Crime in Jaipur

Now back to The City Palace (yes yet another palace but no signs of any new wives).

The part of the palace occupied by the current Maharaja 

The entrance gate

The peacock gate

One of 2 silver water jars the Maharaja of Jaipur filled with water from the Ganges when he visited England. He drank and bathed in nothing else.

The Ganges

Then onto an observatory which Salvador Dali could have designed with not a telescope in sight . This was so tedious Sue will have to describe it as I found it the equivalent of 20mg of zolpidem.

As mentioned, Norm found the next bit, the Jantar Mantar, tedious, but I LOVED it.  The Jantar Mantar is a gigantic observatory adjacent to the city palace.  It was built by the Rajput king Jai Singh II, with building starting in 1724 and taking nine years.  It looks like a collection of huge Picasso sculptures, but in fact includes 19 large scientific instruments for ‘measuring the heavens’.  Norm couldn’t see the point – it seems to have been used predominantly to develop astrological predications.  But I thought the instruments were funky and interesting - kids would love it.  Apparently, Jai Singh II liked astronomy more than he liked war, so maybe that was the point. 

Then a walk with guide Mohindrar through the maze like back streets of Jaipur:

Once again, the spirit of Winnie temporary possessed our guide when we made a detour to meet ‘the pickle man who is famous throughout the world’. I may have missed something, so for those of you in the know, here he is in his shop where pickles have been made for 180 years.

Now the crime: prepare to be shocked at the sheer effrontery of the criminal. We were walking through a fruit and veggie market:

All appeared calm, tranquil and very fresh:

Look carefully, the criminal and her accomplice can be seen sliding across a wire above everybody’s heads. Her grapelicious target is sitting between some pomegranates and papaya. Suddenly something flew by my head and with breathtaking skill the criminal seized a small bunch of grapes and immediately jumped back onto the roof. She sat there with a simian smile, thoroughly enjoying her booty while the stall holder was a little less impressed. The funniest thing I have seen for some time.