Pink, Palaces and Poverty

Day 5:

Jaipur

Today we started with a jeep trip up a steep hill to visit the the Amber Fort. Inside there were earlier palaces and the delightful palace of mirrors.
In the afternoon we went to the Maharaja’s City Palace, a sprawling royal residence that occupies around a seventh of the area of the city. Last of all we saw the Jantar Mantar – a collection of 14 astronomical instruments used to scan the celestial bodies.
The way of Indian way of life continues to fascinate me. Men having a morning wash in the local well. People on bikes with huge amounts of merchandise piled high.  Education and health care is free, there is no social care and everyone has to work until they are old because there is no government pension scheme. There is a lot of evident poverty and I’m sure much more is hidden.

Back in time for a quick swim before heading down for dinner. I’ll be heading for the Rajasthan section tonight!