The train from Agra to Jaipur was supposed to leave at 10am, so at 9.30am we were there at the train station. As soon as we got out of the tuk tuk a man said the train to Jaipur is delayed, now sometimes they are telling the truth and sometimes not. So we ignored him and traipsed into the station, only to find, yes indeed, he was correct. 2 hours delay in fact, so the helpful man that had told us this then offered to take us in his tuk tuk to get breakfast, so off we went. 2 hours later back to the station, and yes delayed again. So at this point helpful tuk tuk man told us that he had a brother who was a taxi driver who could take us for a very good price. Well that didn't take too much persuading, it was actually a very good price. So in the end we made it, the journey was ok, very hot but not as long as others we have done. As we got closer to Jaipur you could see the landscape changing and becoming more deserty.
We arrived at our hotel, which really we should have realised by now would be a disgrace. From now on I am not booking things in advance in India unless absolutely necessary, because they are nearly always dreadful. So another hour spent driving around hotels trying to find a half way clean room for less that £70, absolutely disgraceful value for money. In the end when we both close to the edge another tuk tuk driver latched onto ours and told him he knew a place. Finally, it was still expensive at £25 a night, but the cheapest we had come across so far. And it actually was the biggest room ever, it had aircon, a clean bathroom, a tv and a bath! Not a bad view of the mountains either!
Although this could probably get a little tedious......
After checking into our room we headed out for something to eat, into the madness of Jaipur. The traffic is totally crazy and in between all the traffic are, horses, cows, elephants, donkeys and now camels too......
We arranged for our tuk tuk driver to come and pick us up the following morning to do a tour of the sights of the Pink City. Jaipur is the capital and largest city in Rajasthan, it was founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, after whom the city has been named. The city today has a population of 3.1 million. Jaipur is known as the Pink City of India. The city was originally built within walls, though it has expanded outside of the original walls over time. The gates used to be closed at sunset and opened at sunrise. The town of Jaipur is built in the form of an eight-part Mandala known as the 'Pithapada'
First stop of the day was Hawa Mahal. Hawa Mahal (translation "Palace of Winds" or "Palace of the Breeze") was built in 1798 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, and designed in the form of the crown of Krisna. Its unique five-storey exterior is also like a honeycomb with its 953 small windows called jharokhas that are decorated with intricate latticework. The original intention of the lattice was to allow royal ladies to observe everyday life in the street below without being seen, since they had to observe strict "purdah" (face cover). Besides this, the lattice also provides cool air caused by the Venturi effect (doctor breeze) through the intricate pattern and thereby air conditioning the whole area during the high temperatures in summers. Built from red and pink sandstone, the palace is situated on the main thoroughfare in the heart of Jaipur’s business centre.
This palace was very pretty and there was a very cooling breeze once you made it to the top, what an awesome place to live.
You've gotta love the admire the scaffolding that would give our H&S people seizures!
Next stop was City Palace, after the Hawa Mahal, I thought that this was a little disappointing. Though it didn't help that they were preparing for the Maharajas daughters 70th birthday party. When we arrived there was shedloads of lights, sound equipment and stages being erected. Looks like it would make for an epic party, but not such good viewing for us.
We stopped for food then onto the Maharaja's tombs. The exquisite Maharajas’ Tombs, this is where all the Maharajas of Jaipur and their sons’ ashes are buried and marble tombs erected in their honour. We were able to enjoy the tombs in total solitude and serenity as everyone else must have been sensible enough to stay inside out of the heat.
Once you got into the inner tombs the marble work became a lot more elaborate...
By this point we were starting to wilt so we made one final stop at the Jal Mahal (Water Palace). Jal Mahal is a palace located in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake. The lake, situated to the north of Jaipur city lies between Amer, the historic city and Jaipur, the provincial headquarters of Rajastan state. It has a water spread area of 300 acres and is enclosed by the Aravalli hills on the north, west and eastern sides, while the southern side consists of plains that are intensely inhabited. The Jal Mahal palace is considered an architectural beauty built in the Rajput and Mughal styles of architecture. The palace, built in red sandstone, is a five storied building out of which four floors remain under water when the lake is full and the top floor is exposed
On the way back to the hotel we seemed to be heading down the animal highway. This also seemed to be the place that people parked their camels and elephants, all very odd...
The following day we booked the same tuk tuk driver and went to visit a couple more sights, the first was Amer Fort. Before we made it up to the fort we got walayed by a man and his cobra, Carlos. Now snake charming is supposed to be banned in India, and to be fair we have seen none, but now we have. So maybe we shouldn't have given him money, but again at least Carlos got to come out of his basket for a bit.
The Amer Fort is located in Amer, just outside Jaipur, it is located high on a hill. Amer Fort was built by Raja Man Signh I. Amer Fort is known for its artistic style of Hindu elements. With its large ramparts, series of gates and cobbled paths, the fort overlooks the Maota Lake at its forefront.
It is quite a long walk to the top, but determined not to utilise the waiting jeeps or elephants there for that very purpose, we soldiered on. We did get to see quite a few elephants though, which for me has not got old yet.
Once you climb to the top and enter the first courtyard, the building are not that special but the views are pretty good
This fort, with Jaigargh Fort, located immediately above on the Cheel ka Teela (Hill of Eagles) of the same Aravalli range of hills, is considered as one complex, as the two are well connected by a subterranean passage. This passage was meant as an escape route in times of war for the royal family members and others in the Amer Fort to shift to the more redoubtable Jaigarh Fort
This fort has within its walls on a four level layout plan (each with a courtyard) in a well turned out opulent palace complex built with red sandstone and marble. The Amer Fort is also popularly known as the Amer Palace. The palace was lived in by the Rajput Maharajas and their families.
Ganesh Gate, named after the Lord Ganesh who removes all obstacles in life, is the entry into the private palaces of the Maharajas. It is a three level structure which has many frescoes and was also built at the orders of the Mirza Raja Jai Singh and leads to the private quarters of the royal family. Above this gate is the Suhag Mandir where ladies of the royal family used to watch through the latticed windows functions held in the Diwan-i-Am. Its really beautiful...
Once your through there its into a garden type courtyard, and there are two buildings, one opposite to the other, separated by a garden laid in the fashion of the Mughal Gardens.
And then the best bit, the building to the left of the entrance gate is called the Jai Mandir, which is exquisitely beautified with glass inlaid panels and multi-mirrored ceilings. The mirrors are of convex shape and designed with coloured foil and paint which would glitter bright under candle nights at the time it was in use. Also known as Sheesh Mahal (mirror palace), the mirror mosaics and coloured glasses were "glittering jewel box in flickering candle light".
This is the most beautiful room, and so unexpected in a fort that does look like its seen better days to be honest. There were also a lot of the below tiling, which I have fallen in love with, perfect for a bathroom??
A particular attraction here is the "magic flower" fresco carved in marble at the base of one of the pillars around the mirror palace which is identified by two hovering butterflies depiction; the flower has seven unique designs of fish tail, a lotus, a hooded cobra, an elephant trunk, a lion’s tail, a cob of corn and a scorpion, each is viewed by a particular way of partial hiding of the panel with hands. Can you seen any of them?
Thats it from Jaipur, we fly to Chandigargh tomorrow. Even though we only got to spend a couple of days here, I really enjoyed it. It helped having a really knowledgeable tuk tuk driver who really doubled as a guide as well. The City is not really the pink I was imagining, more of a rusty salmon type colour, but very pretty none the less. You could also really feel how close you were to the desert, it was so hot, it will be nice to get to the coolness of the mountains in Manali.
We arrived at our hotel, which really we should have realised by now would be a disgrace. From now on I am not booking things in advance in India unless absolutely necessary, because they are nearly always dreadful. So another hour spent driving around hotels trying to find a half way clean room for less that £70, absolutely disgraceful value for money. In the end when we both close to the edge another tuk tuk driver latched onto ours and told him he knew a place. Finally, it was still expensive at £25 a night, but the cheapest we had come across so far. And it actually was the biggest room ever, it had aircon, a clean bathroom, a tv and a bath! Not a bad view of the mountains either!
Although this could probably get a little tedious......
After checking into our room we headed out for something to eat, into the madness of Jaipur. The traffic is totally crazy and in between all the traffic are, horses, cows, elephants, donkeys and now camels too......
We arranged for our tuk tuk driver to come and pick us up the following morning to do a tour of the sights of the Pink City. Jaipur is the capital and largest city in Rajasthan, it was founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, after whom the city has been named. The city today has a population of 3.1 million. Jaipur is known as the Pink City of India. The city was originally built within walls, though it has expanded outside of the original walls over time. The gates used to be closed at sunset and opened at sunrise. The town of Jaipur is built in the form of an eight-part Mandala known as the 'Pithapada'
First stop of the day was Hawa Mahal. Hawa Mahal (translation "Palace of Winds" or "Palace of the Breeze") was built in 1798 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, and designed in the form of the crown of Krisna. Its unique five-storey exterior is also like a honeycomb with its 953 small windows called jharokhas that are decorated with intricate latticework. The original intention of the lattice was to allow royal ladies to observe everyday life in the street below without being seen, since they had to observe strict "purdah" (face cover). Besides this, the lattice also provides cool air caused by the Venturi effect (doctor breeze) through the intricate pattern and thereby air conditioning the whole area during the high temperatures in summers. Built from red and pink sandstone, the palace is situated on the main thoroughfare in the heart of Jaipur’s business centre.
This palace was very pretty and there was a very cooling breeze once you made it to the top, what an awesome place to live.
You've gotta love the admire the scaffolding that would give our H&S people seizures!
Next stop was City Palace, after the Hawa Mahal, I thought that this was a little disappointing. Though it didn't help that they were preparing for the Maharajas daughters 70th birthday party. When we arrived there was shedloads of lights, sound equipment and stages being erected. Looks like it would make for an epic party, but not such good viewing for us.
We stopped for food then onto the Maharaja's tombs. The exquisite Maharajas’ Tombs, this is where all the Maharajas of Jaipur and their sons’ ashes are buried and marble tombs erected in their honour. We were able to enjoy the tombs in total solitude and serenity as everyone else must have been sensible enough to stay inside out of the heat.
Once you got into the inner tombs the marble work became a lot more elaborate...
By this point we were starting to wilt so we made one final stop at the Jal Mahal (Water Palace). Jal Mahal is a palace located in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake. The lake, situated to the north of Jaipur city lies between Amer, the historic city and Jaipur, the provincial headquarters of Rajastan state. It has a water spread area of 300 acres and is enclosed by the Aravalli hills on the north, west and eastern sides, while the southern side consists of plains that are intensely inhabited. The Jal Mahal palace is considered an architectural beauty built in the Rajput and Mughal styles of architecture. The palace, built in red sandstone, is a five storied building out of which four floors remain under water when the lake is full and the top floor is exposed
No, I didn't take that last picture!
On the way back to the hotel we seemed to be heading down the animal highway. This also seemed to be the place that people parked their camels and elephants, all very odd...
At this point again I decided that train travel was not the way to go, plus we could not get one train to our next destination, Manali. And with all the connections it would have taken a couple of days, so I managed to get us flights from Jaipur to Chandigarh. Which would take one hour and then planning to take bus from Chandigarh to Manali. This was booked for the day after tomorrow.
The following day we booked the same tuk tuk driver and went to visit a couple more sights, the first was Amer Fort. Before we made it up to the fort we got walayed by a man and his cobra, Carlos. Now snake charming is supposed to be banned in India, and to be fair we have seen none, but now we have. So maybe we shouldn't have given him money, but again at least Carlos got to come out of his basket for a bit.
Also from that view point we could get a good idea of how vast the fort is, and we saw another elephant.....
Everywhere in India there are loads of pigeons, but here there seemed to be more than usual. You've got to love the Hindu's and their love of animals....
The Amer Fort is located in Amer, just outside Jaipur, it is located high on a hill. Amer Fort was built by Raja Man Signh I. Amer Fort is known for its artistic style of Hindu elements. With its large ramparts, series of gates and cobbled paths, the fort overlooks the Maota Lake at its forefront.
It is quite a long walk to the top, but determined not to utilise the waiting jeeps or elephants there for that very purpose, we soldiered on. We did get to see quite a few elephants though, which for me has not got old yet.
Once you climb to the top and enter the first courtyard, the building are not that special but the views are pretty good
This fort, with Jaigargh Fort, located immediately above on the Cheel ka Teela (Hill of Eagles) of the same Aravalli range of hills, is considered as one complex, as the two are well connected by a subterranean passage. This passage was meant as an escape route in times of war for the royal family members and others in the Amer Fort to shift to the more redoubtable Jaigarh Fort
This fort has within its walls on a four level layout plan (each with a courtyard) in a well turned out opulent palace complex built with red sandstone and marble. The Amer Fort is also popularly known as the Amer Palace. The palace was lived in by the Rajput Maharajas and their families.
Ganesh Gate, named after the Lord Ganesh who removes all obstacles in life, is the entry into the private palaces of the Maharajas. It is a three level structure which has many frescoes and was also built at the orders of the Mirza Raja Jai Singh and leads to the private quarters of the royal family. Above this gate is the Suhag Mandir where ladies of the royal family used to watch through the latticed windows functions held in the Diwan-i-Am. Its really beautiful...
Once your through there its into a garden type courtyard, and there are two buildings, one opposite to the other, separated by a garden laid in the fashion of the Mughal Gardens.
And then the best bit, the building to the left of the entrance gate is called the Jai Mandir, which is exquisitely beautified with glass inlaid panels and multi-mirrored ceilings. The mirrors are of convex shape and designed with coloured foil and paint which would glitter bright under candle nights at the time it was in use. Also known as Sheesh Mahal (mirror palace), the mirror mosaics and coloured glasses were "glittering jewel box in flickering candle light".
This is the most beautiful room, and so unexpected in a fort that does look like its seen better days to be honest. There were also a lot of the below tiling, which I have fallen in love with, perfect for a bathroom??
A particular attraction here is the "magic flower" fresco carved in marble at the base of one of the pillars around the mirror palace which is identified by two hovering butterflies depiction; the flower has seven unique designs of fish tail, a lotus, a hooded cobra, an elephant trunk, a lion’s tail, a cob of corn and a scorpion, each is viewed by a particular way of partial hiding of the panel with hands. Can you seen any of them?
From there you can keep climbing higher and the further you do, you see more monkeys and less humans.
All in all pretty impressive
From there our last stop in Jaipur was Monkey Temple, temple complex of Ramgopaliji temple. Its called monkey temple due to the large tribe of monkeys who live here. These rhesus macaques were featured in National Geographic Channels rebel monkeys series and "Thar Desert - Sacred sand episode of Wildest India Series. They certainly are not camera shy i'll give them that.
From there our last stop in Jaipur was Monkey Temple, temple complex of Ramgopaliji temple. Its called monkey temple due to the large tribe of monkeys who live here. These rhesus macaques were featured in National Geographic Channels rebel monkeys series and "Thar Desert - Sacred sand episode of Wildest India Series. They certainly are not camera shy i'll give them that.
Thats it from Jaipur, we fly to Chandigargh tomorrow. Even though we only got to spend a couple of days here, I really enjoyed it. It helped having a really knowledgeable tuk tuk driver who really doubled as a guide as well. The City is not really the pink I was imagining, more of a rusty salmon type colour, but very pretty none the less. You could also really feel how close you were to the desert, it was so hot, it will be nice to get to the coolness of the mountains in Manali.
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