May 3, 2008 - Around The World, Day 8 - Jaipur

After lunch, we head to Birla Temple, a mostly Hindu structure, though the back depicts "Madonna with Christ," Socrates, Moses, Zeus, Confucius, Buddha, Zarathustra, and others.

Onward to the center of the city, which you might recall "has been compared to Paris and Venice." I'm sure you already see the resemblance...
(ahem.)

We catch a petticab and head along the rather flat streets towards the gate that separate the relatve serenity of the tourist area from... well... the real Jaipur.

Getting closer to the gate... you can almost smell the crocus and tulips at Champs de Mars.

Almost there...

Oooooo, Champs Elysses.
De-da-da-da-da...

OK, so it wasn't really flowers we were smelling. It was the garbage-lined streets of Jaipur.

Pottery sellers, just like at the foot of the Rialto Bridge.

I never get tired of seeing chicks with stuff on their heads.
(Notice the gold swastikas on the left, much like one would find in the poshest French shops.)

We stop here and get some nuts (I think) to nibble on later.

Satish decides that the best way to take in the scope of the city is from one of the highest points in all of Jaipur - the roof of a three-story building.
On top, a rag-tag group of ex-circus performers play some music noise for us.
There goes one now.

The downtown market.

Chaos.

We figured out why the city is so unsanitary...
(This place is closed.)

I had to take a picture of the only truck we saw actually transporting garbage.
Either that, or it is moving day. Tough to say...

Some nights I wake up in a cold sweat knowing that this country has nuclear power.


Enough of that, there are a few nice corners of Jaipur (provided you crop your pictures just so...)

Now this is nice.

Jaipur's Palace of the Winds, which isn't really a building so much as a facade for a series of walkways for the women to see the city without being seen themselves.

Nice minaret.