Still in Jaipur -The Hawa Mahal - Built in 1799 the windows were again used as a place from where the harem could observe the street below. The Archaeological Museum is now attached to this building. Note the pink color - Jaipur is known as "The Pink City" Jaipur is also known as India's finest example of a planned city with it's geometric grid of streets and squares. (Crowded and dirty- read filthy- streets and squares)
A statue to the Monkey God - Hanuman. It's about 40' tall.
The beach in Goa. ( Goa is a state in India. We were about 25 miles south of the capital, Panaji, in a town called Mobor. ) Relaxation - here we come ! Our resort, the Donna Sylvia, is 300m to the rear. ( Yeah I know weird name)
Not all the sights on the beach were fond memories - Please note Christine is in complete agreement, while on the other hand some of the memories are good. She's with a Brit we met. She and her husband-to-be were on a buying trip for their upcomming wedding. They could buy all the groomsmen waistcoats and suits plus have a great vacation for a fraction of the cost back in the UK. Christine is feeling much better with a Kingfisher in hand. I personally feel the hottest babe on the beach was the one I bought.
Yes - cows on the beach. They strolled on by, stopped and lounged in the surf then moved on. The people in the foreground are selling their wares. They were respectfully polite and didn't push themselves upon you when told no thanks. A completely different style compared to those in the north who were as persistent as flies on a fresh cow patty. They were so annoying you had to steel yourself for the onslaught every time you exited the car.
Christine at "Our" beach shack bar/restaurant, the "Silver Sand".
Note the menu- also in Russian. We were the only ones there representing our country at the resort - all others were UK or Russians. (As was the large person in the previous picture - she and her equally rotund friend were a sight which has been sadly burned into my memory scaring me for life)
Just up the beach was this typical hand hewn Goan boat w/ outrigger. I came across this on my sunrise walk the day after my birthday. Christine was still enjoying sleepy time.
Obviously the Lifeguard station for our section of the Goan coastline.Hi All,
Jaipur was quite interesting but unfortunately seeing it alone - even though I had hired a guide, is not as fun when you do it by yourself. To ease Christine's disapointment of missing the elephant ride and tours, I had the driver take me to a store where you could buy fabrics. Jaipur is known for their fabric block printing method. There I purchased 2 tablecloths - one a deep red and the other blue, both which had elephants on them. She was thrilled to get them even though she felt so poorly.
We had to leave for the airport at 5:30a the following morning so we got our bags packed the night before and had a small Chinese meal in the hotel. The wonton soup was exactly what Christine needed and she perked up some.
Our flight to Goa via Mumbai was uneventful and we landed in a completely different world. Goa is laid back, not crowded and not nearly as dirty.Mainly catholic, it was settled by the Portugese. Compared to the Muslum and Hindu, crowded, insane, dirty north we had just left, this was a much more familiar paradise.
We had booked an all inclusive (alcohol too) resort which had 4 unit bungalows instead of the typical hotel. It was a short 300 meters to the beach where we relaxed and dealt with the lingering Delhi Belly. Christine kept an eye out for Matt Damon (Jason Bourne). I did my best imitation - unfortunately she saw thru the ruse !
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