It took almost 7 hours in our bus to reach Jaipur from New Delhi. The journey was filled with plenty of traffic, honking, and cows started appearing in the streets just outside the city of Delhi. We stopped and watched a few men with carts selling bananas for the macaque monkeys surrounding them. People buy and feed the bananas to the monkeys.. as well as a few cows hanging around. It is believed that feeding the monkeys brings you good luck.
Entering Jaipur, red flowers start appearing on surrounding trees and the majority of the city walls are a peachy-pink color. This is why Jaipur is known as the pink city.
This city is known for its gemstone work. So of course Gate 1 Travel took us to a jewelry factory where we were shown how they cut and polish the stones followed by trying to convince everyone to make some purchases.
Next stop was the bazaar. It’s a couple of very busy streets lined with shops selling all sorts of Indian clothes, scarfs, shoes, and jewelry. I tried on a beautiful saree and purchased a beautiful pink scarf. Heading back to the bus, we were swarmed by sellers trying to sell trinkets they were holding onto… this is quite common at all the tourist stops. Then we headed to the hotel for the evening.
The following morning we toured the Amber Fort up high on a hill. Some people ride elephants up to the fort, but we took jeeps up which I personally recommend doing. There is growing awareness of the animal welfare problems with elephant rides. Please do a little research before deciding to take part in such an activity.
The Amber Fort is huge, so we only saw a few main areas. It’s an impressive site with beautiful columns and arches.
One section is reminiscent of the hall of mirrors in Versailles. The walls and ceiling are filled with intricate carvings and marble work along with mirrors within that artwork so that in the evenings, lit candles would make the whole place glow.
We ended our tour of the fort in the section where the harem would reside. The large courtyard is surrounded by walls painted with blue flowers.
Next we stopped for a quick photo of the Water Palace, Jal Mahal, in the middle of a lake.
Driving through the streets, we saw vendors selling colorful mounds of powder to be used for the upcoming holiday of Holi. More on that in the Agra post.
Then we stopped at a rug and textile co-op whose mission is to provide extra reliable income to farmers. They demonstrated how the rugs are created. We saw and felt the differences between the 3 types of rugs they make: Cashmere, camel wool, and silk.
Our final stop was an Observatory and the City Palace. The Observatory has a collection of architectural astronomical instruments, including the world’s largest stone sundial and a sundial that’s accurate to within 2 minutes.
That evening, Angie and I ventured off without the tour group. First we checked out a mall next to our hotel and grabbed a couple sandwiches from a fast food joint below it. We got 2 delicious, spicy, vegetarian sandwiches for about $1.50 USD.
Then we went to Birla Temple and saw patrons coming in to pray to Vishnu. It’s a beautiful, white, marble temple and even more stunning in the light of the setting sun. We took a moto-rickshaw as our transport which let us feel the craziness of Indian traffic much more than in the tour bus.
That’s it for Jaipur. The next morning we drove to Agra. Next Post: Agra & Khajuraho: Tombs, Temples, Forts, and Holi Festival.
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