The buildings in the city are predominantly a lovey shade of light pink. For example, this building is part of a university but its architecture and design is very typical of other buildings in the city.
Hawa Mahal, Palace of Winds, it has 953 small windows called jharokhas that are decorated with intricate lattice work - the original intention of the lattice was to allow royal ladies to observe everyday life in the street below without being seen.
Hawa Mahal sits on one of the main streets of Jaipur.
The main sight to see is Amber Fort. The Fort is unique in that its outside, an imposing and rugged defensive structure, is markedly different from its inside, an ornate, lavish interior influenced by both Hindu and Muslim styles of ornamentation.
This is the line to get on the elephants that take visitors up to the fort.
Interestingly, we were unable to ride the elephants because the drivers went on strike that day. Their friends who sell souvenirs to the tourists in line were stopped by the police - so in protest the drivers stopped taking tourists on rides until their friends were able to continue selling their trinkets.
This driver got into the Christmas spirit when decorating the elephant's trunk.
You can see the outside wall protecting the small town and fort.
We walked up the steep incline to get to the main part of the fort - this is the outside square.
The interior of one of the fort/palace rooms that is covered in mirrors - it was made so that the candle light at night would reflect and resemble lots of little stars.
Great views from the fort.
After Agra Fort we saw Jal Mahal - the Water Palace. Unfortunately, the lake is so polluted that visitors are not able to cross to see it up close but restoration efforts are underway.
Thanks to our guide - he secured us a ride on an elephant since we couldn't take one earlier in the day. To be honest, while the ride was fun, I felt really bad for the elephant - I don't think they are treated very well.
Our final site for the day was Jantar Mantar, a collection of architectural astronomical instruments, built between 1727 and 1734.
Ahhhh, my holiday tree!
These are the collection of observatory instruments.
A really large sundial.
This is where the time is marked by the shadow.
This is the Birla Mandir, a Hindu temple. We visited it the next day but it was beautiful lit up at night.
In the evening, our guide invited us to his home in a small village in Jaipur to meet his wife and children. They were completely adorable and we had a good time hanging out with them.
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