Weddings and Elephants

I stayed back at the hotel for the day while Cathy, Ferris and Courtney went shopping. My voice had started to return. Now it is all back. I had an Ayurvedic massage (this is an ancient healing massage from Southern India). It involves lots of oil,

About 4:30 they picked me up to drive to the top a nearby mountain to visit the Nahargarh (Tiger) Fort. The fort has a view of all of Jaipur. It is only inhabited now by monkeys. It is like a giant jungle gym for them, as they scamper around it. Although it is called a fort, and is surrounded by massive walls, it is actually a collection of palaces,that are being rehabilitated.

Our guide, Vikram, told us about his life. He comes from a village about 200 kilometers from Jaipur. He is from minor nobility and the Maharaja of his domain is a wastrel, who has not kept up with the times. Vikram is from the Warrior Caste, and very proud of it. Vikram will one day be the Thakur (one level down from a Maharaja) with authority over several villages.

We walked along the walls of the fort, and it is impossible to understand how so much could be built in such difficult terrain. I have this image in my mind of the Raj (King) saying “I think we will build a new fort with massive walls up on top of that mountain” and 100,000 workers shaking their heads at their bad luck.

We then drove to dinner. Today was an auspicious day for weddings and there supposedly 1500 weddings yesterday. There were weddings palaces set up all over the city for elaborate buffets, complete with groom arriving on White Horse, Elephants, and fireworks. Weddings are a big part of Indian life and they really do it up. We crashed one for a bit that was next to where we ate, (they didn’t seem to mind).

India has over 1 billion people (I have no idea how they can accurately count them). On this trip I think we have seen them all. We are overwhelmed by the sheer number of people we see everywhere we go. It is projected in about 10 years India will have more people than China. How they will create the infrastructure to support that many people is beyond me.

Today we head for the city of Pushkar. We will be staying in a luxury tent. That is our version of roughing it. People visit Pushkar as a pilgrimage site, but for 7 days a year it is where all of Rajasthan comes to trade camels. There will be loads of camels, but will there be wifi so I can post to the blog? We will find out!