Jaipur and Ranthambore

Hi everyone!
As Dan commented a couple of days ago, we were in Rajasthan again this past weekend. This time we visited the city of Jaipur and Ranthambore National Park. Jaipur was not as appealing to us as Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, we also didn't do as much sight seeing in Jaipur. We did manage to get to Jantar Mantar(third picture) which is a medieval astronomical observatory built by Maharaja Jai Singh between 1728 and 1734. This was really interesting. It was a complex which held 18 instruments used for telling time, predicting the strength of the monsoon, and figuring the position and movement of the stars and planets. If you check out the pictures you can also see that this was a great place to romp around. Lots of stairs leading up to nowhere where you could catch great views of the surrounding city. From there we wandered around the huge bazaar that lined the main street of the old city. As Jodhpur was the blue city, Jaipur is the pink city, although the buildings are more of an orange color. Pink is the traditional color of hospitality in Rajasthan and it also absorbs the heat of the sun. Jaipur is also known for its jewels! So of course I went shopping :) I have accumulated more jewelry here in India than I have had in my entire life. It is rather hard to resist the beauty and the prices! We also saw the outside of the Hawa Mahal (second picture). This is a small palace built so that the women of the court could watch the bustle of the streets below while not being seen. Apparently the biggest attraction is the outside, so we skipped actually going inside. The outside is amazing though! It is a 5 story tall wall with tons of windows. Very elaborate and very beautiful.
On Sunday we went to the monkey temple. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. As Dan already commented on, we got to feed monkeys! They were so funny, so much like little furry people. Besides the monkeys at the monkey temple though, there were lots of locals coming to the swimming hole located in the temple complex. To get here we had to hike up over a rocky outcrop/small mountain and down into a small valley. It was beautiful, but we were followed by many young local boys trying their best to communicate with us. Cute at first, but it gets to a point where we just want to be left alone! Lots of hand shaking, lots of asking for us to take pictures, just lots of interest in general in the white people, and we were the only ones in the whole place. Oh well, monkeys are fantastic!
On Saturday we went to Ranthambore which was the definitely the highlight of the trip. It was amazing! We were driven through the park in a 12 person roof-less, jeep-like vehicle called a canter. The seats are located high up off the ground so that you feel safe if you were lucky enough to see a tiger. There are also 20 person canters and small jeeps called gypseys that hold 4 people. These you have to book at least 2 months in advance, but they go the exact same places as the canters they are just more intimate. The park only lets a total of 35 vehicles per day and a total of 17 at a time. They provide a morning safari, from 6 am-9 and an evening safari, from 3-6. Needless to say we chose the evening safari :) We did leave for the park at 6 am though, it was a 4 hour drive from Jaipur. The scenery as well as the wildlife was amazing. SOOO many animals. Tons of deer. Ranthambore houses two species, one spotted smaller deer, and one bigger, hairier deer(first picture). It is also the home of wild boar, crocodiles, peacocks, monkeys, sloth bears, and tons of birds. Of course its most famous inhabitant is the tiger, which unfortunately we did not get to see. But as Dan said it is very unlikely to see one, especially with only one safari into the park. We also didn't see a sloth bear, but we saw lots of peacocks, monkeys, birds, deer, boar, and we even saw a the lumpy outline of a croc swimming in one of the watering holes. The park also houses lots of banyon trees which are amazing, willow type, viney trees. We have tons of pics of them so check them out.
Well I think that is about all for now! Hope everyone is doing well back in the states. Talk to you soon.
-Courtney