Jaipur day one

Our alarm clock for today is the work bus. At about seven he sounds his musical horn repeatedly to wake the villager’s day laborers and carry them into Jaipur. Another cuppa chai and we settle our bills with the house. Generous tipping feels like a good idea. The folks working here are rural enough that they don’t speak English and hardly get farther out than the nearest city. Honor has been kind enough to spot me a roll of black and white. We’ll see what the camera decides it’s willing to do.

Our first stop of the day was Anoothi, a nonprofit focused on teaching women in tough situations salable skills. The tour company works with charities like these to get them more attention and always needed dollars. This center specializes in block printing. We start with a demo, an older master printer shows us how to properly make a print. We are all then given hankies and instructed to make our own. There are a number of hand cut wooden blocks and our group gets very creative with the inking and striking. Exit through the gift shop. All manner of gorgeous hand printed garments and soft goods. I walked out with a lovely short sleeve dress shirt.

Cool man in a cool shirt

On to the amber fort to take in some history. Our skilled driver weaves in and out of traffic, dodging the overworked elephants in tourist service that block the road here. We transfer to an old Mahindra Thar and caravan up the mountain. This is an incredible palace on a hill just outside of Jaipur. The city is classically known for jewels and block printing. The emperor supplies the jewels and everyone around us displays their own block printed garments. Cue more lovely courtyards and clusters of bedrooms for the harem.

More mirrors than a funhouse

We crawl through traffic to the hotel so we can drop our bags and catch some rest before dinner. With the weather so good, I have my first opportunity in weeks to wash my jacket. It’s the little things that excite at my old age. We have a talk through the market street on our way to dinner. Much of our group is unaccustomed to streets here and is struggling with flowing through traffic. I’m pretty sure someone was on the verge of a freak out but we made it in the end. Dinner was on a rooftop overlooking the city. We watch fireworks burst and lanterns drift off into the sky.

I’m probably in the middle of bothering someone

No late night activities, an early start tomorrow.