India: Jaipur, Pushkar

Jaipur, known as "The Pink City", was our last major city that we visited in India. As always, the street food was amazing and plentiful... and unbelievably cheap!

On our guided tour of Jaipur, we stopped by a very typical shop where families still make fabric by hand and stamp the designs with multiple layers of colored ink with near perfection. India exports their block-printed materials all over the world, so we loved getting a peek behind the scenes. After several rounds of tea and intense bargaining, we walked out with two beautiful items that will look great in whatever future home we have!

The architecture in Jaipur is incredible, with many impressive buildings and stories behind each one.

This building was intended to be isolated by the water, the level of which can be raised and lowered to reveal or conceal the land bridge to the main entrance. Elephants were used to transport people and supplies through the water when needed, since its depth is no more than a few feet at any point.

This is the most iconic building in Jaipur. It is just even cooler to see in person than in pictures!

The many steps help the flow of traffic as hundreds of people used to be coming and going for water during the day.

Jaipur's large fortress overlooks the entire region, and is one of the most complex structures we have ever seen! Without our guide who knew the way around, we would have been lost in its tunnels many times!

From Jaipur, we took a day trip to the Hindu holy city of Pushkar. We passed many locals also on their way to Pushkar, who traveled slightly differently than we did.

The city has a lake in the middle which plays a central role in the major Hindu creation narrative. It is believed that the universe came into being at this spot. It is also the location of the only Brahma temple in the world. Brahma is a member of what could be called the holy trinity within Hinduism.

There are separate male and female docks, where baths are taken for its supposed healing properties, and for purposes of worship. Baths are done fully clothed, and then they change into a different Saree.

We loved Pushkar for it's quieter streets and amazing markets. We had fun haggling for desired goods here, as the vendors were never too pushy and the prices were impossible to beat.

We certainly had one more very unique experience in India, another of which we will cover in the next post. Until then!