Pink City calls...three days in Jaipur

Our immense interest for the pink city landed us there on the 3rd of October, in the evening when the sun was about to set. It had a pleasant weather. We quickly checked in to our hotel rooms and after getting freshened up, headed out to explore the Johari bazaar which has a collection of all the authentic items of Rajasthan, starting from the stone studded bangles, to the puppets, etc. Though we didn't get much time to explore, the johari bazaar had definitely inspired us to come back and re-explore it with full vigour.

Rajasthan....the name itself hints about some royal essence in it. And Jaipur, being the capital of this royal state,  attracts quick attention of voracious travellers. Pink city, as it is rightly called, houses magnificent forts and beautiful palaces. The original "pink" is surrounded by seven to eight gates, each gate having separate names. The color of the buildings is not exactly pink though, but somewhat the color of sand stone.

On the 4th of October, we set sail again to explore the city in the full daylight. We started our expedition by visiting a Ganesh temple and the Birla temple. The Birla temple of Jaipur has somewhat the same architectural structure as that of Hyderabad. It was pure bliss to sit inside  the temple and feel refreshed. Next we went to the Albert Hall museum which has collection of almost everything, from the medieval as well as a few from pre-medieval times, of local as well as items that are not local in nature. The building of the museum has the features of Rajasthani architecture and you will fall for it once your eyes fall on it. The entry fees was Rs.  40 for adults and Rs. 20 for students. It's worth a visit. It took nearly two hours to explore the whole museum. After that, we headed back to our hotel rooms to get freshened up since in the evening, we had planned to go to Chokhi Dhani, an artificial village that showcases pure Rajasthani culture and lifestyle. It is half an hour ride from the city. The entry fees is Rs. 750 for adults, which includes the meal. The meal is a complete set of Rajasthani food that includes ker sangri, garlic chutney, bajre ki roti, dal bati churma, gatte ki sabji, makkai ki roti, chawal, khichda, chhaas. I admit that though I didn't like all the items in the thaali, but their hospitality was remarkable. There were other things like camel rides which costed Rs. 20 per adult, museum, a satyanarayan temple, a watch tower, which allowed us full view of the village, and many more. There were cultural performances as well. In short, it was complete Rajasthan inside a small boundary. One must visit here when in Jaipur.

The third day started with equal vigour. We started off with the Amer fort/Amber fort, as it is officially called. We hired a cab and went there. The fort is spread out in a huge area overlooking the main city. Our cab went right in front of the main gate of the fort, which costs Rs. 1000 per cab. We took a guide from near the fort entry for Rs. 200 who told us every detailed information about the fort. The fort has a diwan-e-aam and a dewan-e-khaas where the king used to give audience to the ordinary people and the officials respectively. The dewan-e-khaas has a Sheesh Mahal, in which the walls are made of intricately designed mirrors, in concave manner that effectively kept it warm in the winter. The fort also has summer quarters, queens' quarters, King's Mahal, etc. The fort has many things that depicts the lifestyle of the royal people of yore, long gone... but their things remind us of them. The fort provides a breathtaking view of the whole city. It took full two hours to explore the whole fort and it was really worth it. We bid adieu to Amer fort and moved towards the Nahargarh fort. The way towards the fort provides a marvelous view of the Jal Mahal. Though we didn't enter the fort, but the views from there were amazing. We skipped the jaigarh fort and came down to the plains. We passed the Jal Mahal and went to the Hawa Mahal and ended our day. Though it was a tiring one, but we had great satisfaction in our hearts and are determined to come back and re-explore it all over again. It was time to say good bye to Sawai Jai Singh's Jaipur.