This is Jaipur, called "The Pink City" after the pinkish wash on the buildings in the old center. As you can see, motorcycles are a very popular mode of transportation in India. I think Jaipur had the craziest traffic of any city I've ever been to. Worse than Mumbai traffic because of the sheer diversity of vehicles, people and animals occupying the road. Though it looks calm in this photo, the streets are normally crowded with cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, autorickshaws, bicycle rickshaws, bicycles, carts pulled by oxen or camels, pedestrians and the occasional elephant. Put all of these in a roundabout, and you've got trouble.
You can see the reddish-pink of the walls better in this photo, taken from inside Jaipur's City Palace. The palace was built by the Maharaja of Jaipur, its namesake Jai Singh.
Fun fact: This is the largest silver object in the world. When Jai Singh traveled to England, he brought along his own water supply, river water from the Ganges, in this huge urn.
In the hills above the city stand three forts. Yes, we saw many-a-fort on this trip. These weren't particularly well-maintained, but they provided a nice view of the valley and the city itself. Here's a shot from fort one:
This is the view of the town of Amber from the Amber fort and palace. Some tourists opt to ride an elephant to the top of the hill rather than climbing up to the fort on foot.
Some fellow tourists enjoying a picnic at Amber palace:
Some women on a crew doing restoration work on the palace. Like most of the construction I've seen done in India, things are done largely by hand with hand tools.
The third of the palace forts provides a panoramic view over Jaipur. You can see very far, despite the smog.
Enjoying a sweet lassi at the hole-in-the-wall Lassiwallah in downtown Jaipur. Delicious and served the traditional way in an unglazed ceramic cup.
The holy lake at Pushkar:
The holy lake at Pushkar:
The Brahma Temple at Pushkar:
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