Blogs from Chomu, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, Asia

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Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur » Chomu June 12th 2013

There are always advantages to every travel situation in life, and this is never more true than when you are planning a trip to India. Never forget that this vast country is, geographically, a sub-continent. From the snowy peaks of the Himalayas in the north, through the deserts to the west, down to the steamy heat of the south, there is a huge range of climatic zones. So whenever you plan your journey, there will always be the weather factor to be considered. Given the size of the country, there is no single ‘ideal’ time to visit India. For example, if you wish to travel to Ladakh, high up in Kashmir, you can only do so during the hot summer months, when the snow melts in the passes, and the road and airport become, once again, ... read more

Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur » Chomu March 13th 2013

Jaipur day two We were met at 8.30 after an OK breakfast at the Holiday Inn and driven out to the Amber Fort, an impressive building even from the roadside. We queued for the elephant ride while chatting to our new guide, Vikram. After a 45minute wait we mounted the elephant, and made our way up the side of the fort. Quite a rocky ride with several nature stops, the elephant not us. We arrived in the square and took a guided walk around the part of the fort that was open. This was built in 1727 and took 30years to complete. The total perimeter was over16 km and included walled ramparts like he Great Wall of China,that were being restored. The fort is made of red sandstone and white marble with a separate palace for ... read more
Amber fort
View from Fort
Entrance to inner Palace

Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur » Chomu March 3rd 2013

Na Australië begon ons avontuur aan ons volgende continent: Azië. Omdat dit ons laatste continent is, bekruipt ons ook het gevoel van ons laatste hoofdstuk van de wereldreis. Hoe lekker is het dan om te beseffen dat we nog maar op de helft zijn van onze reis en nog een heleboel kunnen genieten, beleven en zien! Onze eerste voet op de bodem van Azië was in Singapore. Een moderne mega stad, zonder een duidelijke identiteit. De stad lijkt opgebouwd uit kleine wijken waar de verschillende immigranten wonen, zoals Little India, Little Birma, Chinatown en Arab street. Voor ons is Singapore een basis, een thuishaven in Azië. We komen het continent binnen en zullen na maanden hier het continent ook weer verlaten. Wij hebben Singapore ervaren als een moderne stad die aan elkaar hangt van strenge regels, ... read more
Rishikesh 1
Rishikesh 2
Rishikesh 3

Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur » Chomu May 26th 2012

Our first bus ride in India was a real adventure. We weren't planning on taking buses ever in India because driving on the roads in this country is horrendous. There is constant honking, lane switching, and dramatic brake usage on the roads and we just didn't want to submit ourselves to 7+ hours of this. Unfortunately for us, we didn't heed our friend's advice and book our train tickets in advance, instead we wanted to go with the flow and decide as we went how long we stayed in each city. We were able to get one train ride from Delhi to Agra, but any other trip we needed was already booked for the next month! We had no other choice but to take buses or private cars to any destination from then on out. It ... read more
Sleeper buses are awesome!

Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur » Chomu May 24th 2012

Jaipur was such a cool destination. We stayed at an amazing hotel after learning our lesson in Agra about hostels in India. The room cost us only $13 each a night and it was worth every penny! Anuraag Villa is a cozy little hotel away from the crazy, noisy streets of Jaipur. They were very organized, clean, and helpful. The beautiful garden made this place a great escape from the crazy, sometimes overwhelming, Jaipur. If we thought traffic was bad in New Delhi we were proven that it could be worse. We have decided that ear plugs while riding around town is a must. The horns here seem to be 150% louder than any other horn I've ever experienced, and they love to lay down on the horns here. It's constant, this honking of the horn. ... read more
The Old City
Fort/Palace Amber and Jaigarh Fort
Enjoying a day at the market

Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur » Chomu March 27th 2012

JAIPUR, RAJASTAN, INDIA - AMBER & JAIPUR CITY. Tuesday 27 March, 2012. We were met outside the main hotel (palace) entrance at 8.00 am by our guide Raj. Our first stop was our hotel! Apparently it is quite a landmark in the city and Raj spent a few minutes telling us about the history of the place. It was owned by a noble familiy who were a notch down from the Maharaja. The families of nobles helped the Maharaja maintain order in his kingdom and were very wealthy in their own right. Next we drove through the 'Pink City' stopping at Howa Mahal or the Palace of Winds where we stopped to take some photos but didn't go inside. This building was built to allow the women inside to watch the processions going on in the ... read more
The Lion Gate
M and D on Lucky the Elephant
One of the Silver Urns

Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur » Chomu January 27th 2012

Breakfast in the courtyard restaurant – our hotel was once a wealthy family home – and then off to explore the City Palace. Within the palace there are two silver vessels filled with holy water from the Ganges (see photo) which were taken to the UK for the coronation of Edward VII . Part of the palace now serves as a museum – weaponary and armoury . The curator of the armoury gave us a demonstration of putting on his turban – not easy as it is 10 metres in length. The red turban indicates he is of a ‘warrior’ caste, as are pink and purple. Farmers et al use white and orange coloured turbans. We drove up a very steep winding road up to the Summer Palace. It was built in the 18th century ... read more
our hotel
City Palace
City Palace

Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur » Chomu January 26th 2012

You may have wondered why we alluded to the Pink City yesterday in our Blog. Briefly, Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan, is known as the Pink City. Originally the buildings were grey with white borders and motifs but in honour of our Prince Albert Prince of Wales’ visit in 1883 it was ordered to be painted pink – the traditional colour of welcome. After breakfast we met Vikram, our guide for the day who took us to the Amber Fort which we entered in a traditional manner – on an elephant. Vikram treated us to a long and detailed tour which we enjoyed. Stopped off for lunch at a very small local restaurant – we haven’t mentioned food yet – needless to say curry prevails but there are other options and the curries don’t ... read more
Amber Fort
Amber Fort
Amber Fort

Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur » Chomu January 19th 2012

It was a rough morning as Elyse felt ill on the 2-3 hr bus ride from Pushkar. She felt like she could vomit just looking out the window, plus other passengers on the bus were vomiting and hacking like crazy. Lorin, fellow American, thought the passengers had tuberculosis (TB) as they coughed the whole ride. Elyse also witnessed a dog eating the carcass of another dog (told you India isn’t for the light hearted). Driving into the city we passed though a small section of town that looked like a nice residential neighborhood. This was one of the only ones that we had seen on our trip. Despite the fact that all the television commercials showcase clean western style homes and neighborhoods in their advertisements we had yet to see anything even close to this in ... read more
Our Bollywood Experience
Hawa Mahal - Wind Palace
not an ideal job for an elephant

Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur » Chomu January 14th 2012

A suprisingly short truck drive and we arrive in Jaipur before sunset. Our accomodation for the next 2 nights is an ex-Maharaja's palace which is beautiful! Painted from floor to ceiling in beautifully ornate designs & colours, in every archway and every room - we're going up in the world! After a visit to the Observatory & City Palace; very interesting & yet more stunning architecture, we head off to explore the pink city itself (although technically and rather disappointingly it is in fact not pink, but more terracotta in my opinion!) Myself & Cassie, not having a clue what direction we're heading in, opt for a bicycle rickshaw to take us to the Main Bazaar, but no sooner than we climb onboard we realise our mistake...The poor man is barely strong enough to pedal with ... read more
Our Maharaja's Palace Hotel
Our Maharaja's Palace Hotel
Cassie in Our Maharaja's Bedroom




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