Jaipur, India

India is amazing. Zahra and I saw the Taj Mahal at sunrise on Monday morning...it's absolutely breathtaking. And what makes it even more spectacular is that it was built out of love :)
The Taj is in a town called Agra, and we spent 2 nights there before driving to Jaipur yesterday. We've seen more forts, temples and palaces than you can imagine. Everything is 500+ years old and just amazing. Today we went to the Amer Fort and City Palace in Jaipur. We had a guide for a few hours and he opted to join us for some shopping after the tour. He bargained down 2 shirts I'm having made (!) to $15/piece. Handmade, personally, for me!

It's interesting, the 2 of us traveling together. Indian people stare with reckless abandon - there is no shame. So, needless to say, we get stared at alot. Plus we are the only 2 people in all of India, so far, that wear sunglasses. I think people think we're movie stars! Not only are they staring but I've caught a few people taking our picture. LOL

But for the most part people are friendly and always asking if we want to buy whatever it is that they're selling b/c it's "more cheaper".

The food here is off the hook. Z and I can have dinner for $10-$12 and be stuffed and we order 2 or 3 things! Most of the dishes are vegetarian, but you can find non-veg, as they call it. We had a great tandoori lamb yesterday!

Tomorrow we're off to Pushkar, there is a famous Brahman temple there and a lake, which everyone is referring to as a pond, so I'll let you know how that is. Z leaves on Sunday, and I'll be on my own for 4 weeks. I'm so glad that my first introduction to India was with her - it has definitely been a little overwhelming at times.

Ok, so one story...my stories never seem to deviate from this topic...the toilet.
Today, our guide invited us to have chai w/ him and his brother at his brothers 'office'. The 'office' is a tiny room in a building. So we sit on the floor and are chatting and I have to go - so I ask where the toilet is and the brother goes to ask the owner if we can use theirs - in their house. Ok, no problem (they say that alot here too :) So we get the ok and are led to this room with a spigot, bucket and a cup w/ a handle. WTF. no toilet, no squatting hole in the ground (which we come across often) and it's dark in there. I spot a drain in the corner and a little moat that runs around 2 walls of the room - ARE YOU KIDDING! What if you have to go #2?? I won't tell you what we did, but you can guess.