After a good night sleep, we headed out to the philatelic museum, behind the main post office here in Jaipur. I had hoped that this one might feature some stamps older than 1947, but it did not. They did have a book on Indian postage stamps that I thought would be interesting and I was told to go to the front of the post office to get it. There I was told to ask at wicket #8, where a somewhat surly lady told me to go to the philatelic museum. I went back but there was a look of bureaucratic confusion on the young man's face, so I left.
Then off we went through old Jaipur, the so-called pink city (actually an orange pink) to the Amber Fort. It is an amazing wall town, the original Jaipur, over-looked by the huge palace complex. We toured using the audio guide and avoiding the guides. Like the Taj Mahal it lives up to it's billing and is not to be missed. In the process of driving to the Amber Fort and passing the Lake Palace, Joy spotted "Center for Art and Heritage", so after a quick lunch, we arrived there and found that it was also called "Shree Sanjay Sharma Museum and Research Institute" after we paid the 250 R each to get in, we were introduced to one man's collection of art and documents dating back hundreds of years. Joy was so excited! She was like a kid! The Father who had spent 60 years gathering the collection was there, as was his son and three grandsons. We got a personalized and detailed tour. We would put this on anyone's must see list if they are at all interested in art, textiles, writing and Indian culture.
I should note as I end this, that while in the Amber Fort we ran into an art class doing drawings of the fort. The instructor noted my Danica Laking original necklace and asked if he could photograph it. He was quite pleased to have seen it.
Namaste
Jim
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