Jaipur - The Pink City
Trip Start
Jan 05, 2008
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39
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Trip End
Jun 20, 2008
Jaipur,
India
Thursday, March 27, 2008
We didnt leave the hotel until noon. The idea was to spend the day in Jaipur and later get a train to Rishikesh, but all the trains were booked up til a month ahead and the bus was not a good option for whatever reason. So we ended up visiting Jaipur and getting a bus back to Delhi.
So we get a driver who, for a good price, would take us to most of the attraction in Jaipur. After about half hour drive we arrived at the Amber Fort, where we got a 15 year old guide to show us around. Even though the name carries the Fort word, the place is more like a palace, a big palace. However tourists are only able to visit 3 rooms inside the palace, in which 1 room was closed for whatever reason, so we decided it wouldnt be worthy to go in (no cameras, more expensive for foreigners and so on), but we got a good feel of the place from the outside. Than our guide took us around the village, until we reached this small temple where he had Jarrett throw some water inside something, but neither Jarrett or I really understood what that was for. This walk was really good, as the village was not a crazy place as the city and we also got to see some other ruins on the way (and of course, some other kid squatting in a corner doing his business)
Amber Fort
. We then stopped at a local store to get some souvenirs and after that we were back in the auto ricshaw (remember that the auto ricshaw is a motorized tricycle with a small cabin in the back, which fits two people + driver, but we were in four...but it wasnt that uncomfortable). After another half hour or so (already about 5.30pm) we arrived at the Jaigarh Fort, which is "one of the few military structures of medieval India preserved almost intact, containing palaces, gardens open and covered reservoirs, a granary, an armoury, a well-planned cannon foundry, several temples, a tall tower and a giant mounted cannon-the Jain Ban, the largest cannon in the world." It took us sometime to find the big cannon, which was big, but the carriage the cannon was on was even bigger. I just wonder how effective something that big would be during war. We didnt take any pictures or video since cameras were again not allowed at this place.... on the way back to our taxi I was the lucky one to be a poop target for one of the birds on the tree right above our heads... I was really lucky the target was my arm and not my head, but still, u-r-g-h!!! From there we stopped at the Hawa Mahal or Palace of the winds, which is the building that I most wanted to see in Jaipur. It is really pretty. Jaipur is called the pink city as most of the building and walls thru the city are pink and you can see the pink color I mean from the Hawa Mahal pictures. That was our last historical attraction as most of the places close by 6pm
Amber Fort
. So we have another stop at another Indian souvenir store (this was a big one) and from there we headed to the office of one of Rini's friends, who provided us with transportation (private driver) to Chowki Dhani, a thematic village where you can presence some of Indian culture as how it used to be. The place is open from 6 to 11pm and all lights are lamp lights and there are several folk culture thru the park. People dancing, playing music instruments and so on. Jarrett and I got to ride on a camel and on an elephant...that was very nice. The entrance fee covered dinner which was a typical Indian dinner, where we sat on the floor and the waiters bring all sort of stuff to eat. I cant say that was good as most of it were very spicy and weird looking, but it was a worthy experience. From there the driver took us back to Rini's friend, who drove us around Jaipur to see some spots at night, however, Jarrett and I fell asleep in the car, just waking up at the bus station to catch the bus to go back to Delhi. 
