Leaving our hotel in Jaipur--the Lemon Tree, modern and nice but with no local flavor.

Seen on our way to the Amber Fort: A street barber.

A woman sweeping the road.

Two women and a food vendor.

Buildings in the "Pink City."

Street scene.

Street scene.

Street scene.

More "Pink City" buildings.

More "Pink City" buildings.

Our first view of the Amber Fort, built by Raja Man Singh I in 1592, with buildings added later by Raja Jai Sigh I.

Buildings leading up to the fort.

You reach the fort via elephants.

Closer-up.

The mahout picks up his passengers here.

But first we had to wait in a long line to get on an elephant.

Looking back further on the line.

Many vendors here. I bought five of this type of artwork and thought I had bargained for a very good price for them. However, they were being offered for less the closer you got to the front of the line. After I made my purchase, another vendor thought that since I bought some of the artwork that I, of course, would want more and he hounded me for over 10 minutes to buy from him, all the while calling me "mama." The vendors in India do not give up.

We are just about ready to climb on our elephant. In Thailand, we rode facing front. Here, we rode facing sideways--easier to get on the elephant this way.

Our mahout. The only time he talked to us was to tell us not to kick the elephant with our feet as the elephant doesn't like that.

Onward up the hill. Harder to take photos when sitting sideways than forward, all the while hanging on to keep from sliding off.

Nice sign on the back of 35. See Movies, Asia, India, for a movie of our elephant ride.

There were many cameramen on the hill taking photos of us. One told us to ask for Ali Baba to get our photos when we left the fort.

One of the photos taken--I am riding with Betty (on the right). When we left the fort, I tried to find Ali Baba and asked one of the photo vendors where he was. He said Ali Baba was dead--Does this mean no photos? Ali Baba's rep did find us later but quoted a much too high price for the photos. With one of my tourmates, Maida, an excellent bargainer, we got the photo price down.

View from the back of the elephant.

View of Maota Lake from the back of the elephant.

Entering the fort.

The interior of the fort is very big.

We were dropped off from our elephant ride here. Easier to get off when sitting sideways than frontways with a helping hand.

Seen from above: elephants coming into and leaving the fort.

Close-up.

A view of the fort from above--to the left.

A view of the fort from above--to the right.

You can see a structure on the ridges of the hills in the photo.

Another view--look at the ridges of both mountains. This is the Great Wall of India, built in the 15th century and enlarged in the 19th century and is the second longest wall in the world at 22.4 miles (36 km) in length. The Great Wall of China is from 5,500 to 13,171 miles in length, depending on how it is measured.

My travel guide referred to this wall only as ramparts, not as a great wall, so I was very surprised to see it.

A closer-up view. You can walk along the wall, but few people do (few people actually know it is here), so it is lonely and unguarded. There are 360 temples enclosed by the wall, which has decorative artwork on it.

Does it resemble the Great Wall of China? I think it does.

Photo of the Great Wall of China, built in the early 7th century BC, much older and much longer than the Great Wall of India.

Inside the fort with its many courtyards and buildings. This the Baradhari pavilion at Man Singh I Palace Square, which was used for meetings by the Maharanis (queens of the royal family). The fort is of Hindu and Mughal architecture.

Inside the pavilion.

View of Ganesh Pol, a gateway built in 1640.

A view of the top of the pillars.

That looks like a camel at the top.

Another view.

Artwork inside the pavilion.

On the ceiling.

Above Amber Fort is another fort protecting it, the Jaigarb Fort.

Closer-up.

A dome of Amber Fort seen from the pavillon.

Going through the Ganesh Pol entrance. It was named after the Hindu god Lord Ganesh, remover of all obstacles. It is the entry into the private palaces of the Maharajas.

On the outside of the gate.

The garden inside the courtyard through the gate.

A sweeper of the garden.

The Sheesh Mahal, the Mirror Palace.

The walls have glass-inlaid panels and the ceilings are multi-mirrored.

Closer-up.

Another view.

Closer-up.

Visitors at the Mirror Palace.

Another visitor.

Another building in the fort.

Inside the building: a fort sweeper.

Close-up.

A woman guard.

Lattice screens above the Genesh Pol.

A lattice screen.

More of this area.

Bas relief.

Fresco.

Fresco.

Fresco.

Another view of the garden.

Worker watering the garden.

A view from the top.

A close-up view.

Another photo of the fort sweeper. She was following us around--to keep an eye on us? In case we accidentally dropped something that needed to be swept up? She liked posing for this photo.

Close-up. The red dot on her forehead is called a "bindi." It is placed between the eyebrows as this is the area that is believed to retain energy and strenthen concentration. The color red represents honor, love, and prosperity.

A group of visitors to the fort.

A group of school children visiting the fort.

A view of the side of the fort.

Another room with screens.

A view of Maota Lake from the top of the fort.

View of one of the fort's courtyards.

Another fort sweeper and another woman.

There were a number of large cauldrons here.

A wall of the fort.

View of the decorative wall.

Close-up.

The queen's bath.

A very old fresco.

Lailit, our tour manager, with the Gate 1 sign. Time to leave the fort.

A monkey on the outside of the fort.

A waiting group.

Jeeps took us down from the fort. The photo vendors followed.

Is this cow waiting for a ride down the hill?