Jonathan+R

June 20, 2008 Arrived at Jaipur around 10:00. Went to Rambahg palace. The maharaja makes palaces into hotels, like his dad. Saw lots of factories when flying over. Looks like the ones in Boston, just not as big or as smoky. The people wear shawls now, all different colors or patterns. Some have red dots on their forehead. The city’s population is 2,210,800, or so. Had a good lunch then went to see Hawa Mahal and Lakshimi Narayan Mandir, or the Birla Temple. Hawa had rooms like bits of columns, going up and up. From a distance, it looked like hotdogs on a skewer. Lakshimi had an arc with stairs leading up to it. Whole place was white. Much too white. Could be white because it’s holy, but still hurts my head. Layout is neat. It was the first planned city in India. Neater than Boston’s layout. The city is good with education. Has about 130 colleges and lots of malls. People send kids to Jaipur for education. Headed back to hotel. Hotel is nice   June 21, 2008 

In A.M. went to Jal Mahal by road. Good roads. Jal looks like it should be in Japan/China, set on a lake the way it is. Tourists milling about like moths to light. In P.M. went to Jaigrh Fort. Had standard god or goddess sitting there. They kill some animal each day seeing as it is the blood sacrifice goddess. I found it unpleasant, with blood all over it. When coming back, saw the Albert hall. Looks like white house meets Buckingham palace on a lakeside.