to a -stan before, but this place matches what my mind imagined one would be. Dusty, dark skinned folks with a lot of stucco buildings.

Getting to our hostel was pretty easy, and the traffic here is ever so slightly less than in Delhi. Despite it being 3 o'clock, we set out to see the sights starting with the City Palace. Like the Red Fort, it was a sprawling complex of museums and buildings. While the outside had plenty of photo ops, all the museums were one room sort of affairs with guards to scold people who took photos. They said it was a 500rs fine if you did, and they were pretty eager to point that out. Anyway, only a few places inside would be worthy of photos. The plazas and intricate architecture was the real sight.

On the way out, we stumbled upon the outside of the Hawa Mahal. One of the main sights of the town, it's hard to describe. It's like a big wall with non functional windows on it? It looks really impressive, and after getting our pics we went on to the local market.

The local market is quite...markety. Really cramped with lots of energy, I quite liked it. However they mostly sold Indian clothing, which while colorful, after you've seen one shop you've seen 90% of them. We picked up a few things, and decided to head back to the hostel. On the way back we saw a cafe with a great view across the street. A super friendly Indian dude invited us up, and chatted with us for a bit. Turns out he lived in Rio, and is just home for the holidays. The cafe belongs to his family, and they put him to work. He's had quite an interesting life overall, and works as a surfing instructor. Nice guy, and a nice change of pace to interact with someone who didn't try to cheat us.

The next morning we set out to see the Amber Fort, one of the other big attractions of Jaipur. It was about 15km outside of town, and we opted for an Uber in the morning. I'm learning Uber in India is pretty great, as it's usually cheaper than a tuk tuk. At least for me when you add the "foreigner tax" on top of it. The Amber Fort itself is really impressive, and my favorite place so far. It looks like The Great Wall actually, as it's borders snake over the mountains. The way up to the top was very Aladdin, with us following an elephant caravan (not too closely). As for the fort itself, it's hard to describe. Basically a sprawling complex of plazas and rooms overlooking other things, it's a giant maze of an adult playground. I think some pics would help to describe it better than I could.



Oh right, we also got a blessing with a dot. Those are called... bindis? Is that right? Probably not. Not having Internet to call Uber out here, we took a bus back. A really local sort of affair, I would not be surprised if someone brought chickens on board. But at 10rs each, it was hard to beat. It also passed Jal Mahal, a really cool looking place in the middle of a lake. And... that's it. You can't go into it, which kind of sucks and seems like a giant missed opportunity.

After a quick rest at the hostel, we went to see the last sight of note in Jaipur, the inside of the Hawa Mahal. Again, it's sort of a plaza, adult playground sort of affair with lots of tunnels and rooms. You could also climb up other top and peer out the windows to see all the people like us taking photos.

After a stop to the ATM, and a light dinner, that was it for Jaipur. As is our habit, we woke up the next morning to catch a bus to Agra. Better known as the home of the Taj Mahal, I hear the city is a giant shit hole aside from the Taj and Agra Fort. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. After Old Delhi set the bar really low for kindness, Jaipur set it really high. Let's hope Agra continues that.

One final note, you may have noticed that I haven't talked about the food we've been eating. I can tell you it is all fucking delicious, and I think I'm going to make the food it's own blog entry. Ella and I love Indian food, and that's the one thing India is living up to its expectations on.