That Hip-Swaying Movement, or Day 57 in Delhi

I must say I enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek, grain-of-salt, crazy, nonsensical India today more than I have since I've been here.

This morning was a rather calm start to the day, getting up at a reasonable hour of 8:30 (at least it seemed reasonable because I was awake anyway) to take an cycle-rickshaw to town to then bus to Amber.

Amber (pronounced "Amer") is a town with an impressive fort system climbing the hills around it. It felt like England should have looked in the medieval times, with walls on every hill top.

The main attraction is Amber Fort, a Mughal creation a couple hundred years ago.

We could've taken an elephant up the path for something like $13 a person, but I decided I was ok with the walk. I mean, how hot could it be at 10am?

Hot. Not excruciating, but we were fighting the sweat all day, and guzzling bottle after bottle of 15-rupee water (since tap water is questionable). I think both Max and I are doing ok on the hydration front, but I think that the heat and drinking affected our appetites today.

My first food of the day was julabi, some honey-covered, marmalade-tasting, funnel-cake-like sweet. It was greasy-sticky, too. Bananas from a seller on the street were a good compliment to that.

But back to the fort. We climbed the hundred or so feet to the entrance, then began our exploring. There were a few signs around in the two major courtyards, but we pretty much got the run of the place, which Max took advantage of.

Being the explorer, last time he came to Jaipur and the Amber Fort, he skipped the fort all together to continue climbing up the mountain and arond a giant ravine to reach the next fort on top of the hill. He tried to convince me, but the fact that the weather was so much hotter now than a month ago pretty much made the decision easy.

As I was walking around today, though, I realised that being a tourist in May while I have the chance is going to be an interesting balance to find a place that isn't deathly hot. Which means that India, sadly, is most likely off the list.

I will say though that despite only having been here a few days, I'll be ready to go back to "civilization." Touring around is tiring, but there are a few creature comforts (such as hot water, toilets, toilet paper, clean tap water, and logical traffic patterns) that I miss.

We finished up our scampering about with going down the chain of water tanks (which we more like rooms in buildings going down the hill), jumping out a window to get where we were going, and seeing the garden. We had just walked past a sleeping guard and through a gate, when a voice called after us and we were forced to talk to the guard and step out of the garden. There were nice paths and everything, but he wasn't going to leave us along. I think that jump out that window might have put us not where we needed to be.

We walked across the dried-up lakebed at the base of the hill (where at least three cricket matches had been happening when we pulled up) and, after getting our daily frozen juice bars (at the hefty price of 10 rupees), took another bus back to the city.

Jaipur is called the Pink City because of the color of the sandstone that is used everywhere. Max also told me that when the British came, the raj decided it would be easier to ally than to fight, so he had the city painted pink, a welcoming color.

Well, we when inside these pink walls, and I split off from Max to visit the City Palace. When Jaipur was the capital of Rahjastan, this (I think) was were the raj held court and did some business. Now it is a tourist venue, with a little gift shop, an audio tour, and two museums inside.

The textile museum had a robe belonging to a very, very hefty prince (2 meters tall, 1.5 meters wide). The arms museum had blades that sliced apart when stabbed into somebody, an then a modified version with pistols, just in case.

My favorite part was the courtyard of the four seasons. Each door was painted to signify either spring, summer, fall, or monsoon.

We hopped over to the giant astronomy park, with all its great instruments (and I'm convinced my dad will see the pictures and try to get one installed in our yard). It was crammed with amazing mathematical objects that measure the sky, such as the giant sundial, accurate within 2 seconds.

Lastly for sightseeing for the day, we stopped at Palace of the Winds. Built by a ruler for all his womenfolk, it was designed so those inside could see what was happening around them without being seen. We explored a bit more, then took a tuktuk to the stadium.

It was time for the Elephant Festival.

We found seats that would some be in the shade, as we listened to the female announcer welcome everyone to the event.

The stadium was segregated into foreigners and Indians. It seems highly offensive to separate the people, but I'm not sure what to think. The event was run by the Department of Tourism so a foriegn focus was probably in the cards.

After a bit of waiting, we began to what the procession of elephants, dancers, elephants, camels, elephants, oxen, and elephants. All were somewhat decorated but the really fancy ones were judged in a beauty pageant of sorts. The announcer began listing off the traits of the elephant, and gracefulness was one. Apparently, the elephant is the symbol of this grace with its distinctive "hip swaying movement.

While the elephants were getting shown off in the middle of the field, people realized they could just duck under the barriers and get up close and personal. Once enough people realized this, a flood ensued, and the officers couldn't do anything about it.

When the judging for the beauty contest started, Max and I headed off to find our second meal of the day. Some street vendors were a block away, but the weirdest thing was a group of about three that were all serving East Asian cuisine. We had the option of steamed dumpings (yes) or some sort of stirfry. Seeing non-Indian food on the street corners was new.

We came back just in time to walk up to the roof and watch a friend of Max's uncle compete with others in a race to get a jar full of colored water from one side to another. The crowd had made a small rectange where there should be a pitch but it was very small.

The next event on the docket was elephant football.

Yes.

The elephants were gathered around a large group of beach balls, the on the signal, they would attempt to do something for someone. That part never was clear.

What was clear was the elephants playing around, chasing each other, and charging, and the crowd being fluid around the "jumbo" (as the announcer said eight times, "jumbos").

Except for one. He knew exactly what to do. Pin down the beach ball with your left foot, and stomp on it with your right until it pops. He ignored everything, and systematically reached as many balls as he could, until he was the last elephant in the middle of the field.

Between that an the hilarious set-up for a tug-o-war match between foreign tourists and locals), we headed back to the htoel, after a ridiculous festival...

Speaking of festival, Happy Holi! I got a taste of it today, but tomorrow... we've stocked up on water balloons and some color, so we might be ready.