Mom and Lauren in India: December 2000

After our exciting safari this morning we had a four hour drive to Jaipur
First, a great breakfast. The place we stayed at, Khem Vilas, is not only
vegetarian, they produce all of their own food. ( I have not eaten meat for
almost three weeks) and they had the most delicious bread so I asked what kind it was. The manager of the hotel told me that they make it there which didn't surprise me - what did surprise me is that they grind the grains to make their own flour. She told me she would send me the recipe but first I have to figure out how to grind wheat into flour!!

The drive was through little villages and, as usual, very compelling to see.
Jaipur is a little more modern than anywhere we have been since New Delhi. They are in the process of building about four malls, one of which is absolutely spectacular!! I asked what stores were going in and they said local and some "branded" and some from Europe. I can just picture what will be there in a few years and it will sadly look like the designer malls in the U.S.

We visited Amber Fort which was the first palace but when the "new" one was built (1732) turned into a fort for the soldiers. To get there we took an elephant ride which was so much better than the camel cart. Then to the City Palace where the King of Jaipur lives. His sixteen year old grandson is in boarding school in London and will be King in the future as the title cannot pass down to his daughter. We saw the Wind Palace which is just basically a wall that the royals sat behind to watch what was going on in the streets. The Water Palace is partially under water so can only be reached by boat. It is where the royals went in the summer to stay cool.

Our hotel here was a 175 year old manor house built for the royals. It was really beautiful and built around a courtyard where they served meals. It has been great to enjoy beautiful weather - 75-80 degrees during the day- no coats, boots, etc! The really interesting part of this hotel is that the entrance has an elephant ramp so that the elephants could bring people right to the door.

Jaipur is known for it's shopping and Lauren and I couldn't pass up the opportunity! Jewels, silk and best of all shoes, Indian shoes, of course!!
Bargaining is key- we found three pairs of all leather shoes - the shopkeeper started out at 2200 INR which is about 47.00 and we ended up paying 900 INR which is about 20.00!
Most of the jewels were not in our budget but we did find some silk.

Since we got to India Lauren has wanted to try the street food which smells so delicious. Our driver kept telling us we could get sick but after two weeks here we decided to take a chance - there was no stopping Lauren, anyway - Lauren had a samosa which looks like an apple turnover but is filled with potatoes mashed with peas and seasoning. I had something else and never did understand the name but is was really good. All deep fried, of course. They have huge pans which look like woks that are filled with oil. 10 INR each - .20 cents! Should have started this a lot sooner!!! And best of all, we didn't get sick.

Toll booth