North Tour Part One; Ujjain and Jaipur

Ujjain was not an official part of the tour but for the Indore students it was still the first leg of the journey. We spent two nights in Ujjain the first night we arrived too late to do anything but order room service and watch several movies such as Harry Potter and Hancock in the room Hannah and I were sharing. Ujjain is mainly a religious city filled with temples and holy waters but not much else. We spent all day the next day with a driver and guide hired by the hotel visiting various spots in the city. Our second day in Ujjain was spent lazing around mostly in the hotel and getting ready to meet the train full of other excited exchange students that evening. There was much yelling, hugs, and chatting when we boarded the train, the last ones to do so. We all squeezed together to exchange news and gossip, it seemed all too soon we were getting dirty looks from fellow passengers who were not as excited by our arrival and simply wanted to sleep before reaching their destination. These looks were nothing new as it seems no matter the time of day or how hard we try our large group of teenagers is never silent enough for other passengers. I didn't feel bad for them but I did feel bad for the one new student on the tour, Samantha from Virginia, she was greeted with a hug from Jordan and after quick introductions I think most of the group forgot her and the fact that she was a newcomer too quickly. No matter, in a few days it felt like she had been one of the group from the very start except when we started playing the "Remember when....." game but even then she was quick to call us out and our conversations would move to more common ground.

On my North Tour Facebook album this post corresponds with pictures 1-60.

Taken on the ghats along the holy river in Ujjain. 

Jaipur, the Pink City, was our first official stop on the tour. We arrived lazy and tired early in the morning and had a few hours to shower and nap (if we could) before we set out for a full day of sight seeing. This was a true indicator of how the tour would go, it was also a test to see how well would could handle the coming exhaustion and heat and how well we could deal with each other in varying states of tiredness.  Jaipur also happened to be where my friend Josephine was staying at the time. Despite our best efforts and several telephone calls we weren't ever able to make our schedules match. Jaipur has a long royal history so there are many palaces and forts in the area.

Pigeons circling a giant sundial in a large astronomy observatory built by and ancient king. The sundials all told the exact local time in Jaipur which meant they were off by a little bit on the all India watches. 

Amber Fort in Jaipur.

Inside the fort several different halls were lined with detailed carving and inlaid mirror work.

Screens like these are common in old forts and palaces. They allow people to look out but not in, they were commonly built for woman to observe comings and goings in private.

Inside Hawa Mahal (the Wind Palace)

Hawa Mahal

The outside of Hawa Mahal. The Wind Palace was built for royal women specifically so they could observe happenings in the main street below such as festivals and parades. Though it doesn't show in the photo the building actually leans towards the street a little allowing those in the top level to have a clear, unobstructed view of the street below.