The Trinational Adventure: Part 2 - Jaipur

- April 22-23, 2011, Friday-Saturday.

- I was excited for out trip to Jaipur on the morning of Black Friday, because I would be my first time to visit a desert area. Since I was not able to do my shopping in Delhi, I wanted to make sure that I would do some shopping there, since I heard from people that stuff in Jaipur are cheaper than the ones sold in urban areas like Delhi.

- The drive to Jaipur was longggggggggg, since we even had to pass through Haryana, a state of India, before reaching the state of Rajasthan, Jaipur being its capital. However, our driver Keshar (really tempted to type Ke$har. HAHA.) was good-humored and witty, so he pointed out many many small things along the road, or chatted with me in Hinglish (Hindi + English, sort of like Taglish, but Hindi instead of Tagalog.) He, along with ALL the Indians I've spoken to, were surprised to know that I spoke (little) Hindi.

Plenty of cows in India.

Camel.

Monkeys.

Some were on the trees.

Tiny birds risking their lives.

Indian trucks are very colorful, like how the jeepneys are in Manila.

- Upon reaching Jaipur, we had a quick lunch at our hotel, Le Meridien, before having an introductory/preview sightseeing trip in Jaipur, aka the pink city. We met our tour guide soon, and went to another place where they make carpets. I do appreciate that each step of making carpets was shown in the carpet-making place, but we got tired of carpets in Delhi; carpets bring us bad memories. We talked to the guide that we weren't interested in seeing carpets anymore, and we'd rather let him take us to a local market place (bazaar) where we could shop for souvenirs. He later brought us to a marketplace, but it was a place where stores sold daily needs rather than souvenirs. I talked to the guide again, and he took us to a government-funded souvenir place, FINALLY. Still, I realized during my short stroll in the local marketplace that animals indeed lived among the people of India, and I'm not talking about cows or dogs only. In Jaipur, goats, wild pigs, and camels also walk among cars and people!!

Bought this on the way to Jaipur.

Our hotel.

Jal Mahal; the palace is on a 16th century man-made lake. 

Traditional Rajasthani block-print.

Traditional weaving.

The streets of Jaipur.

- We arrived at the souvenir place when the sun was just about to set. The souvenir place sold stuff a bit higher than people would sell outside, but the prices were still inexpensive. Since we were going to buy many things there, we accepted their offer after asking us if we wanted anything to drink. Big souvenir places or cottage industry places give free drinks to people, but we only accepted their offers in places where we would actually buy something. In this case, my mom and I had some local Indian tea. My goodness, it was the best tea I've ever tasted. It tasted just like lemon/lime iced tea, but it's hot, and the ingredients were fresh. I would know because I squeezed the lime myself.

Got this kurta.

My mom with a sari.

- After being satisfied with shopping, we all went back to our hotel, ate dinner and rested. My mom and I were even able to witness a small cultural show from our balcony. (The dancers and the small small makeshift bazaar in the hotel were opposite our side of the hotel.)

 

View from our room.

Le Meridien Jaipur.

- The following day was the real deal. A whole day of Jaipur's history, culture, art, and science. We first visited the Amber Fort, which looked a bit like China's Great Wall from afar. Since the fort proper was situated on top of a hill, the only way (or the best way rather) to go up was to ride an elephant. The elephant ride was really safe, and it was the first time that I've ridden on an elephant under the Indian sun.

Colored elephants.

View of Jaigarh Fort while I'm seated on my elephant. 

Pooping elephant.

Walls of the Amber Fort behind me.

It was a long way up. 

Just got in.

Our grand entrance.

Thank you for keeping us safe.

Amber Fort courtyard.

Everything's yellow!!

Entrance to the palace.

There's where we came in.

- The Amber Fort was really really huge. The buildings were made with many small passageways. I think that aside from the intricate carvings and carefully-placed colors, the ancient "spa" (Turkish bath) impressed me the most. The palace of mirrors, the garden irrigation system, and the ancient "cooling system" (through the use of marble floors/walls, and supposedly-flowing water) also made me respect ancient people more.

Photoshoot.

Most structures in the Amber Fort are yellow, but sometimes enhanced with some reds, and greens.

The main hall.

Another photoshoot.

Again, traditional Mughal arches.

Former Turkish-style bath.

They are not just painted, but they're 3-D and painted!!

Palace Gardener.

Halls of the Amber Fort.

Sheesh Mahal: Palace of Mirrors.

As suggested by our tour guide.

Water mill.

If only my house can look like this!!

On top of the world.

There's a Ganesh painting beside my head.

- On the way to lunch, we had a short short photo stop at Jal Mahal, the palace situated in the middle of a man-made lake. Lakes in Jaipur were all man-made, since the city is found in the middle of a desert. We were told that the water in these lakes were "imported" from the icy Himalayan mountain range. Come to think of it, Jaipur is not only a city in the middle of a desert, but it's in the middle of nowhere. Also, both the Amber Fort and the Jal Mahal are yellow in color, despite being in the PINK city, was because they were made during the Surya (Sun) Dynasty, so the material used to build these buildings was yellow.

The streets of Jaipur. 

Jal Mahal.

Behold its man-made wonder.

Some aquatic birds.

Oh look a cow!!

Our lunch.

- Instead of going back to the hotel for lunch, we had a Rajasthani thali (an Indian platter) meal. However, there might have been a slight miscommunication between the Indian agency and the Manilan travel agency, and we had to pay for our lunch. We told our guide that we were supposed to go back to the hotel for lunch, as said in our itinerary, so our guide panicked and ringed the agency. However, the agency refused to pay for out lunch. Still, we all thought that the Rajasthani thali meal was a good way to know the local culture more. It was also my first thali meal, and I was fortunate to have experienced that in India.

- After lunch, we went to the City Palace of Jaipur, where we witnessed the open area of the Rajasthani Palace, as well as the residential place of the Rajasthani royalty. (The royal family is just an icon rather than a political figure.)

I like the design.

Snake charmer.

With the palace behind.

One of the members of the royal family just passed away, and therefore, the half-mast flag..

One of the largest silver pots in the world.

Now it's reddish-pinkish like most of Jaipur - "The Pink City."

The inner courtyard has four distinct gates, each representing the four seasons.

Shiva trishula.

The palace from the front.

The details are not just painted - they're 3-D too.

Each lotus is embossed.

Hall in silver.

- Just beside the palace was the ancient observatory, Jantar Mantar. The tools and calculators used inside the Jantar Mantar were exact, so much so that the Jantar Mantar was listed in the Guiness Books of World Records as the most accurate observatory.

One of the biggest and most accurate collections of sundials and other time-measuring tools.

An actual sundial.

My sign.

- Before going back to the hotel, we had a photo stop at the Palace of Winds, locally known as "Hawa Mahal." It's funny how the Hawa Mahal, a five-storey building, looks SO HUGE in photographs (search for "Hawa Mahal" in Google Images,) but it's sooooo small when seen actually. Too bad my camera ran out of juice, but at least my Corby's camera did a nice job filling in for my camera.

Hawa Mahal.

- Back at the hotel, my mom and I had the luxury of resting earlier, since we got back at the hotel around half an hour before sunset. (Then again, the sunset in India this time of the year is almost 7pm.) We had to fix our things again for another long car trip to Agra, the land of the Taj Mahal.

Our hotel's way of welcoming us, again.