Jaipur

Jaipur is a beautiful city it is known as the pink city. Today I saw snake charmers, palaces and forts.  As we were admiring Amer fort from a distance what came walking down the street- a baby elephant! We We were awe struck and very delighted to see this amazing creature up close. This was the first of two elephant encounters. We then visited Amer fort where we took an elephant ride up to the top! What an experience. Half way through I started panicking about the platform falling off. Our elephant’s name was Hemma and she eats a diet of bananas, sugar cane and chapattis. There were tons of elephants lined up to give rides. The standard in the summer is 3 rides for each elephant a day.

Later in the day we visited a textile and carpet store and saw first hand the work that theese artisans put into their craft. It takes hours of meticulous work to have such a high quality product. it was amazing to watch and learn about the wool carpet business. Every strand of wool is hand tied and cut.

I also put on my first Sari today at the textile shop, it was so much fun. The saris are so beautiful and the women here wear them well. Tonight we will have dinner with an Indian family and tomorrow we fly to Kolkata. I’m so excited I can hardly wait. I am a little anxious as in my mind I am constantly unfolding the series of events that will take place in the next few days. Thank you for your encouraging comments and words, they mean so much to us. Much love, Brie