Jaunt to Jaipur

Jaipur, the Pink City. To be fair, the pink buildings are only within the old city walls, but certainly an interesting aspect. There is a Roman twist, as the city is laid out on a grid system, with a clear numbering of buildings as well; certainly the only time we have seen buildings identified so clearly in that manner. Our lady guide, who lives in the old city, talks enthusiasically about the city and its history. We visit Amber Fort, the ancient capital, view Hawa Mahal and tour the City Palace, still the home of the former Jaipur royal family. After lunch, we visit Jantar Mantar, the Royal Observatory, built in 1728; this was the most interesting part of the day. Absolutely incredible was the preciseness of the various objects that enabled time to be measured so accurately and the stars / planets to be plotted so carefully. Astrology plays an important part in Indian life when it comes to deciding life partners and we learnt much about that way of life from our guide relative to the visit to the observatory.