Day 21 and Day 22 – Jaipur, The Pink City
Day 20 – Friday 15/11/2013 to Day 22 – Monday 17/11/2013
It’s Friday evening 4:30 pm. Khyati and I are waiting to board our Jaisalmer – Jaipur train. We are standing outside B2 – our 3 Tier AC coach and we see a group of 40 odd kids waiting to board that same train. They are shouting, running around, making fun and their teachers are struggling to have them under control. We want to change our seats to a more silent coach, I mumble.
Train route to Jaipur
The train takes off on time. No sooner have the kids settled, they make the passage way of the compartment their school corridor and are running continuously. We warn few kids that they might trip over but none seem to care. Well, we join in the fun and along with our co passengers, play a few games.
It’s Saturday morning 5 am and the train pulls into Jaipur station. We head to our Jain Dharamshala in an auto rickshaw. Near the railway station, there is a mega project to build a Metro subway and you can see workers at work that early in the morning. We were surprised.
We check into our room by 6 am and decide to rest for a while. Post breakfast at the Bhojanshala, we head to tour the city. Some of the city attractions are within walking distance from our stay and we walk towards Albert Hall Museum. Jaipur is very tourist friendly and one of the impressive things is that they have a combined ticket for entry to 5 of their main attractions for a meagre price of Rs 70. Plus, they do not charge any extra camera usage fees unlike some of the other forts we visited in Rajasthan.
Albert Hall Museum has a cocktail collection of various artifacts, paintings from all over the world. It was an impressive collection.
Albert Hall museum inside view
Albert Hall – outside view
From there, we head to Jantar Mantar. It’s set in a sprawling campus and consists of architectural astronomical instruments. We follow a guide who explains us the nitty gritty details of these instruments.
Miniature astronomical instrument
We decide to visit Hawa Mahal next. It’s 4:30 pm and we have another half hour before the museum closes. Well, we had more than half an hour because the entry closes at 5 pm but for visitors already inside, we could stay till 6 pm. Hawa Mahal consists of 5 floors and each floor had it’s own speciality. We marvel at the carvings and views of the city from the top.
in Hawa Mahal
Hawa Mahal – top view
It’s 6:15 pm and we walk back to our Dharamshala. Enroute, we see Jaipur’s local market. We have some traditional Rajasthani Thali dinner at a local restaurant.
It’s 8 pm and we are back at our room and decide to stay indoors for the rest of the evening. Khyati and I catch up on our writing and call it a night around 10 pm.
It’s Sunday today and a day of relaxation, shouldn’t it be? Well, all our days during this India tour are a Sunday and we were relaxing in the beautiful pink city. It’s 10 am and we take a walk towards the Jaipur cricket stadium – Sawai ManSingh stadium hoping to see it from inside. Unfortunately, Indian stadiums are not available for public viewing on non match days and all we got to see is a stern security guard denying us entry. We plead a few times but he says his hands are tied and if he is caught allowing us entry, his job might be at risk. We leave that place and head next to Amer Fort and Amber Palace. It’s around 15 kms north of Jaipur. Amer used to be the capital until the king decided he needed a bigger city and made Jaipur it’s capital. Amer fort is situated near Mathao Lake and is a nice climb up the hill. There are elephants which ply the distance from the foot of the hill to the gate entrance.
Amer Fort
Ganesh painting
We wanted to get an audio guide but there was a queue for English audio guides and we decide to skip it. In the palace, we request a security guard to take a picture of us. He asks us where we are from and we tell him – Mumbai. His eyes glitter and he is eager to share something. He mentions that he is a big big fan of Akshay Kumar – a popular Bollywood Actor and would love a chance to meet him. He hopes that I might have a connection and can help him meet with Akshay Kumar. Khyati and I share a laugh and explain to him that his chances of meeting him are highly unlikely because such big celebrities don’t roam the streets of Mumbai freely. Gyarsi lal – the security guard is undeterred. His only aim is that. He tells us that he has mastered Martial Arts and is a big dance expert. We are standing in awe hearing his story. I offer him my best help which is to post his picture on the web and my blog. If Akshay Kumar stumbles upon my blog, please note that Gyarsi Lal is your biggest fan from Jaipur and he is eager to meet you and shake your hand. hehe!
Gyarsi Lal – Akshay Kumar’s biggest fan
In return, Gyarsi Lal offers us a free guided tour of Amber Palace. Being a security guard, we were getting an escorted tour and we felt like a celebrity. Tourists and guides wondered how come a security guard was showing us around and were bewildered. Khyati and I were enjoying our moments of glory.
At Amer Fort
It’s 5:30 pm and after witnessing a wonderful sunset, we head back to Jaipur city. We eat some Subway on the way back to the Dharamshala and call it a night early. We have an early morning train to catch for Bharatpur.
Thanks all for your reading and comments.
Best wishes,
Paras