Jaipur

The Pink City
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Day 23: Woke up at 0500 (groan). We caught an autorickshaw to Agra Fort train station. Arrived to find that the train was running late, so instead of 0610, it finally departed Agra at 0845. We stood around chatting to some Belgiums and an America, so at least the time didn't drag too much. We had a quiet journey, with plenty of space and chatted to an Indian couple next to us who gave us some tips for restaurants. Pulled into Jaipur and hardly got off the train before we were hassled about rickshaws. We went to the prepaid booth who took us to the Pearl Palace Hotel, where we found that after receiving 3 emails from them, we didn't have a confirmed reservation. The rickshaw driver took us to a couple of places, but they were either full or expensive. We went to The Sunder Palace (recommended by the Hotel in Agra) which looked nice but was full, but recommended the Atithi, who had a vacancy. We had a drink on the terrace and had an early dinner as it has been another long day. Tomorrow, Khan (rickshaw driver) is taking us to Amber Fort.

Tracy sitting in the Peacock doorway at the Royal Palace
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Day 24: Khan had picked up Richard & Paula, so we decided to share his rickshaw with them and visit the city sights. Central Museum, decided not to go in, although the architecture was fascinating, the complexity was interspersed with friezes from Egypt and China; if we kept looking, I am sure we would have found more. Iswari Minar Swarga Sal. Very steep climb, but it was worth the panoramic view of the city. Jantar Mantar. Was very interesting but will come back tomorrow and get a guide as there is a lot to see and it was hard to work out. City Palace and visited the museums. They were setting up for a wedding in the Diwan-i-Khas which was fascinating to watch. The city palace etc is painted pink - but at least they all use the same colour pink and it is maintained, probably because the royal family still live within the palace confines Royal Gaitor via some very dodgy roads. The cenotaphs were amazing with some of the most delicate carving we have seen. The guide was fascinated by Australian divorce laws as he is apparently not happy. Hawa Mahal (Palace of Winds), it was quite run down with lots of graffiti - but you could see what it must have been like for women back then - not a life for me. We called it a day on the sightseeing and heading out to the Natraj Restaurant as we were starving.

Jantar Mantar was the highlight, but most other sites were very run-down.

Tracy at the Hawah Mahal
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Day 25: Had a lovely shower this morning - for some reason we only get water and good pressure in the morning, but I am not complaining. I have no idea why getting hot water here is so hard. There was no phone service outside of Jaipur available in the hotel, so we headed across the road where there was, and booked accommodation in Bundi. We met the most annoying and complaining Brit - thought our hotel was too noisy!! We got a rickshaw to the bus station and booked our tickets to Bundi, so we are all set for spending New Year there. We went back to Jantar Mantar and hired a guide who explained how everything worked, it is amazing how much they knew back then. Scott was in his element. The noise is quite deafening so we tried to stick to the bazaars. We bought some namkins from the Old Palace Bazaars, where the shopkeepers let me try everything so I could pick out what I liked. Scott hovered across the road scowling - he is not a happy bunny today - the noise is getting to him. We continued walking and came across this complete maze of tiny sari shops (Bapu Bazaar) - it was so bright and colourful, there was a huge range of materials right up to the most intricately beaded ones. We headed to LMB (recommended by the Indians on the train) and had lunch, just beating the massive queues. It was very nice and was packed with Indian families. We wandered back along some more bazaars and I got some sandals and two scarves and we made it back to the hotel, without asking directions or taking a wrong turn. Had a cold beer and tea to revive ourselves.

Hawah Mahal
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Day 26: We had Khan's father as the driver to Amber Fort today. The fort was set in the perfect position and surrounded by hills. Inside the Fort they are doing restoration works, but that means there isn't a lot to see. We decided to get a guide and looked for another couple of split the bill with. Scott started talking to another couple David & Joanne who had already booked a guide but asked us to join them and do the tour. This is one of the few palaces/forts where we have seen an actual fountain working. There wasn't heaps to see, although what we did was nicely restored and the guide was relatively helpful. We made tentative arrangements with David & Joanne to meet for dinner and drinks later tonight at the Om Tower. We had the driver drop us at Tripolia Bazaar and wandered around and bought some tops wear out. We also found the Nehru Bazaar but that wasn't as good as the Bapu Bazaar. We finally tracked down Maniharon ka Rasta but none of the bangles were what I was after for Stephanie and Adelaide. We caught a rickshaw to Dasaprakash and Scott had a snack. We headed back to the Atithi to sort out the bill and sat on the rooftop terrace catching some sun. We had drinks and dinner at OM Restaurant and got back home at 2220, probably our latest night in India - how sad are we!