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(Unfortunately
I left my camera back in Delhi. So, with some borrowed pictures
and my words, this is how my weekend went.)
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After
4 days dividing my time between the office, the hotel Fitness
Center and the hotel restaurant (which cancelled out the benefits
of the Fitness Center), I left on a trip to Jaipur with a
group of people from the office- a team-building exercise
over Friday and Saturday.
At
left, the group gathers for a picture. I'm the one in the
middle with the pasty winter-white skin.
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Friday night,
I had a camel ride and an elephant ride and danced briefly
in what I'm sure was a faithful re-creation of a historic
Rajasthani disco. (They were a very advanced civilization.) |
The
Chokhi
Dhani is a re-creation of a Rajasthani village.
(Click on the link to their site for more photos of
the village and some authentic music!)
The rooms were
a traditional design, with the happy additions of air
conditioning and indoor plumbing. They were built around
courtyards and when I passed by one on Saturday morning
and found my colleagues clustered there enjoying morning
coffee and tea (one wearing the traditional kurta),
it really felt like a Rajasthani village. |
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The
trip from Delhi to Jaipur, 35 minutes by air, took 6 hours
by road. That's because the roads aren’t that great,
vehicles aren’t that powerful, we made a few stops,
and we took the scenic route (deliberately) through Jaipur.
The Amber (or Amer)
Fort in the distance is the first sign you're getting close
to Jaipur- it's on the top of a mountain and seems to go on
for miles. Up close it is even more impressive. It was built
in the 16th century and the interior is a virtual paradise.
Painted scenes of hunting and wars adorn the walls along with
precious stones and mirrors. Tourists mount the hills and
enter on hired camels. We passed many of them on the road.
Unfortunately, a tour of the Fort was not on our itinerary
but it was beautiful from the road.
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Dinner
is shown above - we left our shoes at the door, sat on the
floor and were served delicious food by men who ladled it
out of pots onto plates made from pressed leaves. (Not dishwasher-proof.)
And of course I
found the pool, below, for a peaceful Saturday-morning swim.
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The local wild creatures
were interesting too - a small lizard joined us in the meeting
room, alarming some members of the group. Later an insect I
didn’t recognize stung me when I stepped on it in my room.
(My colleagues inspected the deceased insect in the morning
and told me it was a member of the honeybee family and the bite
probably would not be fatal.) |
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