And as we neared the top, my driver talked on his cell phone. To my knowledge, there are no anti-"texting while herding" laws and so there was no problem with this. I do not feel his reaction time was hindered by taking this call. 
For every truly beautiful thing you see, there is also litter in the streets, a cow grazing on trash, and a lack of city planning--most notably proper sewage and water. It can be a lot to take in. The people we have talked with have all been very kind and welcoming but also honest about the problems in their country. Our tour guides have answered all our questions generously. At this point, I think the best thing a tourist can do is visit and experience the country while being grateful for our #firstworldproblems back home. (I wrote an entire entry about hairdryers, for gods' sake. (Shout out to the Hindi!))
As far as this blog goes, I want you (my devoted family and friends) to read it and visit places to see the beautiful things and also the reality things. I find myself taking pictures of only the beautiful things but I know they won't be my strongest memory. All that being said, I'll return you to your regularly scheduled tourism blog programming and thank you for this time out real talk.
The elephant's destination was the Amber Fort, a walled-in city that predates Jaipur but now watches over it. The kings of the state of Rajasthan lived there beginning in the late 1500's and every successive king added on to the grounds. My favorites were the frescoes decorated with colors from flowers and vegetables, 
the room of mirrors, 
and the view in general. 
Following the fort, we descended back to Jaipur. Jaipur is known as the "pink city" but really it is more of a terra cotta orange. The city was originally painted in the late 1800's for visiting British monarchs. The result was so popular that the tradition has continued and every ten years the entire city gets a fresh coat of paint. I love a theme so I say, "get it, Jaipur!"
Our next visit was to Jantar Mantar, a park that holds large astronomical instruments including the world's largest sundial that is accurate within 20 seconds. As it was explained to me, some kings loved fighting and conquering, but this one king really loved math. You do you, King. 
They did not come out to greet me, but I understand they have a lot of other obligations and I am trying not to take he slight personally. Besides, I did get to hear my favorite story of the day while standing in their courtyard:
Where my libras at?
The last stop of the day was to the City Palace. The palace is still home to Jaipur's royal family though they have no royal power now and are more like celebrities. If the flag is up, they're home! 
In 1901, the maharajah of the time was invited to England for Edward VII's coronation. He couldn't turn down the trip but he was a devout Hindu and did not think the European waters were fit for drinking or religious ceremonies. What do you do, right? You build Guinness Book of World Record-sized silver urns to transport enough water from the Ganges River with you on the boat, of course!
I feel like this man and I have taken drastically different paths in life as I have gone out of my way this trip to consume European waters. Speaking of, AT was feeling sickly today and is notably absent from pictures and excursions. She has been resting and eating plain things. I expect her to make a full recovery. If she is not better tomorrow for our day of handicraft shopping, I'll know it's really an emergency and will call the MediAlert helicopter to have her transported home. She's never turned down shopping.
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