Jaipur

The beautifully planned grid of Jaipur has its origins in 1727 as India's first planned city. Even though this places it well past the prime years of the Silk Roads, Jaipur’s unique role makes it difficult to not include. Straight ceremonial boulevards lined with colonnaded bazaars radiate outwards from the semi-circular palace complex where rulers of the Rajput clan once held court. This is India's famed "Pink City," so named from the terra cotta hue of its buildings in the old quarter, a color associated with hospitality to welcome visiting caravans. And to India, hospitality is the very thing infused into its identify, where “guest is god.”

The rulers passion for architectural grandeur reaches its zenith at the Hawa Mahal, the "Palace of the Winds." This honeycomb of delicately carved windows and balconies once permitted royal ladies to observe the bazaars below without being seen themselves. From these very lattices, one can imagine the fascination of peering down at the assortment of traders that perused the markets with their exotic wares from faraway lands beyond India. In fact, though now home to over three million people, Jaipur still plays host to captivating bazaars and visitors from every corner of the world. And towering over it all is the ancient Amber Fort, the original seat of the rulers until the 18th century. It is a sprawling masterpiece of Rajput architecture atop a rugged hill - it is the quintessential India, and a complex that rewards one to wander and get lost in.