Jaipur, The Pink City

Monkeys
see all photos »

Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan and the home of 3.2 million people – it is also known as the Pink City. We arrived here by car and first visited a temple called Galta & Surya Mandir, or now commonly called The Monkey Temple.

We really enjoyed this deserted city in the mountains. Once a beautifully painted small city with elegant buildings it has now been  inhabited by cheeky monkeys that play all day in the swimming pools and climb in the trees and buildings.

Monkey Temple
see all photos »

It was incrediable to see so many monkeys, just monkeying around – some of them have even learned to do head fist service dives and swim under water. The y like to jump from the top of the walls in to the water and make huge splashes and push each other in the water. There are even some people who like to swim with the monkeys but you have to be careful because other monkeys will steal your shoes. Our shoes stayed firmly on our feet because the water was a little dirty.

View from a Palace
see all photos »

The next day we visited The City Palace which is home to the King of Rajasthan who is called The Maharaja. The old city is divided in to a grid system where trades specialize in certain districts and all of the buildings are painted pink – hence the name The Pink City.

Part of the Old Fort
see all photos »

We also visited two forts, The Amber Fort and the Tiger fort. The Amber Fort holds a huge gun that has been used jus once and is said to have fired its cannon a huge 22 miles – what do you think? The Tiger fort was used by the Maharaja as a hunting lodge in the past.