Jaipur is a city in the state of Rajasthan. You may not have heard of Rajasthan, but you've definitely heard about it. This state is what we Americans often view as the "typical" India. It is the deserts, the camels, and the snake charmers, and the beautiful colors that we see on TV and in movies. It is also home to the three "colorful" cities of Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Udaipur (pink, blue, and white, respectively). We saw the pink and the blue city on this journey but will sadly have to miss the white one. Maybe next time...
Friday we were in Jaipur, the largest city in the state of Rajasthan, with a population of nearly four million (although that's nothing compared to Delhi's 13 million or Mumbai's 16 million). The city is not quite pink, but more of a soft, burnt orange, the color of the sandstone used to erect the buildings of the old city.
There are tons of sites there, and we had to move fast in 110-degree heat to hit them all. Our driver for the day, Raj, was so sweet to us, taking us everywhere we wanted to go and throwing some of his favorites in too! We started at a place called City Palace, which is now mostly a museum but also still houses the royal family of Jaipur. They no longer have any power, but they still have an awful lot of money; well, I guess that means they still have power too.
We walked around there for a little while, then headed right across the street to Jantar Mantar. This is a medieval observatory. Built between 1728 and 1734, it is beautifully preserved but looks more like something out of a science-fiction movie than anything truly functional. We learned, though, that some of the instruments are still used today!
Jaipur is a city I've been to before, and Jantar Mantar was one of my favorite sites. It was so cool to share this wonderfully intriguing place with someone I love. It was so neat to watch him looking around with wonder in his eyes, the same way I'm sure I did five years ago. But it was twice as hot there as it was "cool," so on we went.
Our next stop, Gaitor, was Raj's pick. This was not a place I'd heard of before, but Brandon and I were both really glad Raj took us there. It is a walled garden that houses these gorgeous marble structures that have been erected over cremation platforms. The royalty of Jaipur was once cremated right here!
We were the only people visiting the site, and it was wonderful to share a few moments that belonged to just the two of us before we went on to the Amber Fort - most popular stop in Jaipur.
All of these Rajasthani cities used to be small kingdoms, and many of them have impressive forts that were used for protection, as well as housing for the royalty. The Amber Fort will probably go down as the most impressive fort we see on this trip (although the one in Jodhpur - see below - does give it a run for its money). The thing about the Amber Fort, though, is that you truly appreciate it when you get there, because you most likely walked up a mighty steep hill to reach it. Oh, and you did that in 110-degree heat, by the way!
It's also quite an experience because you are free to explore wherever you want to. There are no roped paths to follow or "Do Not Enter" signs to heed. You just go through one doorway and decide which way to turn. Then you do it again, and again, and again. And just when you think you've gotten yourself lost, there's that first door you walked through!
Who knows how long we played in the fort. We were having such a ball! Finally, though, we were just too hot and too tired to go on. Down the steep hill we went, and as we looked for Raj, we also found some orange "ice candy," otherwise known as as popsicle! That's just what we needed!
Raj picked us up and took us on our way. We had one more quick stop before we were going to call it a day. Jal Mahal is not a place you can actually visit, but it's quite the photo op! Built in 1799, it is literally a floating palace. I can't say much else about it except that it makes for a gorgeous picture!
So after that, we paid Raj. We took down his name and number too, in case anyone we know ever plans a trip to Jaipur. Raj will come with our highest recommendation. Except for his last piece of advice to us, which was to go eat dinner and watch the sunset at Nahargarh Fort, "just a little way up the hill."
It was six pm, and our train didn't leave till one in the morning, so we took the advice and went on our way alone.
It turned out that, "just a little way up the hill" was an hour-long walk (and it's still 110 degrees, remember; plus we have our backpacks with us) up a steep, winding incline that ends about 1200 vertical feet later. Several times, we stopped to wonder if a) this restaurant was really going to be up there and b) if it was even worth finding out. But we had nothing else to do, so we just kept walking and sweating. And wouldn't you know it, we made it to the top. We walked quite a ways further, and just as we were about to give up hope of finding this place, we spotted it. And it really was a little restaurant at the top of a mountain. Better yet, it had ice-cold Kingfisher just waiting to be drunk.
So we sat down, we cooled off, and we ordered up some cold beer and hot food. And then we just rested and enjoyed ourselves, up there on that mountain, as we watched the world go by below us. The city of Jaipur goes on forever; you just cannot see the end of it. But just below our seat on our mountain was a clearing in the rocky sand that is Jaipur's landscape. And in that clearing, little boys and their fathers were playing a friendly game of cricket. We watched them for quite some time, and then their mothers called them in for supper.
The night grew dark, and we decided to make our way down the mountain. We'd had several hours to rest and replenish our energy, and now we just had to make it onto our train, where we would spend the night. The problem was, it had been light out when we walked up the mountain, and as we tried to make our descent, we weren't quite sure what direction to go. At one point we turned left and walked for about 20 minutes without seeing any landmarks. It finally occurred to us that we'd turned the wrong way. So we walked 20 minutes back and were finally on the right course. An hour or so later, we were at the train station.
When we boarded the train, a little boy was already asleep in Brandon's middle bunk. He graciously took the top, but he really regretted it. There is no window up there, and the fan does absolutely no good. I don't think he slept a wink, but just lay there sweating and praying for morning. I slept fine; I always kind of liked India's overnight trains, but poor Brandon had not had a good first experience. (Fortunately, we only have to do that one more time!)
This morning we arrived at the station in Jodhpur just after seven. This was a new city for me, and despite the short night, I was incredibly excited. Even though it was really early, we took a rickshaw to our hotel, where they were gracious enough to let us into our room well before check-in time. Thank goodness, though, because we were able to shower, change, and eat a decent breakfast before we went out exploring for one more day.
Jodhpur is a neat place, but there isn't as much to see here as there was in Jaipur. We really only spend the morning exploring the blue city. We went to Mehrangarh Fort, which was not as pretty as the Amber Fort in Jaipur, but was every bit as impressive in size. Much of this fort has also been made into a museum, so we wandered around, taking in everything from a weapon collection to a room full of intricately painted cradles for royal babies to a hall of palanquins - the large "chairs" that the royalty sit in as they ride along on the backs of elephants! What a cool place.
After a bit of shopping, we went to Umaid Bhawan Palace, which the maharaja of Jodhpur still calls home. Much of the palace has been turned into an overpriced hotel, but some of it remains a museum. Honestly, the tour left a bit to be desired, but the palace itself is gorgeous.
Now, we are back at our hotel - a lovely, restful place with beautiful gardens, a pool, and a bar. After our sight-seeing we went in search of samosas and found the largest, most beautiful samosas we have ever seen. We are going to enjoy those, along with some Kingfisher, as we lounge in the pool. We definitely need a rest. We've had two jam-packed days, and we leave for Pushkar bright and early in the morning.
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