There will be monkeys...

12/15

Still Day 2

Ok maybe we won't see monkeys. We stopped at a monkey sanctuary or maybe it was the monkey temple, either way, we were told there were monkeys. I'm not the biggest fan of monkeys. I think they are too clever and to be quite honest, they creep me out just a little. But nevertheless, I didn't mind seeing a couple. We saw one monkey...and a WHOLE BUNCH OF PIGEONS. If you know me, you know there is one thing that freaks me out most of all...BIRDS. It was a freakin nightmare. But we made it up to the Monkey Temple, where Kim, Maria and I went in and got schooled on the history of the temple by the monk priest. We got some good luck blessings and Maria got a marriage proposal.

We left the "monkeys" and went to our hotel to check in. The hotel was very nice. It had a courtyard and marble hallways. Check in was a super long process though and by the time it was completed, the sun was setting. We chilled in one of our rooms discussing one thing or another and then set about school work. Maria and I needed dinner so we asked Nog to bring us to a restaurant that we had scouted out in LP (lonely planet). The place was LMB and apparently, it's the place to dine because everyone we asked for recommendations afterwards first pointed us there. The food was great. The best so far, and after we finished dinner, we caught an auto-rickshaw back to the hotel. *note* The rickshaw driver's boss "lives right by" the hotel and preceded to follow/guide the rickshaw to our hotel. Then, once we disembarked from the minitaxi, he volunteered to give us a ride on his motorbike the whole 200 feet to the door. -_- No thank you sir. Good night. *end note*

Day 3

First stop, ATM. Day 3 was a shopping day. Before the ATM we stopped at the money exchange and outside of the building, a man was frying up some samosas, the one food I had been wanting since I got to India. So a mere 7 rupees later, I was having my first Indian street food adventure and it was delicious. The dumpling was filled with spices and some small bits of grains. After we reupped on cash, we went to the Amber Fort where we rode elephants to the top of the hill to Maria's delight. Atop the hill, we visited another Hindi temple and Maria and I explored the fort-palace. The courtyard and garden were gorgeous. The highlight was the Hall of Victory, tiled with mirrors making one whole side of the courtyard sparkle. We wandered around, peering off balconies and eventually making it to the rooftop. Amazing views.

We headed back to the main grounds to meet up with Emily and Kim and go back to the city for lunch. We found them chatting up some very cute, very Moroccan looking Italian guy. After listening to his US TSA sagas, we walked back down the hill and met Nog. He dropped us at the New Gate and we ate at Ganesh Restaurant, another LP suggestion. Again, LP held us down. Yummy (and cheap) lunch. Then it was time for dessert, lassiwala. And lassiwala meant it was time for adventure (ie. to get lost in the city of Jaipur). Eventually Kim navigated us to the lassiwala shop outside the Pink City where we enjoyed a dairy treat that can best be described as a yogurt shake.

After our adventure-worthy treat, we returned to the Pink City to explore the many bazaars and shops, which we did all day. *note* The Pink City is the name given to the part of Jaipur within the city wall. It is actually painted entirely pink. Apparently pink is the color of hospitality and it was painted for the Prince of Wales (King Edward VII). 8end note* Starting off on the backroads of the city at Fashion Hut, stopping off into dress/saury shops, going to the NYC-esk backroom jewelry shops, and haggling for scarves and shoes along the main bazaar. Before we knew it, it was 7pm and we were to meet Nog. He brought us to a little street food vendor not far from the hotel and we got four dishes to go that were carefully scooped in little baggies tied with rope and packed into bags. Cheapest meal yet! Something like $1 each. It was also delicious.

Maria happened upon a cute Dutch guy in the dining area while securing bowls for our bagged meals. And once he was done with his dinner he joined us in the courtyard and we chatted until late in the evening.