Up, breakfast, and out to meet the new guide at 8.30.
Jaipur is more recognisable as a city in Western terms. It's organised and laid out in a grid, like Glasgow. It's the capital of Rajisthan, and is in two parts, the Old (Walled) City, and the New Gity.
The Old City was painted pink in honour of a visit by Prince Albert, and the buildings are still pink to this day.
Today we kicked things off with a visit to the Amber Fort. This is reached by a steep path. Fortunately, we were on the back of an elephant, so we arrived at the top without knackering ourselves. The fort was the the original capital of Jaipur, with Rajisthan only coming into being in the 1950's. (It was a collection of smaller states, all with their own Maharajas). When the last Maharaja died, he had no son, only a daughter, and therefore no heir. Knowing this, he formally adopted his grandson, who is the current Maharaja, but being only 14, is still at school.
There are stunning views down the valley, and some of the (50 or so) abandoned temples can also be seen.
Next stop was the Jaipur Observatory. This has the most amazing instruments for observing the positions of the stars, for astrology, and has the largest sun dial in the world, it's simply massive. All the instruments were designed and built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Sing II in the 17th century, and many are still in use today by astrologers.
After lunch, during which we saw and heard some traditional dancing and music, we headed to the city palace. This had been until recently, taken over by local government, and used as offices, but the Royal Family is back in residence, the offices are out, and parts of the palace open to the public. Local traders have been allowed to use some of the spaces in the courtyard, that were previously offices.
It's a really interesting place. The Maharaja who built it had 12 wives, who all had their own chambers. He had secret passages leading from his chambers, to each of the wives, meaning, he could visit one without any of the others knowing !
From the palace, we walked out through the gates onto the main street, so Karen could get some haggling done, which she managed pretty well (as usual. She loves haggling). Along the main street in the town is the Hawo Mahal, or Palace of Winds. This was built in 1799 and is in the form of the crown of Krishna. We also stopped to take pictures of the Summer Palace that was built in the middle of a lake. For the last 30 years, the Royal family has been in dispute over ownership, and as a result, it's cannot be used by any of them and is currently sitting empty. It's a real shame as it's a beautiful building.
Back at the hotel, we cashed some travellers cheques, and actually got a better rate than we had at the airport, which was the opposite of the information we'd been given before we went. There was however a trade off. We'd been told the money guy would be 10 minutes, so went to the bar to wait. It was just over an hour when he appeared. No hurry then.
Cash in wallet, it was time to pack as much as we could for tomorrow's departure, before heading to the get something to eat.
Now it's time to veg out for a bit in front of the most dramatically presented tv news I think I've ever seen.
Next stop Mumbai/Bombay
Jaipur is more recognisable as a city in Western terms. It's organised and laid out in a grid, like Glasgow. It's the capital of Rajisthan, and is in two parts, the Old (Walled) City, and the New Gity.
The Old City was painted pink in honour of a visit by Prince Albert, and the buildings are still pink to this day.
Today we kicked things off with a visit to the Amber Fort. This is reached by a steep path. Fortunately, we were on the back of an elephant, so we arrived at the top without knackering ourselves. The fort was the the original capital of Jaipur, with Rajisthan only coming into being in the 1950's. (It was a collection of smaller states, all with their own Maharajas). When the last Maharaja died, he had no son, only a daughter, and therefore no heir. Knowing this, he formally adopted his grandson, who is the current Maharaja, but being only 14, is still at school.
There are stunning views down the valley, and some of the (50 or so) abandoned temples can also be seen.
Next stop was the Jaipur Observatory. This has the most amazing instruments for observing the positions of the stars, for astrology, and has the largest sun dial in the world, it's simply massive. All the instruments were designed and built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Sing II in the 17th century, and many are still in use today by astrologers.
After lunch, during which we saw and heard some traditional dancing and music, we headed to the city palace. This had been until recently, taken over by local government, and used as offices, but the Royal Family is back in residence, the offices are out, and parts of the palace open to the public. Local traders have been allowed to use some of the spaces in the courtyard, that were previously offices.
It's a really interesting place. The Maharaja who built it had 12 wives, who all had their own chambers. He had secret passages leading from his chambers, to each of the wives, meaning, he could visit one without any of the others knowing !
From the palace, we walked out through the gates onto the main street, so Karen could get some haggling done, which she managed pretty well (as usual. She loves haggling). Along the main street in the town is the Hawo Mahal, or Palace of Winds. This was built in 1799 and is in the form of the crown of Krishna. We also stopped to take pictures of the Summer Palace that was built in the middle of a lake. For the last 30 years, the Royal family has been in dispute over ownership, and as a result, it's cannot be used by any of them and is currently sitting empty. It's a real shame as it's a beautiful building.
Back at the hotel, we cashed some travellers cheques, and actually got a better rate than we had at the airport, which was the opposite of the information we'd been given before we went. There was however a trade off. We'd been told the money guy would be 10 minutes, so went to the bar to wait. It was just over an hour when he appeared. No hurry then.
Cash in wallet, it was time to pack as much as we could for tomorrow's departure, before heading to the get something to eat.
Now it's time to veg out for a bit in front of the most dramatically presented tv news I think I've ever seen.
Next stop Mumbai/Bombay
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