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JAIPUR
The Pink City |
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The Palace of the Winds |
Elephant on the road |
Jaipur is considered
part of the golden triangle and visited by most tourists to India.
At first the town is
not that appealing. However after a few days seeing the sights of Jaipur
it is clear why this town is visited by most tourists.
AMBER
FORT
This is called a fort but is in reality is a Maharaja’s Palace.
Built on the top of a hill it is also surrounded by a fort with ”the
great wall of India” for protection. As you arrive there is a
magnificent view of the old fort; the palace and the drive to Amber
Fort you start to see all the elephants. It is fascinating to see these
large animals on regular roads with cars and trucks. The view of the
palace and fort, the lake in front, the elephants, jeeps, vendors and
general confusion it is a the scene at the bottom is quite remarkable.
Getting to the top – elephant or jeep?
Elephant: There
is an elephant ride to the top of the fort. It is inexpensive about $13
per elephant up to two people per elephant. It takes about 30 minutes
to the top. However, in order to do this you must get there early and
line up, it is first come first served and they only allow two people
per elephant and only 300 people a day. It meant getting up really
early so we decided to wait until we got to the safari camp to do our
elephant riding.
Jeep: There are
four wheel drive jeeps that take you to the top. Not good for taking
pictures the jeeps are covered and you cannot see out very well.
Touring the Fort and
the Amber Palace
This is a very interesting tour. There are some areas that are
still in excellent condition and never been restored. All the frescos
were done with vegetable dies and have stood the test of time. The
sights range from areas that are almost ruins to preserved rooms
decorated with frescos, mirrors that are quite beautiful.
The combination of the
drive in, seeing the fort palace and all the elephants this is a great
tour. It takes about three to four hours to do the whole thing.
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Elephant transportation |
The Fort and Amber Palace |
The Amber Palace courtyard |
The old city tour and observatory
The other tour we took was to the old city that was first painted in
honor of the visit of the Prince of Wales. This tradition has been
maintained and now every building in the old city must be pink. First
you see the pink walls and then you know right away you are in the pink
city. The observatory and city palace are in the old city.
The observatory is
interesting with the largest sundial in the world that keeps time to two
seconds. It is quite fascinating. The Palace museums are housed in part
of the City Palace and there are three museums. They are not large.
These have items from the Maharajas of this region. One has clothing,
one has weapons and the third is paintings, rugs and howdeh’s (elephant
saddles for carrying people). The current Maharaja still lives in this
complex.
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The Pink City |
The Observatory |
Camels on the road |
Shopping- I have my
Indian outfits
Jaipur is known for the shopping. Tailor made clothes in a few hours ,
bangles, bags, and souvenir items are everywhere. The streets are lined
with vendors and all the brightly colored goods on display. Bargaining
is the order of the day. Although there is the normal “come into my
store” requests once you say no the the store owners or street vendors
they back off more than they do in other areas of the world. We had
lunch at a hotel and then wandered into a store close by - two hours
later I left with 3 Indian outfits being custom made for me. It is hard
to buy ready made clothing here as everything is custom made. I bought
three outfits and one of the others bought an outfit. This was at about
3.00 pm we left the shop, the delivered the outfits to our hotel by 7.30
pm.!!!. One turned out well, one okay but the third did not work well.
They made everything too big and one style is huge. They placed a
turban on Ken as a good husband buying his wife clothing. The outfits
cost about $85 each. Pants, top and scarf, all washable silk. Nice
materials and with sequins and beads. Just imagine something on me
other than black on the ships they may not recognize me. You never see
black here just a color they don’t wear.
Accommodations
We stayed at the Oberoi
Rajvilas another super luxury hotel. The only negative about this
hotel is that it is about 20 minutes out of town. The rooms are
wonderful, large and comfortable, a great bathroom with a sunken marble
tub, with candles and the tub looks out onto a private courtyard with
plants and a big urn full of flowers. There was internet in the rooms.
The grounds are huge, with lush green lawns, flowers and trees. The
pool area is a dream for those who like to relax poolside. The décor of
the hotel is contemporary and Moorish and quite stunning.
We had a fabulous out
door candlelight dinner one night. Big urns were lighting the area with
fire, they had candles floating in the water in the courtyard and it all
reflected on the soft peach colored Moorish architecture. Indian music
and dancers provided the entertainment. The stars were shining, the
temperature perfect, the food was fantastic, this was a very romantic
and magical evening.
The Rambagh
Palace hotel owned by the Raj Hotel group was a fascinating
property. Built as a hunting villa for the Maharaja it is now a hotel
and is quite stunning. Every room is different and the ambiance of the
hotel is amazing. This is worth visiting even if you do not stay there
to see the hotel. |
