Jaipur

I spent my last day in India in Jaipur. 

It was quite an adventure.

I spent less than 24 hours there but don't let that fool you....I saw SO much!

My first stop was this ancient observatory.

There were twelve of these devises set up in the direction of each zodiac constellation

There was even one huge staircase leading up to the north star.

My next stop was the Amber fort and palace.

It was absolutely stunning...and huge!

You can ride elephants to get to the top....

but I was too cheap to do it and I figured I'd already ridden one so I would tough it out and hike to the top.

Yeah...that was the worst idea EVER.

It was about 100 degrees and 90% humidity.

I was really wishing I had ridden that elephant by the time I finally reached the top!

These are some ruins at the top

The city is about 1000 years old...

Yeah you read that right

1000 YEARS OLD!

The rest of the palace was intact...and beautiful

I had to sneak into a restricted area to get this shot...

This is the city...and those elephants I wish I had ridden.

This was the mirror rooms in the palace.

It's hard to tell from the picture but the walls and ceiling were completely covered in mirror mosaics 

It sparkled!

The hillsides surrounding the palace had a wall that I suppose was used for protection back in the day

It reminded me of the Great Wall of China.

The courtyard gardens.

I absolutely love elephants...as you know-

This man was kind enough to let me pet his elephant.

Then he wanted money for it.

I told him no because that elephant deserved to be pet.

Some wildlife along the way...

The water temple

Unfortunately, I didn't get more of a back story on this temple.

More mausoleums  

Jaipur is famous for their block hand printed materials.

I went to a place where they showed me how it's done- and I even got to make my own

Then it was off to the monkey temples in the canyon

Lots and lots of monkeys

Spot the monkeys :)

There was a waterfall coming out of the canyon that filled these pools.

Apparently, it was holy to bathe in these pools-

I didn't post any revealing pictures, but let me tell you- I saw a LOT more body parts than I wanted to.

This fun couple really wanted their picture taken- cute huh?

After touring all day I went straight to the airport and flew back to Delhi.

From Delhi I flew to Chicago.

15 hours.

I'll spare you the details. But I'm sure you can imagine how horrible it was.

From Chicago I flew to Salt Lake City.

HOME SWEET HOME!

My mom and brother were there to greet me- my brother even made me a welcome home sign!

It's good to be back :)

With love,

A

P.S. I'm flying out to to Hawaii with my whole family tomorrow- ALOHA!