A Portrait of India- part 5 Jaipur~ city of gemstones and palaces

When we got to Jaipur we took a bicycle rickshaw ride through the streets to feast at a fancy palace-

we were greeted by camels, elephants, musicians and dancers all dressed up and welcoming us like royalty-

as we dined on the savory spicey food a pair of musicians played ever so sweetly-

this young tabala player and i had a little spiritual attraction going on.  he told me i was beautiful- gush~

he's beautiful too, don't you think so?

the next day we feasted some more at lunch at another palace-

it was one of the best meals of my life and i enjoyed every bite.  here are palace scenes from the various palaces we visited throughout the day-

we also did a little shopping.  in Varanasi i had gotten a vedic astrology reading done, (Casey too).  one of the things he told me was that i should wear rubies as my healing gemstone- they heighten spiritual joy and love, YES!  Jaipur, being the gemstone capital of India, if not the world, was the perfect place to shop for these and look what casey bought for me!

i'm feeling the divine love and joy alright.
Casey's a very romantic guy-

i think i'll keep him!
see you next time in Udapair- more palaces, this time on a lake where hollywood and bollywoods hang out and where several James Bond movies were filmed.  Don't you agree India is a land of much contrast?

A Portrait of India- part 4, - a country drive

From the elegant palace of the Taj Mahal we journeyed by bus through the arid farm land of Rhajastan to Jaipur in the central west of India.  We passed people farming the land along the way- people living in the same way that they have for thousands of years, people who have no incidence of bi-polar illness while in our industrialized nation it keeps growing along with our isolation, technology and separation from nature.  here are some scenes from that land-

brick baking

we stopped to visit a roadside sculptor studio-

when we got to Jaipur there were plenty of children waiting for my handouts-

the Indian man is Abi- our guide for this tour (of Tauck Tours).  he was the best and set such a great tone for the trip. His nickname is  Cha Cha which means kind uncle who takes care of everything- this he truly did!

here are s