I got caught in a sandstorm this week while wearing all white, linen pants and all (don‘t judge, it‘s hot here). Then the rain came. Living in the middle of a city I keep forgetting I am also living in the middle of the desert. That explains the camels, eh?

I went to Amber Fort (pronounced Amer by the locals) this past weekend with some friends on one of the hottest days in Jaipur. Amber Fort was built in 1592 and used to be the ancient capital of Jaipur state. So it seemed like a perfectly good fort to visit on my first “fort outing” in India.

My wish to figure out the Jaipur bus system came true when we waited for our bus number to pass 8 times before we were actually convinced it was the right one. I’m surprised the crowd that formed around us did not cheer when the group of foreigners finally got on their bus. However, a man did follow us saying he was coming along and that he wanted to “make friendship with us.“ We ditched him in Old City when we had to get off the bus and take an auto rickshaw the rest of the way. Six people in one auto was a tight squeeze for the length of the drive but I comfortably sat in the back with Tom where we had the perfect view for taking pictures. We saw a lot of elephants along the way, of which I yelled “Hati!” every time I saw one. Unfortunately elephants are not treated as well as cows in this country, and that is an understatement. We arrived at the fort after a long rickshaw ride and climbed dozens and dozens and dozens of steps to actually get to the main entrance on the hilltop. The path we climbed is the walking path of the elephants that walk from Amber Fort most days. At the top we all rested, drank water, sweated, drank more water and then found, within the fort, a Café Coffee Day (India’s coffee chain) equipped with chilling AC. After literally cooling off, we toured the fort and took pictures of really old doors and chambers and walked leisurely down to the road where we caught a bus back to the city.

I’m realizing there is way too much to see in this country in one year, but thrilled I will never be bored. When I am not touring forts and “jewels” of Jaipur, I am thoroughly enjoying Shakira’s “Waka Waka” (the official song of the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup), but getting more Bollywood and Hindi Pop music than I usually prefer; all in the sake of learning the language I suppose.