Thursday 10: Today we are in Jaipur, one of India's largest cities and the seat of one of the remaining Maharajahs (kings). This Maharajah is only 18 years old, and is the grandson of the previous one who never had a son of his own. There are aboutt 11 significant Maharajahs left in India, mostly in Rajasthan, the "Land of Kings". They no longer have any political power, but are still widely respected. These pictures include some of palaces which are owned by the Maharajah.
We rode up to the Amber Fort in a little jeep which was quite a squeeze.
The "Palace of the Winds" is not really a palace - just a building in the middle of the city. It is very high, but actually just a thin facade built to allow the ladies of the court to watch activities in the street from behind lattice screens.
This huge silver vessel is one of two made in 1896 for the Maharajah. He filled them with water from the Ganges River and took them with him to England in 1902 when he attended the coronation of Edward VII. They hold 4,000 litres each.
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| Cobra and snake charmer |
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| Space in the Amber Fort for public audiences with the Maharajah |
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| Elephants ferrying tourists up to the Amber Fort. |
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| The queen could watch public audiences from behind those screens. |
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| Detail of the Mirror Palace |
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| The Mirror Palace is covered in mirrored mosaic tiles (from Belgium!) |
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| The geometric gardens in the Amber Fort |
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| The Palace of the Winds in Jaipur |
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| The elephants returning home through town after work. |
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| Amber Fort monkey |
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| Kevin and Linda before the Mirror Palace |
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| The Water Palace, in the middle of an artificial lake. |
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| The largest sundial in the world, accurate to two seconds. |
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| Sue and the Scorpio observatory (one of twelve zodiacal observatories) |
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| The largest silver vessel in the world - about 345 kg. |
