Jaipur

Back on the train, this time at 4:30 in the morning. The station in Agra is filled with people and dogs sleeping on the platforms, and the train cars are pitch black with bars on the windows and seemingly hundreds of people inside. And the seats are uncomfortable. Not my favorite way to travel. Also, we got off one stop too early, but we still managed to find our way into town. And it proved to be one of my favorite cities. Lots of good stuff here, the weather was better, the hotel was great, and the scenery started getting...really amazing.














Mornings were still a bit cold, but that's what chai is for. First stop, the Albert:














Interesting museum. There's statues...














...and the pantheon of the upper echelons of Hinduism. Reminded me of the Star Wars figures I used to horde as a kid. Collect them all!














And there's always something to eat.














Or haggle over.














The city palace is impressive...




















































...but it's the neighboring observatory that's off the wall.




















































In the background, this thing is always looming:




























It, like the first car in the Delhi metro, was designed for the ladies. In this case so they could look out onto the street and watch the happenings without doing anything uncouth, like going outside.



























Last but not least was the Red Fort.














It's kind of Great Wall-sized.














We also noticed an Indian penchant for building palaces in the middle of lakes. Whether this was a defensive mechanism or a way to stash your daughters in out-of-the-way places remains undetermined.