The Amber Fort - the kingdom of the Warrior Rajputs

The classic image of India
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There is one undeniable fact about India......it is breathtakingly romantic..

I pondered this as I looked down from the ramparts of the Amber Fort this morning. The mixture of dress, ambience, architecture, light, music and terrain add up to make an intoxicating mix that is both seductive and overpowering. In fact apart from a few Pepsi advertisements there is very little non-Indian culture here. Their culture is so strong everything else is simply overcome. I brought William Dalyrmples 'Age of Kali' with me but the references were so close to home I abandoned to for something more distracting.

I stepped inside the cool marble interior. The focus was many armed goddess - an aspect of the goddess Kali. I thought the Amber Fort looked like something out of Indiana Jones and the temple of Doom. This just confirms it.

The magnificent Amber Fort
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Today was the quickest sightseeing trip I have ever experienced. We were up and out by 9.00am in an attempt to avoid the pre-monsoon heat.To the north of the city the Aravalli hills close in and each one is dotted with forts and ramparts with the most spectacular being the Amber Fort. The Fort is a masterpiece and stretches along the summit of a mountain overlooking a blue lake. High sandy walls hide cupolas, domes, turrets, crenellations and a long winding road leading down to Moata lake where elephants bath.

Elephants in the great courtyard
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As we rolled into Amber village the hawkers and touts jumped to life. We moved to a jeep which would take us up to the fort and between the van and the jeep I was targeted for the hard sell. A child hat sellar climbed in the jeep with me and stuck it under my nose. I then lost it with a small child. "Get out of the bloody jeep!" I yelled. Suresh just grinned.

Then it was overtaking elephants with tourists on their backs up the winding road to the fort and through the great gate to the main courtyard. Ramparts run around the edge and to the west steps lead up to Maharajahs pavilions. I went up to the Shila Mata temple and after leaving them with a wizened turbaned doorman I stepped inside the cool marble interior. The focus was many armed goddess - an aspect of the goddess Kali. I thought the Amber Fort looked like something out of Indiana Jones and the temple of Doom. This just confirms it.

The Maharajah Pavilions overlooking the valley were designed to catch the cool breezes and the Sheesh Mahal glittered as it was inlaid with a thousand pieces of inlaid glass. Each of the hallways and passageways was inlaid with gold or silver. Jas Mandir was the most entertaining. In a darkened room an old man lights a taper and waves it in the dark.It catches the shiny walls and glitters and glows in the darkness.

Amber Fort is fantasy India and, for me, worth the airfare on its own. Down in Amber village the same small child targeted me once more.I noticed a tourist policeman employed to prevent such things but he was sitting on his haunches chatting with nearby traders.

The day wasnt over yet and I was taken to a carpet shop. I'm pretty resistant to the hard sell but got shown how they were made and to my astonishment there were 10 year old boys working the loom peddles with their feet.

Too much - time to go back to the hotel.