For those of you that follow our blog, you may recall that Caren had an experience as a mahout (elephant driver/trainer) when we were in Northern Thailand. Today, we went out to the Amber Fort north of Jaipur. If you arrive early enough, you get a chance to ride elephants up the hillside to the fort.
Here is a photo of Caren talking shop with our elephant and her mahout. Caren called her the Jewish elephant - you'll see why. She sped past a bunch of other elephants. She should have been given a speeding ticket by the elephant traffic police.
The Amber Fort (palace) was built in the late 1500s on top of an 11th century fort. It follows the contours of a ridge surrounded on three sides by hills for protection. It is an enormous structure with magnificent architecture. It is also one of the most famous (and visited) attractions in Rajasthan. Good thing we arrived early - the packed tour buses of Germans showed up about 30 minutes after us. 
On the way back to Jaipur, we stopped at a textile factory/showroom that was recommended. There must be 500 garment factory/showrooms in Jaipur, plus hundreds more shops that sell the production of these places. Caren had a great time with our salesman, D. S. Chauhan (one of the owner's sons), and of course bought a lot of gifts. (Jordan haggled the price and paid the bill.) 
Our final stop touring Jaipur was a photo op at Hawa Mahal (Palace of Winds). This is one of the most photographed pictures in India (after the Taj Mahal). Built around 1800, its windows and balconies were designed to allow the builder's harem to view processions while staying unnoticed. It is merely a facade to a building one room deep.(I'll put up a slideshow of Jaipur in another posting.)
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