We spent a long weekend in Jaipur ostensibly for Buddy’s daughter’s birthday (the big First Birthday in India… like a Bar Mitzvah for a baby) but also to check out the “Pink City” because, well, why not. It’s a point on the Golden Triangle after all. And Buddy’s hometown.
Buddy helped us figure out the train schedule and what was available, then he booked tickets for us for our first Indian Train Experience. I think a lot of trains, especially during school’s summer break starting in May, are booked months in advance, but he was able to get us seats in the air conditioned car with just a week’s notice except for the return trip Sunday night. So we opted for a different style train on Sunday morning instead. One way for one person for the four-and-a-half-hour journey cost about $10. And included breakfast. Can’t beat that.
Catching the 6:05am Shatabdi Express
(Advice: sometimes, it is good not to tune out those background announcements… because you might find out that the platform your train is actually on is contrary to what the sign at the front said)
The “veg” breakfast included some kind of potato kebab, mango juice, some thin slices of bland bread, and some butter.
The non-veg version just replaced the potato thing with an omelet.
This train, the Shatabdi Express is the second fastest train in India, second only to the even more prestigious Rajdhani Express. I thought it was a bit run down and the seats were close together, but it was nice enough and the air conditioning worked perfectly. Most of the seats were taken, but no one clogged up the aisles or anything (like I’ve heard they do in other train types / classes. I just read in the Wiki article I linked to that the reason is that no “unreserved” tickets are sold for Shatabdi trains.) We received a bottle of water – “India Rail” brand – a newspaper and hot tea almost right away. Then we were served breakfast, though it took some prodding for them to bring the “non-veg” breakfast out. I think they had forgotten about it. But they were using plastic gloves! That made me so happy. The cutlery (real silverware) was wrapped up nicely as well. Only the straw wasn’t wrapped. Not bad, India Rail!
The landscape was mostly grasslands punctuated by several trees and the occasional hill. Near towns, though, it was less fun to look out the window because the railroad tracks are apparently the preferred location for doing your duty. Those guys did not seem to mind that the entire train could see them. Toilets per capita in India I’m sure is a low number indeed.
Because our co-worker Buddy is awesome, he picked us up from the railway station. (One beggar outside touched me on the arm, ew. I’m starting to become used to the begging but I do NOT like being touched anywhere on my person. I probably overreacted with my “Don’t touch me, don’t touch me!”, but whatever.) And since Buddy’s amazing awesomeness was unending, he actually lent us his car and driver for the ENTIRE day and night. Whoa. The hotel we found using a combination of Buddy’s recommendations and MakeMyTrip.com’s reservations was a ten minute walk (and a five-minute drive due to oddly-organized roads) from the station and oh, the luxury of a five-star hotel. I think we only paid $50/night using MakeMyTrip but seems like it should have been more. Everything was so clean. So clean, that it almost seemed like I could drink or brush my teeth from the tap water. But I didn’t.
Country Inn
Because we were due for a splurge
After checking in and dropping off our luggage, we headed out. One of Buddy’s recommended places to see was close by and immediately stood out to us from the car because of its nifty architecture. The Albert Hall. We may have went into its museum if we had realized the price we saw was for a Composite Ticket (that included most of the sites around Jaipur) and not just for this single museum. We were balking (for some reason) at 7 bucks. At our next stop, we got the Composite Ticket that included Albert Hall for the same price, but never made it back there to see the museum. So we just had fun taking photos instead.
The Albert Hall
(I did not count all the holes.)
My favorite part about Jaipur was the Old Walled City in the middle. This is the “cute town center” I had looked for, but failed to find, in Aurangabad, which had led me to wonder of its existence outside Delhi at all. But wonder no longer! This fits the bill exactly. We had to drive through a pretty arch within the wall – there is really a wall – to reach the old town and once we got in, it was quite charming!
Jaipur Old City Area
(The Pinkish City)
Jaipur is called “The Pink City” but if it is because of the color of the walls here, I might have gone with The Orangish Adobe Rust City or The Burnt Umber City. I would have liked to spend more time wandering around in this area, up and down the streets, checking out the markets and enjoying the atmosphere. However, I settled for the view from our air conditioned vehicle.
Take a drive through Jaipur’s old city
Our vehicle and patient driver made his way right smack in the middle of all the pink to the place you see if you do a Google Image search for Jaipur. It is called the Hawa Mahal. And that famous beehive view of the front… was covered in scaffolding. Of course. Luckily, the inside was open. And awesome.
The facade and beyond at the Hawa Mahal
We found the entrance leading through an alley with gift shops to a road in the rear, following hand-written signs to a little ticket booth and door in the back. There may have been an easier way, one with less gift shops, but it was not immediately obvious.
Hawa Mahal is the kind of temple I like. Lots of nooks and crannies, multiple curvy paths and stairs to explore any way you like, overlooks of the city and stained glass windows, and just general prettiness. It was a lot of fun, even in the increasingly warm temperatures.
Sights from various floors of the Hawa Mahal
There were some other tourists around, but it was not packed by any means. It was fun going up and down the floors and looking out the windows of the facade which were originally built for royal ladies to look upon the town’s activities without being seen.
This group of ladies was having a grand time exploring the place, then taking photos of me with them.
They also posed for a photo from my camera.
Yes, the above is what many Indian ladies normally wear while out doing touristy things; at least that was my observation. Unlike Westerners, who don much more casual T-shirts and sunglasses, capris and sandals, aiming for ultimate comfort, Indian ladies always seem to wear only slightly simpler versions of the graceful and beautiful clothing worn for weddings and formal celebrations.
Our next stop was lunch! An expensive meal at a place our driver took us to called Niros. (We thought he was saying New Rose. And I wondered, like I always do, if the driver managed to get himself some lunch at some point…) Two western women walked in. Chris pronounced, “The food is excellent here!” The girls said, “Really? You’ve been here before?” and Peter said, “Actually, no we haven’t.” The girls perused a menu but walked out shortly later. “It’s too expensive. We’re students,” they explained. But it was only really expensive by Indian standards… seven or eight bucks a meal. Our meal was unusually meaty. No curries, just pieces of lamb and chicken on a plate in Rajasthan style. It was indeed excellent, though. Our next destination was back in the Old City practically next door to the Hawa Mahal: The City Palace.
(The Indian accent has the unfortunate tendency to pronounce “C” as closer to “Shi” making it seem like this palace we were going to see… was not so great, if you know what I mean.)
The City Palace Guards
Sitting, Standing, Posing
The City Palace was large, pretty, and had some nifty mixed architecture and a cool display or two as well as a random puppet show, but in general, I was not overly impressed. Could have been the pounding heat, which, according to Google, crossed the 100-degree mark while we were there.
If you go through the below door, you’ll end up in the “Sabha Niwas” which is some kind of throne room or royal receiving hall. Also, as one of our party found out the hard way, they take the “No Photography” rule very seriously. All photos had to be deleted and they attempted to charge a 500 rupee fine, though did not seem able to enforce it. All this does not explain why you can see photos of Sabha Niwas online. (Aside: In general, I like to know the reason behind photography restrictions and wish they would post it. In this case, it seemed arbitrary. Nothing within seemed like it would be particularly sensitive to light.)
The “Don’t Even Think About Taking a Photo In Here” Room
Other stuff in City Palace:
Mubarak Mahal:
Cool Rivendell-like architecture. Mediocre garment museum inside. Sneaky second story with no public access.
On our way out (just as we realized that the last place listed on the ticket with the word “Baggi” actually meant “Buggy” where sure enough, there was an unexpected row of presumably horse-drawn buggies in a line) we saw these guys performing.
Puppets!
The puppet show seemed less of a cultural part of the palace and more two guys making a buck doing some semi-traditional activities. After we arrived, the puppeteer (and his drumming companion) made the girl puppet do some overtly sexual dance moves. (Luckily, the kids who were watching had left by then.) I tipped him, but he still wanted to sell us some of his handmade dolls afterward. So did half of Jaipur. Men with dolls. That appears to be a Jaipur Thing.
We walked back to where the driver was parked. Peter bought a baseball cap for a few bucks that had, no joke, the shape of a running puma above the word “Lego”. Mixed branding at its best. The driver told us that the Jantar Mantar (aka Cool Sundial Place) was just up the street in walking distance, so up we walked. This, and almost everything else we visited during our trip, was included in our 350 rupee ($6) Composite Ticket. There is also a famous Jantar Mantar in Delhi. More than sundials, they both have lots of sculpture-building-instruments that measure astronomical things like the azimuths and angle of the planets and other scientific space stuff. (And have been settings in a few movies.)
Jantar Mantar
Jantar Mantar was very neat, but one thing (besides the heat) significantly detracted from my enjoyment of it. One thing I heard is not the case in Delhi’s version.
Climb me!
This place was built to climb on, no question. Stairs and climbable everything, clearly designed to ascend. But, guess what? It wasn’t allowed! Though I have to say one good thing about the place. I looked Jantar Mantar’s Wiki entry up just now… and wow, this place must have had a facelift! It is pristine now compared to the state of it in the photos. Maybe that is why climbing isn’t allowed?
Some Jantar Mantar gardeners and the view back to Hawa Mahal
The Obligatory Monkey Photo
Despite that the sun still had plenty of room to go, the time was 5:00pm so they started kicking us out. They even hurried my purchase (hard to believe they would want to hurry any transfer of my money) of mango juice at the exit. I’ve been generally buying a beverage at every site, mostly not water just in case the bottle is somehow not as sealed as it looks.
Our driver then took us north of the city to the Lake Palace. Apparently, you are not allowed to actually go inside the palace, so most people view it from this viewing spot along the side of the road, complete with all sorts of people selling things and the occasional cow.
Jal Mahal, or Lake Palace
(one of many “Mahal”s in India)
There were a couple persistent salespeople here. I saw a tour bus arrive later with lots of white people on it, which explained all the retail activity. I liked the following sign in the area. (The message read in Hindi on the other side.)
The sign reads (all spelling mistakes, Britishisms, and spacing theirs) under the seal of the “Tourist Assistance Force”
Don’t avail services of unauthorised guide for sight seeing
avoid friendship and advice of the persons who approach to
provide their services at monuments, bus stand and railway
station for arrenging accomodation and sightseeing
don’t encourage beggars and hawkers at tourist sites
Time for a coconut.
STEP 1: Find a coconut stand
STEP 2: Pay them some money while they slice off the top
STEP 3: Drink through a straw
No worries about the quality of that water! Also replenishes electrolytes. Felt a little weird just tossing the coconut onto the pile when I drank all the coconut milk within, but I’m sure the rest of the coconut must be used somehow (fed to the cows or whatnot.) From what I’m told and have seen, nothing is wasted in Delhi.
We were pretty exhausted by this point. As it was sort of getting near dinner time, we decided to have our driver just take us to the restaurant that Buddy had recommended.
Chokhi Dhani
What can I say about Chokhi Dhani? It is one part carnival, one part hotel resort, and three parts Renaissance Festival.
We paid our 700 rupees ($10 for entry plus $4 for a Royal Rajasthani Dinner) and entered. There were traditional dancers and a storyteller. There was a ferris wheel. If you wandered over to the hotel side, you could get an adult beverage (which we did and saw a frog). If you walked through the grounds toward the rear you would find booths with classic games like the ring toss, basketball, shooting, and archery, but instead of oversized stuffed animals, you just win your money back if you are successful! Amusingly, once Chris made an elaborate point of making sure the booth guy actually did load the pellet in the rifle for each try, he made all his shots and won his money back. The palm reader told me that I could depend on having three kids.
It took quite a while to find the location of our dinner (and to explain to people asking what we were looking for.) but eventually someone led us to the building. A table was arranged in a giant square around the fancy room. There were only two other small groups of diners there (another building seemed more popular for dinner, but we didn’t know the difference as we only saw this offering). They sat us along the table and proceeded to serve us a bottomless array of various levels of yum. I loved the paneer and aloo (potatoes) of course. The lassi was the salty kind and liquidy, so I didn’t end up drinking much of it. The best part was that they kept refilling your bowls if you wanted. That and the multiple rounds of dessert, but the ice cream was cardamom flavored. To be honest, I’m sort of sick of that particular spice, but it is in a lot of things, especially desserts.
We returned after our long, long day crashing into our beds, AC running, not planning to get up the next day until after 9am.
beautiful pics
been there before
temted to go again