After crashing quite early the night before, I wake up early again, still recovering from a jetlag hangover. I wake up at 6am, wash a few clothes out in the sink, shower, and head upstairs to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. This time I am staying at the Mandawas Haveli, a gorgeous hotel in the bustling city of Jaipur. Now this is what I’m talking about. It’s a hidden treasure, that looks like a large villa, with a very nice swimming pool and is clearly 4 star. Much much nicer than any place I have stayed so far in India. Sherma might just have earned back my respect.I haven’t eaten a full meal in about 2 days, only toast and chai, and I can see the bones in my shoulders already and my face is much skinnier than when I first arrived. I go to breakfast and eat like a captive. I wolf down two fried eggs, 4 pieces of chapati bread, two servings of aloo gobi, 3 cups of chai tea and 2 glasses of pineapple juice all in about 20 minutes. Much better. I didn’t even know I was hungry until I licked my plate clean.
Chander is there waiting at 9am for me, and we head off to the Amber Fort. Japiur is much more the India I envisioned. It is just as busy as Delhi, if not more, but it is more colorful and bright, almost like the set of a Bollywood movie, where everyone is a character ready to break into song and dance. I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to live a day in the life of one of the people who live here. Everyone seems to know everyone and have someplace to go. No one is wandering aimlessly, even the cows seem like they know where its at. There are women shopping in the marketplace, men selling their wares on carts, children drinking from water fountains and painted elephants walking alongside us as if just another car on the road. There are camels sleeping in corners and peddlers frying curry samosas alongside the road. Japiur, affectionately called the Pink City, is a labrynth of character. 
We arrive at the Amber Fort and I am accompanied by Anapurna, my guide for the day. She is a pretty Indian woman in her 30’s who seems somewhat sad, but with a kind nurturing face. I like her instantly and am glad it’s not another Maneesh, my bitchy guide from Agra. Anapurna is a phenomenal guide. She tells the story of Jaipur with great knowledge and enthusiasm, she is good at what she does. She takes me first around the Amber Fort and spares no detail in the historical and architectural story of the area.
We spend the afternoon sight seeing all of the landmarks of Jaipur enjoy a nice but tiring afternoon of haggling at the marketplace and end the afternoon with lunch. Anapurna is one of the few female guides in Rajasthan, because a tour guide is one of the last careers dominated soley by men up until now. She is somewhat of a pioneer or leader of women in this new field and her strength is what I earlier mistook for sadness. In an intimate conversation over lunch, I was able to learn a lot about her and admire her greatly. I wish I could have spent more time with her but she has other things to tend to than female companionship. I tipper her generously and hugged her tight when we said goodbye, “Thank you Anapurna, for a great tour. If I do not see you again in this life, then perhaps, in the next”. Yes, it was slightly melodramatic, but it’s India, and much like a Bollywood film, nothing is anything less..For more images, visit my pictures taken in Jaipur, Rajasthan India.
