We rode down from Amber Fort in a jeep that was probably held together with string and bounced our way through the ancient village of Amber to a handicrafts emporium (government approved so we wouldn't be cheated ... ha!).
I really wanted to see the Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing, which I've heard has great exhibits of hand block printed textiles and demonstrations of the traditional techniques. (Shout out to Mom: You'll want to make time for this when you're in Jaipur.) The museum closes for a few weeks every summer for maintenance, though, and our timing was a few days off.
We did get to see a small demonstration of hand block printing at the emporium, though. They use vegetable dyes and handcarved wood blocks to make the prints.
I've discovered something about myself in India, and that's a love of textiles. India has all kinds of beautiful art and handicrafts, but I always head straight to the textiles in any shop. I especially love the block printing and handloom weaving. I now own a lot of gorgeous fabric that I have no idea how to use. My sewing needs to improve a lot before I trust myself not to ruin some of this stuff.
We also watched an artisan work on a wool rug using what looks like a tall loom. He was using a paper pattern just like you might use to do latch hook or cross stitch. Our guide/salesperson told us about the different wools and silks used to make the rugs and that the finer materials require more knots per square inch and therefore much more time to make.
After seeing the demonstrations, we were led to the rugs first, where the salesman tried to pry open our wallets by giving us cold Pepsi (and mango juice for the kids ... their favorite). Just look at the different wools, ma'am, you don't need to buy, I'm just showing you. Just put your foot on this silk rug, ma'am ... what size did you want now? I kept trying to keep the kids from touching the rugs, but the salespeople just laughed at me and told the kids to take off their shoes and go for it. They did.
After leaving the rug salesman a little disappointed (Sarah did buy a small but beautiful silk rug), we headed to the textiles. I was much more comfortable here, because I feel like I know enough about the product to avoid being too easily cheated. (That probably means I'm getting cheated all the time!) I think this emporium's prices were pretty fair, and Sarah and I both picked up some nice hand printed fabrics.
By the time we left the emporium, the kids were really hungry and tired. It had been quite a long day already, and we still planned to see Jaipur's City Palace. We headed to lunch, passing the water-logged Jal Mahal (and here) along the way.
We ate lunch to the strangled strains of "Frere Jacques" (you read that correctly), played on some kind of traditional Indian stringed instrument by this smiling man. Sorry about the lousy photo, but I had to post a picture of this guy. Halfway through lunch I was wondering if his repertoire could truly include nothing but "Frere Jacques." I'll take anything! Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star! God Save the Queen! Anything! But no.
Everyone perked up with lunch, so we decided to go on to City Palace, where we saw a pair of giant silver urns that the maharaja used to carry Ganges water on his journey to England for Edward VII's coronation. He didn't want to drink English water and become a sinner, you see. The urns are in the Guinness Book of World Records because they're the largest sterling silver vessels in the world. The wonders you'll see in India!
Jaipur's City Palace was the home of the Maharaja of Jaipur, and descendants of the royal family still live in part of it. We explored a great armory (with incredible frescoes on the ceiling) and a really interesting exhibit of clothing and textiles (no photos allowed). Here are the kids in the Diwan-i-Khas.
One of the interior courtyards had these fantastic gates. Each of the four gates represented a season and was dedicated to one of the Hindu gods. This one is the peacock gate (autumn, Vishnu).
Here are the kids at the Green Gate (spring, Ganesha).
By the time we'd seen the Diwan-i-Am, which was used as a throne room, the kids were done and I was done with the kids, so we headed back to the guesthouse. On the way back to the van we saw this clan of monkeys climbing all over one of the palace gates. They look way tinier and farther away in the photo than they did in real life. Real life is so much cooler.
Driving to the guesthouse we passed the Hawa Mahal. Its windows are all latticed so the palace women could watch life out in the street without being seen.
I have to post this picture of Evie with the fort palace she built in our room at the guesthouse. She made it out of pillows, books and paper, and it even had a security area and a place where they'd "confiscate your biscuits." (This happened to us at the Taj Mahal. Tragic, I tell you. Nana did smuggle through some gum, though, and handed Samuel a piece toward the end of our visit to keep him quiet. I thought John was going to have a coronary when he saw Samuel with that gum. "What were you thinking! They'll throw us out! The sky is falling!")
The next morning we had a leisurely breakfast before heading off to our next stop, Neemrana Fort Palace. I have to tell you, the chocolate banana pancakes at the Atithi Guesthouse were so good! It was a little piece of crepe heaven in the middle of Jaipur.
The guesthouse was great, but we did stick out a little. Most of the other guests were Indians or backpackers from the U.S. and Europe. John said he overheard a guy that he thinks was German say that Samuel was the smallest tourist he'd yet seen in India. Samuel had just come down the stairs wearing his little red backpack, all ready for adventure.
Then we were off on the road toward Delhi. We hit a little traffic jam on the way out of town.
The driver stopped along the road to point out this "blue cow." It's sitting among the trees behind the monkeys. It's actually an antelope, rather than a cow, but many Hindus consider them sacred. Our driver said that spotting one is supposed to bring you luck.
Coming up: Evie and Samuel saddle up ... on a camel! Mom's fear of smelly animals keeps her far from said saddle!
No comments:
Post a Comment