Day Eleven: The dirty and dry "Venice of the East"

Day Eleven February 1st, 2009

Today was spent touring around the so-called "Venice of the East." We picked up a guide in front of the City Palace however we have noticed a problem with every guide in India, they all think that we enjoy shopping for handicrafts (actually they get commission from shops.) Now, I must say that the work and skill put into these pieces are amazing, I am just not much of a consumer. I have been going by the look but don't buy philosophy. Our guide was a younger guy that is going to grad school and using the guiding for supplemental income. We visited two main sights with our new friend Akshay. The majestic palaces with all their wonder and glory are beginning to blend together. Each king had his multiple wives with multiple rooms for each wive. A temple is always near with the obligatory gods, Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth) is always a favorite.

Our guide was a young man around the age of 25, he said he was a grad student studying water management. He was a gregarious man, lots of smiles and handshakes with those inside the city palace and along the street. A chai break was in order. We stopped in front of his home and served us chai from a nearby stall. During this time we chatted and he revealed to us that he is hoping to move to Spain to within a year or two to marry. It seemed that there was only one reason why he was anxious to get married. Can you guess what that would be?
After the tour we agreed to stop by an arts cooperative and school for a bit to see how the traditional art forms are still alive and well. This was the one and only handicrafts stop sanctioned by us and I was quite amazed by the quality of the work they were to show us. One form of painting in which they excel is miniatures. They use a single squirrel hair to complete the entire miniature painting with painstaking detail. Many of the works are painted glamorously with real gold flake. After an introduction to the art styles and medium we looked over what was available and finalized a few minor purchases before heading out.

We also stopped by a beautiful and peaceful park, Sahelion-Ki-Bari. The park was created around 1710 for all the king's ladies and their maids of honor. It is a well enjoyed respite from the craziness and stress of the city streets.