The city of Jaipur is called 'The Pink City' because some past ruler of the town decreed that all buildings within the old city must be painted pink. And you thought your landlord / HOA restrictions were harsh?
We had a laundry list of things to see and do (aside from laundry).
The main attraction for us was Amber Fort, pronounced Am-beer. The fort's size is staggering considering its age. Like most similar places around the world, it was built in stages. Then after several hundred years of construction the owner decided that he liked the location a few miles down the valley, and the new city was built while Amber was left in ruins. Thanks to tourist dollars, it has been restored. We spent hours exploring the rooms, corridors, and courtyards.
I think our rickshaw driver, who waited patiently in the mid-day sun for us, was cursing himself for agreeing to a "no-waiting charges" deal. Alan is such a shrewd negotiator knowing that Jen tours museums at about half the speed of a normal tourist. That poor driver earned every Rupee today.
We also spent several hours in the Observatory Park that has giant structures created to measure the angles of stars and our Sun and a full set of 12 astrological instruments that are used depending on which zodiac sign is in play.
The City Palace had a few objects of interest. The most memorable are two vast silver water containers that were used on a trip to England by the head of state. He carried Ganges water all the way to London so that he could wash in it every day to stay clean. Remember from our Varanasi post that the Ganges is one of the most polluted rivers in the world, and you might be as baffled as we were as to why anyone would transport even a small vase of it anywhere else, let alone 40,000 gallons in two silver vats.
The food in Jaipur was exceptional, though we stayed away from the street vendors and went to only restaurants we found in our bible: The Lonely Planet. Alan hasn't eaten this much curry since his student days in London's suburbs. Unfortunately, samosas are nowhere to be found in the restaurants we deemed safe to eat at. The waiter laughed at us and called it street food when we asked for them. Oops. We haven't been able to conjure up the courage to eat from the street vendors yet.
We had a laundry list of things to see and do (aside from laundry).
The main attraction for us was Amber Fort, pronounced Am-beer. The fort's size is staggering considering its age. Like most similar places around the world, it was built in stages. Then after several hundred years of construction the owner decided that he liked the location a few miles down the valley, and the new city was built while Amber was left in ruins. Thanks to tourist dollars, it has been restored. We spent hours exploring the rooms, corridors, and courtyards.
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| Amber Fort |
We also spent several hours in the Observatory Park that has giant structures created to measure the angles of stars and our Sun and a full set of 12 astrological instruments that are used depending on which zodiac sign is in play.
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| Astronomy device for measuring position of stars |
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| Huge sundial, accurate to 2 seconds! |
The City Palace had a few objects of interest. The most memorable are two vast silver water containers that were used on a trip to England by the head of state. He carried Ganges water all the way to London so that he could wash in it every day to stay clean. Remember from our Varanasi post that the Ganges is one of the most polluted rivers in the world, and you might be as baffled as we were as to why anyone would transport even a small vase of it anywhere else, let alone 40,000 gallons in two silver vats.
The food in Jaipur was exceptional, though we stayed away from the street vendors and went to only restaurants we found in our bible: The Lonely Planet. Alan hasn't eaten this much curry since his student days in London's suburbs. Unfortunately, samosas are nowhere to be found in the restaurants we deemed safe to eat at. The waiter laughed at us and called it street food when we asked for them. Oops. We haven't been able to conjure up the courage to eat from the street vendors yet.
1 comment:
Thanks for all of the photos! Did you get my last email? I seem to have lost track of the address to send your travel docs. -Jeff
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