We are on an Auto Rickshaw tour in Jaipur. Part of the deal is that we are 'invited' to look at some silver jewelry. Our driver gets a commission for bringing us here. If we want to buy; okay. Just look; up to you. The jewelry is beautiful and the craftsmanship is great. We're not really in the mood to shop but for some reason, these guys have a way of making you WANT to buy. They make us an offer we can't refuse and we leave with a few nice rings.
I was trying to do a story on McDonalds in India. I wanted to see how it compared to other countries. But as I started taking photos, this employee began waving his arms madly and telling me to stop. I guess their prices are a National Secret. What I wanted to show you you is how a company that specializes in Beef products, can run a successful business in a country that doesn't eat beef. The secret is Tofu; and it's delicious.
This is India in a nutshell. If you can figure out which lane is which on this road, you're doing better than me. It's chaos. I'm not joking when I say that you cannot drive on the road unless you have a working horn on your vehicle. And you want to get from here to there? That is just an act of will.
We are in the State of Rajasthan; the land of Kings. Here in Jaipur, this is the original Palace of the Maharajah. 
The whole 800 year-old Palace is decorated with art like this. The attention to detail is amazing. This palace is about 500 years old.
The Maharajah was fascinated by the stars and had a garden observatory built with many sundials and measuring devices to study the sky. He was inspired by Galileo and Copernicus. This device is made from marble and precious inlaid stones. The whole garden looks like a brainiac's version of a theme park.
This entryway is made from semi-precious stones inlaid in Marble. Peacocks are a Royal symbol in Rajasthan and they live wild around the State. 
We keep running into Koreans here in India. We met these students on the bus coming here. They just happened to show up at the Palace the same time we did. Our pal in the center is here specifically to stand for photos with the tourists. There are signs all around that say: 'No tips are allowed'. But I guess it wouldn't be India if he didn't rub is finger and thumb together and give us that coy look that tells us he will not mind if we break the rules just this once.
The chairs and tables are plastic. The decor is stark. The people are enjoying themselves. We sit down and these two students come in and join us. They are excited to meet us and they help us order. I give one of them my camera and he takes this video of us having our first authentic (very delicious) Jaipur lunch.
We're walking around Jaipur, near the palace, when suddenly we see a very well dressed elephant with his driver, ambling around the square. There is a family beaming with pride as they ride like Royalty atop this beautifully decorated animal. At the end of the ride, the elephant carefully lowers himself down to the ground so they can get off.
The driver signals me to come closer and I walk up to him as Aw takes this photo. He wants 100 rupees for me to have this picture taken. I give him 30. Every picture like this has two stories; The event, and the negotiation.
This snake charmer is adamant that I should wrap his cuddly cobra around my neck for this photo but I graciously decline. You can tell by the distance Aw is from me for this photo that she isn't a big fan of snakes either. I kept motioning her to come closer and she just kept shaking her head. The only real danger here is the 'charmer' himself. He expects money for this little show. And we are not going anywhere until he gets it...'as you like'.
So now we're staying at The Hardik Hotel. Salim is the manager and makes us feel very much at home. We need a friend after the way we felt chewed up by Agra. Aw is an accountant but she is also a chef and she misses Thai food very much, so Salim invites her to cook some of her own meals while we're here. He manages this hotel and does most of the cooking. He works eleven months a year and only has one month a year to be with his family in Northern India.
