Lovely Jaipur!! That is what I can remember about Jaipur after more than a year visiting this city. Iy has everything as far as I concern, I mean, there are many interesting places, the heritage site, good restaurant and nice shopping places for cheap stuffs. The Amber fort is amazing though the horrible heat might be too much to adapt with, and the amazing Hawa Mahal is just as stunning though the bamboo scaffolder covering the whole palace was a little upsetting. I spent the most in this city and bought myself fancy sandel, skirts, colourful umbrella (not to be used in the rain though) and lots of souvenirs.
We started our city trip pretty early in the morning, around 8.30 am. And our first destination was the Amber Fort. To get to the fort, all visitors need to ride an elephant uphill and it was pretty fun. The elephant ride costed Rps 200 per person, and the entrance fee itself is Rps 250 per person. And you have to tip the elephant 'rider' as well. If you don't, they will ask, and if you give too little, they will ask for more. You can either ignore him, or give more. Elephant rides are only available until certain period of time and each elephant has limited number of trips allowed. There was an incident where one of the elephant ran amok after making quite a number of trips ups and down, to and from the fort.
Like any other forts, Amber fort is very unique and really. I can't recall the overall size of the fort. Not all area is accessible, though if one has a lot of time to kill, exploring the underground tunnel may be a good idea. The tunnel leads to the other fort at the upper hill, Jaigarh Fort. I have the feeling that tunnel is spooky, dark and narrow. I think I am beginning to feel claustrophobic.
Amber Fort
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| Magnificient Amber Fort |
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| It was hot, but will be very pleasant during winter |
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| Elephants on duty |
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| Lining up to pick up curious visitors |
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| Nice make up for the elephant |
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| A garden on the lake |
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| My favorite building in Amber Fort. Lovely paintings and decoration@Ganesh Pol entrance |
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| Another area of the fort on the upper hill |
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| Ceiling with pieces of small mirrors and really beautiful decorations |
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| Another masterpiece |
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| Sheesh Mahal |
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| Observation tower, I presume |
Please be reminded not to spend money here yet. Items sold by the street sellers are considerably cheap but will be much cheaper to shop in the town.
Jal Mahal
From Amber Fort to Jaipur city, we stopped by the road just to have a glimpse on a palace built in the middle of a lake, called Jal Mahal. Not sure what was the history, or facts about this palace but Google would definitely be helpful on this.
Jantar Mantar
After a few minutes drive from Jal Mahal, our driver dropped us at Jaipur city and we were on our own since the major attractions are close to each other, and the shopping arcades as well. We did the shopping first before visiting the attractions. I was so tempted with the fancy umbrella (made of embroidered cloth), although some people think it was pretty impractical to buy an umbrella which can't keep you from being wet. But during this mid day, this fancy, colourful umbrella helped a lot in protecting me from the extreme sun ray and I was glad to buy several umbrellas (love the patterns, colours and embroidery).
So we visited Jantar Mantar to get some information on the astronomy. Most of the structures are huge and I thought people in the past was brilliant. The visit to Jantar Mantar, which is the UNESCO World Heritage Site, would be fun if if we can totally understand the function of each structure. There are descriptions written but more on the history of each structure rather then the operational explanation.
We spent quite some times here as there were benches under the trees and we were able to shelter from the extreme sunlight and mid day heat. We haven't had lunch yet so we munched on the tit bits just and drank lots of mineral water to refresh ourselves.
Near Jantar Mantar, there is another attraction, the City Palace, just less than 100 m away. But we were not interested to see merely because of the more expensive entrance fee than Jantar Mantar. And on top of that, we have visited the amazing Amber Fort so we thought it would be less impressive. So we headed to Hawa Mahal. By the way, the entrance fee for Jantar Mantar is Rps 200.
Palace of the Wind (Hawa Mahal)
Hawa Mahal is the most important landmark for Jaipur city. No one will forget this lovely palace whenever visiting Jaipur. But during this visit, I was so disappointed to see those bamboo scaffolders covering the palace. I didn't expect this but seeing the palace had already made me drop my jaw. Entrance fee is Rps 300 but like any other attractions in India (most of them), additional charge is applied to video camera.
After Hawa Mahal, we walked around the bazaar and bought several items before heading back to our room. That was the end of our day in Jaipur.
The Monkey Temple
We left Jaipur around 8.30 am to get to Fatehpur Sikri, and the to Agra. On our way to Fatehpur Sikri, we stopped at a temple, the Monkey Temple, which is 45 minutes from Jaipur city. The temple was interesting and as the name implies, there are a lot of monkeys there, especially at the pool. I think this place is more like a shrine.
The temple was built in between to hills. It was very calm and not many people there. There is no entrance fee but donation is anticipated, though we were charged for Rps 50 for our camera., each Ouchhh....
The monkeys here were not the tame monkeys and they seemed to be very aggressive and fierce. Most probably it was the mating period, or maybe the females protecting their babies. But whatever it was, we didn't want to get involve in this monkey business, so we left the temple in less than 15 minutes.
