Weekend in Jaipur- Day 1
After a month and a half in Delhi, we were all overdue for some historic sightseeing. We went to Jaipur, and old city about 5 hours from Delhi. It was nice seeing farmland and mountains again after being in the concrete maze of Delhi for so long.
Five of us rented a car and driver for the weekend- me, Bryan, Soraya, Hassan, and Eric. We got up early Saturday morning (well I was last up, but it was still way too early) and got on the road to Jaipur. Fortunately there wasn't much traffic at that time of day.
Jaipur- known as the pink city for the color many of its buildings downtown were painted centuries ago to impress some visiting VIP- is a popular destination because of the old forts and palaces it contains, and also for the shopping in the large downtown bazaar.
One of the first places we stopped by was this museum. We admired the architecture but didn't go in for long, as we wanted to experience one of the forts.
This is a view of Jaipur with one of the many forts in the background. The gate in the middle of the picture is the "pink" that much of the city is painted. I'm not sure what I'd call the color.
We saw this camel on the way to the forts. The old driver yelled at us to give him money for taking a photograph of his camel. I said, "We're in a car and you're on a camel, come get us then if you want us to pay you." You get used to demands for money here, especially when you travel. It's often demanded as if it's owed to them, and you are the one at fault for not giving what sum is asked of you. I usually ignore such things, but the more it happens the ruder I've found myself responding. Being seen as a walking dollar sign gets old fast, and one of the biggest hassles of travelling is that no matter where you are or when, someone is trying to get money from you.
This palace sits in the middle of a lake. At first I thought it to be built on an island, but actually it was built when the land was dry, and subsequently it flooded. Would have been really interesting to have been able to take a boat to the palace and explore, but no such option is available.
Me and Soraya at one of the forts.
Me and Bryan on top of Amber Fort.
Me and Hassan at Amber Fort. Behind us is a large wall of inlaid mirrors and tiles.
Soraya and me at the rooftop club at our hotel. It doesn't look very interesting from the picture, but it was a cool place. The ceiling was open to the stars overhead, and burning fires kept us warm. That, and the flaming Sambuca shots.
After a month and a half in Delhi, we were all overdue for some historic sightseeing. We went to Jaipur, and old city about 5 hours from Delhi. It was nice seeing farmland and mountains again after being in the concrete maze of Delhi for so long.
Five of us rented a car and driver for the weekend- me, Bryan, Soraya, Hassan, and Eric. We got up early Saturday morning (well I was last up, but it was still way too early) and got on the road to Jaipur. Fortunately there wasn't much traffic at that time of day.
Jaipur- known as the pink city for the color many of its buildings downtown were painted centuries ago to impress some visiting VIP- is a popular destination because of the old forts and palaces it contains, and also for the shopping in the large downtown bazaar.
One of the first places we stopped by was this museum. We admired the architecture but didn't go in for long, as we wanted to experience one of the forts.
This is a view of Jaipur with one of the many forts in the background. The gate in the middle of the picture is the "pink" that much of the city is painted. I'm not sure what I'd call the color.
We saw this camel on the way to the forts. The old driver yelled at us to give him money for taking a photograph of his camel. I said, "We're in a car and you're on a camel, come get us then if you want us to pay you." You get used to demands for money here, especially when you travel. It's often demanded as if it's owed to them, and you are the one at fault for not giving what sum is asked of you. I usually ignore such things, but the more it happens the ruder I've found myself responding. Being seen as a walking dollar sign gets old fast, and one of the biggest hassles of travelling is that no matter where you are or when, someone is trying to get money from you.
This palace sits in the middle of a lake. At first I thought it to be built on an island, but actually it was built when the land was dry, and subsequently it flooded. Would have been really interesting to have been able to take a boat to the palace and explore, but no such option is available.
Me and Soraya at one of the forts.
Me and Bryan on top of Amber Fort.
Me and Hassan at Amber Fort. Behind us is a large wall of inlaid mirrors and tiles.
Soraya and me at the rooftop club at our hotel. It doesn't look very interesting from the picture, but it was a cool place. The ceiling was open to the stars overhead, and burning fires kept us warm. That, and the flaming Sambuca shots.
posted by Jason at 4:45 PM
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