Jaipur
Jaipur
Day 1
What a spectacularly beautiful morning sunny and +15 on the way to +21 today. Today we are off to the old city Jaipur, one of India's first planned cities... wider streets, grid like layout and mixed use commercial and residential. First stop is the extraordinary Jantar Mantarâ, the astronomical observatory built by Raja Sawai Jai Singh II in 1827. This is one of five observatories he built in northern India. The instruments resembling massive futuristic structures are actually highly sophisticated instruments which are accurate even today.
Nearby is the City Palace, a sprawling complex with multiple courtyards, public buildings, astronomical observatory and zenana mahals (harems). Within the palace complex are several museums including an interesting textile gallery exhibiting a fine selection of textiles and costumes from the royal collection.
We also had a private tour of the seven storey Chandra Mahal, visiting rooms which were not usually open to the public.
Thursday night, we decided to go to the movies and see the latest Bollywood hit, Race 2.
Classic and attractive single screen theatre...
...and apparently a One World member.
Amazing concession prices with two popcorns and two large bottled waters costing only $1.75.
Although the movie was in Hindi, there is enough English (or Hinglish) and a simple enough plot that it was pretty understandable. Didn't really matter as there was enough eye candy in this flick to make language a non-issue. I mean, does one really need to understand Hindi with Jacqueline Fernandez and Deepika Padukone on the screen?
Jaipur
Friday
Day 2
One of the best days of the trip, we stopped at a couple of photo op spots in Jaipur, on our way to Amber, the site of one of the most spectacular fort/palaces to date.
Before we got to the palace, we hiked surrounding the Aravalli hills and visit Meena tribal settlements, a ruined fort, and hidden shrines. This place is off the beaten track, hard to find and infrequently visited by tourists. But once there, an absolutely idyllic and beautiful setting.
Locals here live pretty much as their ancestors did, over a thousand years ago.
The fort at Amber is one of the finest examples of a fort palace, perched on a mountain overlooking the area. The fort and indeed the town of Amber is surrounded by 22 kilometers of walls which took 40 years to complete.
By this time, we were pretty much exhausted and toured out, so headed back to the hotel.
Some sights along the way...
... and lunch. Although Cinnamon has no terrace, the wonderful staff agreed to serve us on the main restaurant's outdoor terrace. The food was simply amazing, even better with multiple Kingfishers.
Next up: The long and winding trek home, starting in beautiful Mumbai.