The Pink City

Short week this week because I skipped school to go see my mom! She came in last Monday night and did a whirlwind trip. She started in Delhi, then to Agra, then to Jaipur and finally Mumbai all in six days. I went up to Jaipur to see her and her friend Frances. When you travel with Frances you only travel in style, and I kid you not. In Jaipur there are a ton of palaces that the royal family has converted into hotels or museums, so for two nights we got to stay in palaces. It was amazing to stay in a nice bed, nice room, and not have Indian food for a few nights.

During our day in Jaipur we went to the Amber Fort. The royal family lived in this fort/palace for 600 years before moving down to Jaipur. To get to this fort you have to take elephants, when they are available. They are only allowed five trips up to the fort so you have to get to the fort early enough to be able to ride one. It was pretty fun, kind of bumpy but it was an elephant so it was worth it. We then went to the Silver and Art Palace and bought jewelry because Jaipur is known for its gems. That was probably a bad idea because I wanted everything. We then went to the City Palace and Museum. The royal family converted part of their palace into a museum and the other part they still live in. Until the current Maharaja there had not been a son born into the family for 100 years, so the Maharaja would always adopt one of his sibling’s boys to become the next king. Well the Maharaja didn’t have a son so he adopted his grandson. The Maharaja does not have any power over the people of Jaipur (Indira Gandhi eliminated Princely rule when she was in office), but he is a political figure now. I also learned that the reason Jaipur is called the pink city is because it is a color of welcome. When Prince Albert came to Jaipur, the Maharaja had the city painted pink to welcome him. A lot of the buildings are still pink!!!

We left Saturday morning for Pune so it was a pretty short trip, plus it’s Holi and we did not want to miss it. It was great to see my mom and Frances, and nice to take a little break from Pune. We are playing colors tomorrow and I will post lots of pictures! Short week this week as well because we are off to Mumbai as a program to hear some talks etc.


Amber Fort


Peace