We went down the hill from the Amber Fort to have a photo-op at the Water Palace. Vendors have set out their wares for us.

A vendor.

These women asked for money to have your photo taken with them.

The Water Palace, the Jal Mahal, built in the middle 18th century in the middle of Man Sagar Lake.

The lake was formed by building a dam and the palace was built in the middle of the lake so one could view the valley.

Women on the street.

You could take a ride on these camels.

Passing an old building.

Passing another old building.

Street scene.

Elephants greeting us at a textile and handicrafts store, offering silk-weaving, embroidery, clothing, and carpets.

These men were demostrating how silk prints are made. First, dip a stamp into a colored ink and place it on a cloth. Repeat the process for different colors.

The finished design.

Closer-up. The cloth will then be put in the sun to dry and to change colors.

Woman spinning yarn.

A weaver.

Many rugs and carpets here. I ordered one like the one in the middle to be made up and sent to me. I wanted a runner for my hallway but one only 2 feet wide and then 20 feet long, a size I could not find in the U.S. as standard sizes are 3 feet or 4 feet wide. Here, they would make up the exact size that I wanted.

Our next stop lunch. A palm reader was reading this woman's palm outside the restaurant.

The restaurant's eclectic menu: nacho salsa, fajitas, pollo loco, mutton strogenoff, etc.

American chop suey.

Indian food--yum!

My choice--thali again. Delicious!

Back on the street: May I Help You? The Jaipur police.

Horses to ride?

Two horsemen.

Horseman and horse.

We had to walk past this cow.

And this one as well.

Woman selling an Indian bread.

T-shirts for sale.

Our next stop, at the Jantar Mantar, an observatory built in the first half of the 18th century. There are 19 main astronomical instructions built for naked-eye observation of the celestrial bodies. The observaotry was built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II.

The Narivalays Yantra, inclined at 27 degrees, made up of two sundials that represent two hemispheres and calculate time by following the solar cycle.

Chakva Yantra. A brass tube passes through two circular metal instruments. It is used to calculate the angles of stars and planets from the equator.

Rashivalaya Yantra, made up of 12 pieces, each representing a zodiac sign. Each piece faces a different constellation and was used by astrologers to draw up horoscopes. It is the only one of its kind.

Close-up.

Ram Yanta (on the left and not a very good photo of it), made up of verticle columns supported by an equal number of horizontal slabs. It was used to determine the celestrial arc from the horizon to the zenith and also the altitude of the sun.

The 75-foot (23-m) Samrat Yantra, a sundial used to forecast crop yields for the year. Jai Singh believed that gigantic instruments would give more accurate results.

Another view of the Samrat Yantra.

Visitors at Jantar Mantar.

One of several forts protecting Jaipur--seen above Jantar Mantar.

This cow is bright as it is strolling on the left side of the road and keeping in a traffic lane.

In front of the entrance to the City Palace Museum.

The people sitting on the bench in front of the museum.

Rajendra Pol, the gateway to the museum. What is now a museum was the palace of the rulers of Jaipur.

Close-up of the gate.

Imperial outfits.

Closer to the gate.

Notice the two elephants on either side of the gate. Each was carved from single blocks of marble.

Another imperial outfit and one of the elephants.

Astro palmist near the museum ticket counter.

A colonnade.

Closer up.

The palace has many courtyards and buildings.

Close-up.

Another view.

The Chandra Mahal seen at the top back.

Another gate to another courtyard.

Buildings in the courtyard.

A view of the Mughal artwork.

Another gate.

An old door and canons.

The Diwan-i-Khas.

In it are the world's largest silver objects.

Close-up of the two silver urns. They carried sacred Ganges water for Madho Singh's visit to London in 1901.

A closer-up of one of the silver urns.

The top of one of the entrances.

The side of one of the entrances.

More of the side.

Taking a break.

Our group in another courtyard.

View of the buildings.

The artwork on the buildings.

A balcony.

A door.

Another balcony and door.

The seven-story Chandra Mahal, closed to the public.

Another balcony and entranceway.

Another balcony.

The top of the balcony with birds on it.

Top of an entranceway.

A colonnade.

A beautiful door.

A tower.

A puppet show.

Close-up.

There is a snake charmer with a cobra in front of the railing. This is the third snake charmer--one was in the parking lot, I believe, of the Gandhi memorial (I avoided it), another at Amber Fort (Lailit steered me away from it), but here I was on my own. The two men in the photo were brothers on our tour. Looks like Larry is being very careful giving money to the snake charmer. I saw the cobra (you can't miss knowing what it was) but my photo didn't get a picture of it. There was a policeman nearby and I told him I was nervous walking past the cobra. He had the charmer put his cobra back in his basket. Snake charming is illegal in India, so the policeman would have been paid off to allow it.

Outside the palace--there were monkeys running around the ledge.

Some of the monkeys.

Two of the monkeys.

Two more of the monkeys.