Jaipur Day 7: City Palace
It’s not hard to see why Jaipur is called the Pink City. The old city is entirely enclosed by a fort made out of pink sandstone. This remarkable city was founded in 1727 and is the first planned city in India. I wish the government would continue that and impose a rule that new buildings carry on the pink sandstone tradition. What a sight that would be!
Jaipur is a lovely city, easy on the eyes and easy to like. Driving around was a pleasure, traffic wasn’t too bad, roads were wide and the buildings were grandiose (cue Albert Hall).
But for today, we decided to take it easy… After a grueling week of heat for the girls, all we wanted to see was a few sights and spend time shopping for gifts. The first stop was Jantar Mantar right across the City Palace, a collection of astronomical clocks and devices that used to belong to the maharajah. Tickets are cheap (Rs.10) but the park is impossible to appreciate without a guide to explain how the devices work. You have to pay a fee for your camera too but trust me, there is nothing to take pictures of. We snuck one in and just had fun with the shots.
Spot the Wong...
Yotch beside Virgo
Wong beside Pisces
Me beside Libra
The City Palace is the real jewel, a part of it is still the home of the current maharajah, though his actual residences are of course, restricted from public access. The palace itself is really lovely, inspiring Yotch to believe she was a maharani in her past life. And the museums are interesting as well, offering a glimpse of the opulent lifestyle the maharajas and their court enjoyed.
The guards are extremely competent, exhibiting a knack for creeping stealthily, undetected and unwanted, right into our pictures. I guess this now-you-see-‘em-now-you-don’t prowess is a useful skill to have as a guard to secure the City Palace.
And he just wouldn't leave!
He's making his way slowly...
Tadah!!
Insider info from Rupma, my ABM who is from Jaipur, proved to be indispensable. Thanks to her, we discovered the best naan of our life at Nykos – fluffy, not too oily and absolutely delicious!!
The rest of the afternoon was spent shopping at Bapu Bazaar where we met a bunch of characters, from the burping salesman to the devious old salesman to the passive-aggressive salesman. We went home lugging boxes of bangles, wonderfully colorful shawls/scarves and a throw for me, a bag for Kenny, 2 matching traditional Indian kurtas for the bwibbers, Rajasthani hand paintings and 4 pairs of Mohori shoes we hadn’t intended to buy at all! Retail therapy at its best, when it’s at its cheapest!
That night, we trooped to Choko Dhani, a representation of a traditional Rajasthani village, constructed mainly for tourists. Still giddy from our afternoon of bargains, we happily tried everything from mehendi to Bollywood-type dancing to Indian vegetarian fare.
About the only thing we didn’t try was the human hamster ferris wheel. Hahaha…
We ended the day with a poignant visit to Mukesh’s home where his entire family warmly welcomed us into their 1-bedroom flat. After a brief tour, he offered us water, explicitly mentioning that it was bottled water, and chai tea. Noticing our mehendi, the sister dabbed our tattoos in sugar water, to help prolong the color. Most of the hour’s visit was spent playing with Lucky, Mukesh’s son, who at 8 months, still could not turn by himself or support his head.
It really was humbling to be so graciously received by a family who did not have much to give. This act of kindness is the most powerful image of India that I take with me from this trip.
posted by moan @ 4:47 PM
1 Comments:
What a lovely blog and very well written and detailed explanation. Lovely pictures!! I think you should put a link of your blog on TA (tripadvisor) on Jaipur forum. Subjected as Jaipur trip report. This could help many travellers.
Thanks
http://thejaipurguide.blogspot.in/
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