Hawar Mahal / Palace of the Winds

Here we are, allowed into the Pink City at last! Macron has moved on to Delhi for Republic Day. Museums are open again. 

We walked to the Metro at Sindhi Camp and got on for three stops. A man told us about the honour of Macron's visit, and about his carpet warehouse. Hand-knotted carpets, he says. We alighted at the terminus and hit the Hawar Mahal/palace of the winds at rush hour. Many people had come to Jaipur for the three-day weekend. The partly dilapidated palace was swarming, but delightful to visit. The palace was built for ladies to look out of. They did not appear in public, but could sit in the many inches or look out of the elaborately carved lattice windows. The palace is also known, because of the windows, as the palace of the winds. Being a public holiday (Republic Day,) today, it was the domain of the tourists today. Views over the Aravali hills were spectacular, too.

We also walked along the main shopping streets and many items were purchased by our group. Found a very upmarket shop/cafe for lunch. I had a sort of energy balls type -thing, but most people had a meal, beautifully presented. I have reverted to type and enjoy cold coffee from a machine and ice cream/kulfi from "mother dairy" stalls. 

In the afternoon, Tina and Ruth went to look for pottery, and the rest of us walked along past the jewellers' shops and stalls. Annie spotted a beautiful 925 silver box with cloisonne enamel on top. It was weighed, and she almost bought it as a present until we realised it was  not in fact 47.50 pounds but £475! 
Silver is sold by weight, according to the world price. 

We walked until the upmarket shops gave way to spice and tea and fruit stalls. I bought some chillis and peanut brittle by weight. Once out of the city gate, we searched for the Ram Niwas gardens. They were not quite as nice as, say, Green Park. By the zoo, there ware many tunnels in the ground, with large rats popping in and out and scurrying across our path. The traffic roared past. We came to the Albert Hall museum, a magnificent structure, but didn't go in. Had a chai in a canteen instead. Took an auto rickshaw back. It was in perfect condition, with good suspension, immaculate paintwork, a quiet engine and safety gates on each side. We love a smooth ride, now we've been here awhile!

In the evening, I went back to a textiles shop nearby with Annie, and she ordered some nightshirts to be made up. The owner's son sang us some classical Indian songs in the lounge, accompanied by an electronic drone on the iPad, as he did not have a backing band. I was distracted, but remembered a long ago concert with Rajeswar Battacharya who was my former landlady's singing guru. They toured India together performing concerts in the 1990s.

Afterwards, I went to my room and laid out all my purchases. There are many! Final day tomorrow. We leave at dawn on Sunday..

I did 12,500 steps today, and none of them were in the auto rickshaws. Real steps. Many, many up and down ias we wandered through he palace of the winds.