Amer Fort

Finally! I broke free of the hold the apartment's air-conditioning has had over me, and escaped to do Amer (Amber) fort, 11 km outside of Jaipur. As I indicated before I have pasted in the link to the photos from my little jaunt. Here it is (I think!) http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=588221182574842968/l=276784297/g=86844910/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Amber is an amazing site; as you come around the hill your mouth just drops. These forts are a prominent feature of the landscape in Rajasthan. It seems as if all of the hills that flank the city are topped by such architectural monstrosities. They are not monstrosities though, but merely gargantuan, as is the quantity of labor that was/is needed to build/repair them. Some of the photos in the snapfish album show walls that snake out along the hills. These actually completely encircled the valley as far as I could see, creating a Great Wall of China effect. The fort was really impressive. Some would be interested by the amazing paintings that were found under layers of paint and are now being restored. Others would be amazed by the ceiling which were covered in intricate mirrors. I was pretty astounded by their air conditioning system, there was a water source that was scented, and than ran through the fort where it dripped down the walls and evaporated. Pretty impressive! Like all of the forts I have been to, Amber (Amer) was once the home of the Maharaja (a pretty big deal), as such it was extremely ornate.

After exploring Amer I walked a 1 km uphill to see the older fort of Jaigargh (sp?), which was in a slightly more decrepit state. The walk up to Jaigargh was strangely taxing. Although Jaipur is not at anywhere near a significant elevation, i was so out of breath by the time i reached the fort that i almost fell over. Probably the heat. Unfortunately, my current (and following) entries will be lacking, as I should have typed them out when i first got back, and also, the ol' once you've seen one gigantic fort on top of a hill you've seen them all feeling is taking over. Well, I'll leave it to that for now. I'm currently in the city of Jodhpur, twiddling my thumbs as I wait for the train to take me to Jaisalmer. Look out for these entries in the near future!