Saturday and Sunday 02/18/12 to 02/19/12 - This is a long blog so I hope you enjoy. It has some amazing photos and info. It was a long and eventful day. At any time, you should be able to click on a photo and see it in larger form.
Oh and I almost forgot, cows, pigs, goats, donkeys, dogs and cats. Yes, it's a schmorgishbourg of animals here in Jaipur. Even with all the cute animals (stinky and dirty but still cute). Many of the attractions in Jaipur also have elephant and camel rides. We haven't decided yet if we have time to do that and I hear that camels rides are quite bumpy (not good for a bad back), much more so than elephant rides. There will be many more opportunities to ride elephants at other places we plan to travel to. There is still SO much more to Jaipur and I'm going to share all my experiences with you in two blogs. We will be spending Sunday (today), Monday and Tuesday doing as much as we possibly can to see, photograph and enjoy all of what Jaipur has to offer. Today's blog will be the longest as it is the most we have planned in one day so I hope you will all read to the end. You'll enjoy it, believe me and there will be beautiful photos too.
So we land in Jaipur on Saturday and, wow, immediately we realize just how small the airport is. It's a VERY nice airport but definitely small. It was so quiet in the aiport when we arrived. The reason for that is that we were the only flight that had arrived at that time. All of us on this flight basically had the airport all to ourselves. We go down and get our bags and walk out to see our driver holding up a sign with Vikas' name on it. We got into the car and headed over to our hotel to get checked in and settled. This was all on Saturday. We just took the rest of the day to check out the beautiful hotel and relax.
Vikas had everything all planned out for Sunday and Monday. I had no idea what I was going to see but I was excited and ready to get started.
Sunday morning we woke and got ready and headed over to the amazing buffet style breakfast that is typical in Indian hotels.It's wonderful! At least at all the hotels that we've been at, it's a great choice and blend of western, Indian, and the Orient foods. Now for anyone who thinks that saying Orient is not PC, well, our dine in menu actually says Oriental on it. Someone once told me it was not PC to do that but I feel that if I am trying to explain what area I am talking about then there's only one way to do that, and by doing so, I am doing it to be respectful. Okay, short rant there, now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
So where was I, good breakfast, yadda yadda yadda. Then we leave and go to a place call Jantar Mantar, which means Science and Measurment. Now, it may sound boring to some of you but once you see the photos and visit the links I post and read what I have to tell you, you are going to wish you could see this place, in person. It was built between 1727 and 1734. You can read more at http://www.jantarmantar.org. There are five different astronomical observatories. To give you an example of how detailed, even back then, it was, one observatory is the largest sun dial in the world. There are other large ones in the world as well but this one is apparently the largest, and it can tell time down to the second. It's amazing to see the markings on the stone, count them and figure out the time without looking at a watch or your cell phone. It was astonishing to see this and in a strange way, comforting and reassuring that if we ever didn't have our technology to lean back on, we still have these ancient creations to help us make it through the days.
Our next stop was the City Palace, which is literally just across the street. We just crossed the street, our guide bought our tickets and we entered through the large wooden gate door. This palace belongs, to this day, to the King of Jaipur, who happens to be 15 years old. His grandfather, the previous reign to the throne, passed away last year. Brigadier Bhawani Singh was the previous King of Jaipur and due to the fact that he only had a daughter, the throne went to his eldest grandson, Padmanabh Singh, at the age of 13 years old. Even though the kings and queens in the world this day, do not rule as they did many years ago, I still could not fathom the idea of being a ruler over a city or even a country for that matter. Could you? You can read more about him and what ensued when he became king. There's always a few that have to make things difficult. http://m.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/26/jaipur-maharaja-padmanabh-singh?cat=world&type=article
Jaipur is known as the Pink City which in Hindi is called Gulabi Sahara. In 1876, Jaipur painted the city pink to welcome Prince Albert and Queen Elizabeth the II. After that, the nickname, Pink City, stuck. I learned so many things as we walked through the City Palace. The car service we used also provided a tour guide who explained meanings and helped walk us through each place as well. It was actually great to have him along. So we walk across the street from Jantar Mantar and to the City Palace. Not far away from there is the smaller palace where the royal family actually resides today. The City Palace is now for tourists, locals and whoever wants to visit and see how glorious it truly is. The architecture is amazing as is in the whole of Jaipur. Even some of the oldest of buildings which do not get the best of care by the locals are still beautiful with their archways, scalloped edges and dome spired tops. I hope some of my photos will show at least some of the beauty that I saw while here, not just at the City Palace but of all of the places of Jaipur that we were fortunate to see.
While at the City Palace you can pay to see a little more and see quite a bit more than the regular ticket gets you. It's not cheap but it's definitely worth it. This gets you a private tour further inside the palace, where you can see things like the dining room, the worship room, which, after you removed your shoes (advise you to wear shoes with socks), you can enter the room and you also get to see the highest viewpoint from the City Palace itself. We were also able to see marvelous original paintings of all the kings who have reigned in the past and photos of todays royal family, including the recently past king, Bhawani Singh. We weren't allowed to take photos in this area so I, sadly, won't have any to show you. One interesting fact that is stuck with me, the queens of the palace were not allowed to be seen by the public but they enjoyed playing polo and being out so there is an area behind the city palace that during the evening or nighttime, they would get the chance to go out and play against the king and other male royals. The ball they used was metal that had a candle inside. This way, they could see the ball at dusk and nighttime. The ball was designed in a way so that the candle would not go out. The thought of that made me smile. Another interesting factoid is that during the meetings with the public, when the king spoke to them of his plans or any other things of importance, the queens would be up in the top part of the palace, hidden behind the decorative weaving of stone of the walls. The queens would be able to see the townspeople and the kings speaking to them, but no one could see them. If the queens were happy with the kings decisions, the queens would clap, letting them know they made a good decision, but if not, the queens would not clap, leaving silence so the kings would know they had made a bad decision. So see, even back then, women knew how to be in charge even when it didn't look like they were.
For the first time, I realized, while visiting the Palace and Forts here in Jaipur, the importance, for the kings, of having multiple wives. It was of utmost importance that the king produced an heir. I'm sure there were plenty of other benefits too, but still, I can see how it helped them to secure their legacy of the royal line. No, I'm not saying the rest of us should start all being poligomists, but I understand why some kings chose to do it this way. Today, the kings here, no longer have multiple wives, out of choice. They only have one. Although Jaipur's current king is still going to school and learning, because he's only 15 years old.
After leaving the Palace, we headed off to find a place eat. The first place our guide took us was so sketchy looking. The last thing we wanted was to get sick on the first day of our vacation. We ended up deciding to change our schedule a bit and we went to the Amber Fort today, instead of tomorrow.
The Amber Fort, there is so much I could try to say to explain how amazing this place looks. I've traveled through many countries and have seen many ancient structures but this one has been, by far, the largest. As you stand in front of the Amber Fort you can see how great it is. It was built in 1592. I can only imagine in my mind how it was then. It is constructed of red sandstone and marble. The fort with it's large ramparts, series of gates and cobbled pathways, overlooks a lake, in the front, below, the Maota Lake. If you stay until 6:30 pm in the evenings, there is a light show. They light different parts of the building as story is told to the people watching. It's somewhat interesting and free to any standing outside the Fort, but beware of an abundance of mosquitos who are ready to feed. Given that the lake is there, this is likely the reason for so many mosquitos. During the day, they are not a problem. Being that Jaipur is so dry and has a good winter, means that mosquitos don't post as big of a problem as it does in more humid climates and jungle areas. Still, doesn't hurt to keep some mosquito repelant on hand.
When first arriving at the Fort, we had lunch there at a restaurant called 1535 AD. I had the Murgh Makhniwalla. It's similar to Chicken Tikka Masala. It's chicken cooked in a tomato spiced curry with yoghurt and butter. The difference between the two, I believe, is the butter. Makhniwalla is more creamy and less spicy in some cases. All I can say it that it was incredible and the best chicken curry dish I have EVER had yet. Vikas had a dish that had paneer stuffed with pistachios, almonds, cottage cheese and fragrant spices to bring out more flavor. Neither of us can remember the name of the dish and he never remembers these things but that's okay because we have a great photo of the dish and the amazing presentation the restaurant gave it.
After our visit to the Fort and waiting for the light show, we were absolutely exhausted. We were ready to head back to our hotel, around 7 pm and have some wonderful dinner. ITC Rajputana has some amazing cuisines. I had something called Gosht Boti Kathi which is two crispy thin Paranthas stuffed with spicy lamb boti with chopped coriander (cilantro), served with fresh onion, cherry tomatoes and lemon wedges. You can even have the parantha made with or without egg so that it can be truly vegetarian. I say vegetarian because the Kathi roll can have other fillings like paneer (cheese). It reminded me a lot of a small burrito. You can see a photo below. Now, let me remind you, this is a high end hotel so eating the fresh onion is okay, but other places, you must be careful. I can not stress this enough to any readers who end up traveling here, in India. It's just the raw veggies you have to be cautious with for the most part. Cooked food is always safer.
That's it for day one in Jaipur. Tomorrow we will visit more places. Until then, I hope you enjoyed the blog today and that it wasn't too long for some of you. If you've read to the end, thank you.
Oh and I almost forgot, cows, pigs, goats, donkeys, dogs and cats. Yes, it's a schmorgishbourg of animals here in Jaipur. Even with all the cute animals (stinky and dirty but still cute). Many of the attractions in Jaipur also have elephant and camel rides. We haven't decided yet if we have time to do that and I hear that camels rides are quite bumpy (not good for a bad back), much more so than elephant rides. There will be many more opportunities to ride elephants at other places we plan to travel to. There is still SO much more to Jaipur and I'm going to share all my experiences with you in two blogs. We will be spending Sunday (today), Monday and Tuesday doing as much as we possibly can to see, photograph and enjoy all of what Jaipur has to offer. Today's blog will be the longest as it is the most we have planned in one day so I hope you will all read to the end. You'll enjoy it, believe me and there will be beautiful photos too.
So we land in Jaipur on Saturday and, wow, immediately we realize just how small the airport is. It's a VERY nice airport but definitely small. It was so quiet in the aiport when we arrived. The reason for that is that we were the only flight that had arrived at that time. All of us on this flight basically had the airport all to ourselves. We go down and get our bags and walk out to see our driver holding up a sign with Vikas' name on it. We got into the car and headed over to our hotel to get checked in and settled. This was all on Saturday. We just took the rest of the day to check out the beautiful hotel and relax.
We had mocktails when we arrived on Saturday.
Vikas' was mainly ginger, lime, and club soda. It was really good.
Vikas may not remember the name of his but mine was called "A Sunday Morning",
which I was having on a Saturday evening. Haha!
Vikas had everything all planned out for Sunday and Monday. I had no idea what I was going to see but I was excited and ready to get started.
Sunday morning we woke and got ready and headed over to the amazing buffet style breakfast that is typical in Indian hotels.It's wonderful! At least at all the hotels that we've been at, it's a great choice and blend of western, Indian, and the Orient foods. Now for anyone who thinks that saying Orient is not PC, well, our dine in menu actually says Oriental on it. Someone once told me it was not PC to do that but I feel that if I am trying to explain what area I am talking about then there's only one way to do that, and by doing so, I am doing it to be respectful. Okay, short rant there, now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
So where was I, good breakfast, yadda yadda yadda. Then we leave and go to a place call Jantar Mantar, which means Science and Measurment. Now, it may sound boring to some of you but once you see the photos and visit the links I post and read what I have to tell you, you are going to wish you could see this place, in person. It was built between 1727 and 1734. You can read more at http://www.jantarmantar.org. There are five different astronomical observatories. To give you an example of how detailed, even back then, it was, one observatory is the largest sun dial in the world. There are other large ones in the world as well but this one is apparently the largest, and it can tell time down to the second. It's amazing to see the markings on the stone, count them and figure out the time without looking at a watch or your cell phone. It was astonishing to see this and in a strange way, comforting and reassuring that if we ever didn't have our technology to lean back on, we still have these ancient creations to help us make it through the days.
This is our guide while in Jaipur. Neither of us can remember his name now. Sorry.
Out on the street between Jantar Mantar and the Palace.
Rickshaw pulled by a bike.
Our next stop was the City Palace, which is literally just across the street. We just crossed the street, our guide bought our tickets and we entered through the large wooden gate door. This palace belongs, to this day, to the King of Jaipur, who happens to be 15 years old. His grandfather, the previous reign to the throne, passed away last year. Brigadier Bhawani Singh was the previous King of Jaipur and due to the fact that he only had a daughter, the throne went to his eldest grandson, Padmanabh Singh, at the age of 13 years old. Even though the kings and queens in the world this day, do not rule as they did many years ago, I still could not fathom the idea of being a ruler over a city or even a country for that matter. Could you? You can read more about him and what ensued when he became king. There's always a few that have to make things difficult. http://m.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/26/jaipur-maharaja-padmanabh-singh?cat=world&type=article
Jaipur is known as the Pink City which in Hindi is called Gulabi Sahara. In 1876, Jaipur painted the city pink to welcome Prince Albert and Queen Elizabeth the II. After that, the nickname, Pink City, stuck. I learned so many things as we walked through the City Palace. The car service we used also provided a tour guide who explained meanings and helped walk us through each place as well. It was actually great to have him along. So we walk across the street from Jantar Mantar and to the City Palace. Not far away from there is the smaller palace where the royal family actually resides today. The City Palace is now for tourists, locals and whoever wants to visit and see how glorious it truly is. The architecture is amazing as is in the whole of Jaipur. Even some of the oldest of buildings which do not get the best of care by the locals are still beautiful with their archways, scalloped edges and dome spired tops. I hope some of my photos will show at least some of the beauty that I saw while here, not just at the City Palace but of all of the places of Jaipur that we were fortunate to see.
While at the City Palace you can pay to see a little more and see quite a bit more than the regular ticket gets you. It's not cheap but it's definitely worth it. This gets you a private tour further inside the palace, where you can see things like the dining room, the worship room, which, after you removed your shoes (advise you to wear shoes with socks), you can enter the room and you also get to see the highest viewpoint from the City Palace itself. We were also able to see marvelous original paintings of all the kings who have reigned in the past and photos of todays royal family, including the recently past king, Bhawani Singh. We weren't allowed to take photos in this area so I, sadly, won't have any to show you. One interesting fact that is stuck with me, the queens of the palace were not allowed to be seen by the public but they enjoyed playing polo and being out so there is an area behind the city palace that during the evening or nighttime, they would get the chance to go out and play against the king and other male royals. The ball they used was metal that had a candle inside. This way, they could see the ball at dusk and nighttime. The ball was designed in a way so that the candle would not go out. The thought of that made me smile. Another interesting factoid is that during the meetings with the public, when the king spoke to them of his plans or any other things of importance, the queens would be up in the top part of the palace, hidden behind the decorative weaving of stone of the walls. The queens would be able to see the townspeople and the kings speaking to them, but no one could see them. If the queens were happy with the kings decisions, the queens would clap, letting them know they made a good decision, but if not, the queens would not clap, leaving silence so the kings would know they had made a bad decision. So see, even back then, women knew how to be in charge even when it didn't look like they were.
Largest silver water carrying container in the world. It's in guinness book of world records.
This would be put on elephant backs for kings to ride.
The covered wagons like this were used by queens so the people could not see them.
They were drawn by horses or camels.
For the first time, I realized, while visiting the Palace and Forts here in Jaipur, the importance, for the kings, of having multiple wives. It was of utmost importance that the king produced an heir. I'm sure there were plenty of other benefits too, but still, I can see how it helped them to secure their legacy of the royal line. No, I'm not saying the rest of us should start all being poligomists, but I understand why some kings chose to do it this way. Today, the kings here, no longer have multiple wives, out of choice. They only have one. Although Jaipur's current king is still going to school and learning, because he's only 15 years old.
After leaving the Palace, we headed off to find a place eat. The first place our guide took us was so sketchy looking. The last thing we wanted was to get sick on the first day of our vacation. We ended up deciding to change our schedule a bit and we went to the Amber Fort today, instead of tomorrow.
The Amber Fort, there is so much I could try to say to explain how amazing this place looks. I've traveled through many countries and have seen many ancient structures but this one has been, by far, the largest. As you stand in front of the Amber Fort you can see how great it is. It was built in 1592. I can only imagine in my mind how it was then. It is constructed of red sandstone and marble. The fort with it's large ramparts, series of gates and cobbled pathways, overlooks a lake, in the front, below, the Maota Lake. If you stay until 6:30 pm in the evenings, there is a light show. They light different parts of the building as story is told to the people watching. It's somewhat interesting and free to any standing outside the Fort, but beware of an abundance of mosquitos who are ready to feed. Given that the lake is there, this is likely the reason for so many mosquitos. During the day, they are not a problem. Being that Jaipur is so dry and has a good winter, means that mosquitos don't post as big of a problem as it does in more humid climates and jungle areas. Still, doesn't hurt to keep some mosquito repelant on hand.
When first arriving at the Fort, we had lunch there at a restaurant called 1535 AD. I had the Murgh Makhniwalla. It's similar to Chicken Tikka Masala. It's chicken cooked in a tomato spiced curry with yoghurt and butter. The difference between the two, I believe, is the butter. Makhniwalla is more creamy and less spicy in some cases. All I can say it that it was incredible and the best chicken curry dish I have EVER had yet. Vikas had a dish that had paneer stuffed with pistachios, almonds, cottage cheese and fragrant spices to bring out more flavor. Neither of us can remember the name of the dish and he never remembers these things but that's okay because we have a great photo of the dish and the amazing presentation the restaurant gave it.
Real silver lotus leaf plate with silver lotus blossom bowls.
The veggies are cut into creative shapes too.
The next photos are all from the Amber Fort.
This is an amazing piece of art.
When you cover parts of the flower and plant, you get different animal shapes.
Scorpion body
Bunny ears
Elephant trunk
Lion tail (you can click on photos to see bigger size)
Elephant ears
Garden at the Amber Fort
This is a mirror on the ceiling under a covering that faces the garden. There are rings that would hold swings there and the queens would be able to look up to check their make-up and hair.
The walkway where the kings would walk within the Fort.
Oh yeh, it is exactly as it seems, the royal flush aka toilet.
Old building outside the Fort.
Fort wall and posts.
This is the device that cuts and polishes gemstones.
Faceted crystal
The stone that is purple looking and looks like a rock, where his middle finger is pointing.
That is an unrefined ruby.
The fort at dusk.
Light show at Fort at dusk.
After our visit to the Fort and waiting for the light show, we were absolutely exhausted. We were ready to head back to our hotel, around 7 pm and have some wonderful dinner. ITC Rajputana has some amazing cuisines. I had something called Gosht Boti Kathi which is two crispy thin Paranthas stuffed with spicy lamb boti with chopped coriander (cilantro), served with fresh onion, cherry tomatoes and lemon wedges. You can even have the parantha made with or without egg so that it can be truly vegetarian. I say vegetarian because the Kathi roll can have other fillings like paneer (cheese). It reminded me a lot of a small burrito. You can see a photo below. Now, let me remind you, this is a high end hotel so eating the fresh onion is okay, but other places, you must be careful. I can not stress this enough to any readers who end up traveling here, in India. It's just the raw veggies you have to be cautious with for the most part. Cooked food is always safer.
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