Blogs from Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, Asia - page 67

So Rajastan has been our destination now for nearly a week. Firstly we went Tiger spotting in Ranthambone National Park, involving getting up at the crack and freezing our arses off in an open top jeep, being driven at high speed down some very rough and rocky tracks. It woke us up though and we were extremely lucky to see 2 tigers after their night's hunting, firstly basking on the top of a rock and then roaming through the undergrowth - it was incredible. They are amazing creatures and look very placid close up although apparently this is only when they have food available! From here we headed to Jaipur, the capital. Here we spent 4 days in a beautiful colonial hotel and mainly just chilled drinking G & T's, playing backgammom and seeing just a ... read more

Sunday; a day of rest, spent in the hotel sleeping, reading, sunbathing (fully clothed) up on the roof terrace and drinking lemon, ginger and honey tea. Monday started with a good omen, whilst drinking my coffee a little bird dropped an offering on my trousers. With luck on my side I set off back in to the heart of Jaipur and spent the day rummaging the gems and silver shops and factories. It’s a lengthy process as you check out all the merchandise and hours fly by so quickly, the rumble of my tum indicating that its time to find some food! Tuesday - I think I used up all my luck on Monday, the next day was a different story, after a random search for one of the beautiful block printed quilts which was not ... read more

Third time lucky! 9.30 sharpish I boarded a posh A/C Goldstar coach to Jaipur, a little anxious at what to expect but more excited about the possibilities that lay in store - a whole city dedicated to gems, precious metal and shopping… plus some amazing sites. In all the chopping and changing with transport, I had forgotten my first rule - where in the city would I arrive? Predictably it wasn’t the bus stop I thought and after a fair amount of arrgybarrgy I was on my way to the Rajasthan Tourist office, MI road. I’m finding it best to head to a neutral place to avoid the congestion racket. Wandering through the streets of Jaipur, my eyes darted from one stop to another, all filled with brightly coloured materials, pashminas, ceramics, silver jewellery and string ... read more

A procession of decorated elephants snake through the winding stone path to the Amber Fort. Rajasthani men in their traditional dress and flashy turbans ride their big pets on a neat line. Amused foreign tourists, playing to the mood with hired headgear, silver ornaments and tilak, fight their fears atop the animals’ spines. The scene looks a straight lift from David Lean's A Passage to India. All it takes to end the romance is a shower of snort from the beast. Located 11 kilometres east of Jaipur on the road to New Delhi, Amber was the ancient capital of the Kachwaha clan of Rajputs, who founded Jaipur. The formidable fort, protected by a vast lake and steep walkway, overlooks the pass on the Aravalli mountain range. The Kachwahas presided over their fiefdom from the strategic citadel ... read more

We missed the cacophony of fireworks in Lewes this year and traded it in for the horns of the traffic on our journey to Jaipur. We arrived in Jaipur at about 2ish and were taken straight to the City Palace there. This was quite interesting but not as good as some of the sights we had seen. One of the best bits was looking at the armoury section. An array of weaponry is shown with some quite inventive tools. The best one for us was probably the dagger which transformed itself into open scissors once thrusted into the victim! Nice. He then took us to the Hawa Mahal also known as 'Palace of the Winds' a honeycomb shaped palace where ladies would sit at windows to watch things happening in the streets below. After quite a ... read more