adventure log // I N D I A (the pink city)

it wasn't easy to get to Jaipur.
mostly that was our fault.
it took a rough six hour taxi adventure - with a few mishaps - but when we finally pulled up to enchanted pink city we were rewarded immediately.

jaipur.

a bustling city full of life and color - it was the perfect spot to settle in and create a home base for a few days.
we filled our mornings with locals-only flower markets and our evenings sharing meals in the homes of five star chefs.
we disappeared through the gates of the old city and got lost many times over in souks and alleys.
we tucked into the tiny back room of a rug shop with a family of locals and chatted perched atop precarious piles of fabric with chai while we waited out the rain.
we befriended a pair of jewelers and shared a couple hours waiting for some precious keepsakes to be crafted.
we had our photo snapped on a 100 year old camera.
we walked and walked and walked. Through sun dials and palaces and gardens.

and we loved every second.

some highlights?

a "wake up with jaipur" rickshaw tour with PINK CITY RICKSHAW CO. a rad company that hires women from local slums and trains them to be drivers. we got so many stares as our pink electric rickshaws zipped around the city driven by women (in a country where men definitely dominate the industry).

spending a few hours in the home of lokesh mathur, a talented chef-turned-cooking-school-guru. his jaipur cooking classes were SO much fun.

dinner at bar palladio, a pink and blue daydream serving - of all things - Italian. beyond being an instagram PLAYLAND, it was a delicious break from the norm.

jaipur truly is a magical place - the markets, the people, the feelings. I can't wait to go back.