We had another busy day starting the tour at 8:30.
Started off to take a picture of Hawa Mahal, the wind palace, stands
upright as the entrance to the City Palace, Jaipur. An important landmark in
the city, Hawa Mahal is an epitome of the Rajputana architecture. The splendid
five-storey “Palace of the Winds” is a blend of beauty and splendour much close
to Rajasthan’s culture. Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh built Hawa Mahal in 1779.
The pyramid shape of this ancient monument is a tourist attraction having 953
small windows.
It looks like a real cobra.
Could it be??? It was happy to stay in its box.
Then Amer or Amber fort built in the 1600s. Melinda and I rode an elephant up the hill to the entrance of the fort.. Oh yes, there were small hills surrounding Jaipur. Is that why it's called the walled city?
The Amber Fort set in picturesque and rugged hills is a fascinating blend of Hindu and Mughal architecture. Constructed by Raja Man Singh I in 1592 and completed by Mirja Raja Jai Singh the fort was made in red sand stone and white marble. The rugged forbidding exterior belies an inner paradise with a beautiful fusion of art and architecture. Amber is the classic and romantic fort-palace with a magnificent aura. The interior wall of the palace depicts expressive painting scenes with carvings, precious stones and mirror settings.
Built mainly for the warring enemies as a safe place, the heavily structured walls could defend the residents within the ramparts of the fort.
This wall was magnificent, the glass, mirror and design. Amber Fort had a great water system. In the valley was a lake and they used a great system to bring water from the lake to supply the fort and cool the rooms. The technology back then was amazing.
After that. We went to a textile store. We were taught how to make fabric prints, followed by a trip to well known Babu market, picture on left. Needed a couple hours here to do shopping but no time.
Visited the really interesting Observatory,
Jantar Mantar
(Observatory) - built in 18th century by
Maharaja
Sawai Jai Singh II, the huge masonry instruments were used to study the
movement of constellations and stars in the sky. Enormous sun-dial still
provide accurate time, which are subject to daily corrections. Last sight was
City Palace which was neat because so much of it was pink!
I am having my picture taken with an Indian family. This is interesting as families want to have their pictures taken with Westerners. The tour guide mentioned that they might be from a rural area and not used to seeing Westerners so they like to capture "us" with "them". No harm here.
The last stop of the day was to City Palace. Filled with many museums, armory, picture gallery of the rulers, clothes/ropes and art work. I liked that most of the buildings were pink, just like a pink city. By this time I have had enough and ready to rest.
We have a 6 hour ride back to Delhi.
I thought the ride home would be relaxing - Wrong!!!
There is no way to describe the traffic. The roads are shared by bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, tractors, horse (camel, elephant, bull) cars and 14-18 wheeled trucks, large!. There does not seem to be any order to the traffic and where they position themselves on the road. The worst is we are traveling along at 80km/hr and come upon two or three trucks that are positioning to be first going about 40mph. This happens ALL the time. On the back of the trucks is written "BLOW HORN" or "HORN PLEASE". I guess our driver is reading those signs for each truck we pass. Thank god I don't drive or my blood pressure would be really high do to stress and aggravation. Now we are having a dust storm and rain is shore to come. Good for the farmers. Much of the land between Jaipur and Delhi is agricultural. We arrived home safely which is the most important.
Good night rest.
It looks like a real cobra.
Could it be??? It was happy to stay in its box.
Then Amer or Amber fort built in the 1600s. Melinda and I rode an elephant up the hill to the entrance of the fort.. Oh yes, there were small hills surrounding Jaipur. Is that why it's called the walled city?
The Amber Fort set in picturesque and rugged hills is a fascinating blend of Hindu and Mughal architecture. Constructed by Raja Man Singh I in 1592 and completed by Mirja Raja Jai Singh the fort was made in red sand stone and white marble. The rugged forbidding exterior belies an inner paradise with a beautiful fusion of art and architecture. Amber is the classic and romantic fort-palace with a magnificent aura. The interior wall of the palace depicts expressive painting scenes with carvings, precious stones and mirror settings.
Built mainly for the warring enemies as a safe place, the heavily structured walls could defend the residents within the ramparts of the fort. This wall was magnificent, the glass, mirror and design. Amber Fort had a great water system. In the valley was a lake and they used a great system to bring water from the lake to supply the fort and cool the rooms. The technology back then was amazing.
After that. We went to a textile store. We were taught how to make fabric prints, followed by a trip to well known Babu market, picture on left. Needed a couple hours here to do shopping but no time.
Visited the really interesting Observatory,
Jantar Mantar
(Observatory) - built in 18th century by I am having my picture taken with an Indian family. This is interesting as families want to have their pictures taken with Westerners. The tour guide mentioned that they might be from a rural area and not used to seeing Westerners so they like to capture "us" with "them". No harm here.
The last stop of the day was to City Palace. Filled with many museums, armory, picture gallery of the rulers, clothes/ropes and art work. I liked that most of the buildings were pink, just like a pink city. By this time I have had enough and ready to rest.
We have a 6 hour ride back to Delhi.
I thought the ride home would be relaxing - Wrong!!!
There is no way to describe the traffic. The roads are shared by bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, tractors, horse (camel, elephant, bull) cars and 14-18 wheeled trucks, large!. There does not seem to be any order to the traffic and where they position themselves on the road. The worst is we are traveling along at 80km/hr and come upon two or three trucks that are positioning to be first going about 40mph. This happens ALL the time. On the back of the trucks is written "BLOW HORN" or "HORN PLEASE". I guess our driver is reading those signs for each truck we pass. Thank god I don't drive or my blood pressure would be really high do to stress and aggravation. Now we are having a dust storm and rain is shore to come. Good for the farmers. Much of the land between Jaipur and Delhi is agricultural. We arrived home safely which is the most important.
Good night rest.
I'm pretty sure that my blood pressure would sky rocket just riding in the car, much less driving! What was it like to ride an elephant?!!!
ReplyDeleteThe elephant ride was very unexcitig and slow. It was the experience that was good.
ReplyDeleteSo kind of you to have the picture taken with the family. It will be very fond memories for them. I remember in those old days when China first opened to the world, people were so excited and curious to see westerners on the street. It could feel uncomfortable, but they did not know how to interact.
ReplyDelete