December 2, 2015 – We both had our best night of sleep since we have arrived in India. We have been waking up at 5 am each morning since we have been here, but this morning, we actually slept until 6! Then our coffee arrived at 6:15 and we enjoyed the time on the porch of our cottage. The morning was beautiful after the rain and we listened to the sounds of birds and Hindi music in the background from the farmers. We had a huge breakfast. Truthfully, the food at Khem Villas has been amazing. It is all vegetarian and even Hubert has not missed the meat. It is so flavorful and fresh and we have learned so much about India food. And we drink their Marsala tea every chance we can! We are sad to leave this wonderful spot. 

Artie arrived  at 9:30 and we hit the road for Jaipur. Artie is from Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, and he was very proud to show us his hometown. He drove the slower, country route and it was wonderful. It was about a 4 hour drive but we couldn’t stop absorbing all the sights outside. Artie’s English is pretty good but a little broken so sometimes we do a lot of back and forth repeating the same sentences until we understand each other. He is very kind and very proud of India. He is a great representative! 

The road took us through many villages and farmlands. It was gorgeous. So much cleaner than the big cities and the people were so colorful. The farms we passed were beautiful and being worked mainly by women. And the women were in their traditional dresses of lehangas (colorful skirts) with the colorful shawls. It was like being in a painting everywhere we turned. The colors are inspiring and the fact that the women work in these long dresses blows me away. Plus, as Artie kept saying, the women in India work so very hard. We saw women at the wells, women drying laundry, women working the fields, women carrying huge loads on their heads, women washing the cattle, women herding the sheep and of course, women minding their  children. And all the while, they look beautiful. The women in this country are beautiful. Regardless of age, the women shine here. 

Along the way, we saw tons of camels working hard too. They are used to pull heavy loads and as work animals in this area. It was so fun and exciting to see them. Artie was so kind and would stop along the way for us to take some pictures. He would point things out to us and ask if we wanted him to stop. We took photos of people and places along the way. Many of them smiled at us and waved to us. It is a very warm country. 

We drove into Jaipur and went to our hotel, the Trident. It is across the street from city lake which has a summer palace in the center of it. It is very beautiful. The city is known as the “pink city” as all the buildings and city walls are painted a salmon color. We had a quick lunch in the hotel restaurant and then met Govind, our guide in Jaipur. He took us around the city and we went to the old city. He walked us around and it was a busy, exciting city. It was a nice way to get an overview of the city. 

We decided to stay in tonight and just have a relaxing night. We both have a little bit of a cold and the dust bothered us. Taking it easy with room service and an early night is exactly what we need. Travel is fabulous, but can be exhausting. Every minute is new and our senses are overloaded. Tomorrow we have a big day which will include an elephant ride, a camel ride and lunch in a beautiful palace. We have reservations tomorrow night at the Rambagh Palace hotel which is supposedly fantastic. 

Sweet dreams – enjoy these pictures of the gorgeous people of Rajasthan.