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Published: August 28th 2008
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Amber Palace
Amber Fort - Coming up hill DELHI TO JAIPUR
Well sleeping in Delhi in the main bazaar of Pahar Ganj is not exactly......peaceful. Car horns seem to go all night, with the loud clanging of pots and pans in the distance.
However we had 6 hours of driving to look forward to today. We met our driver, a lovely Sikh man named Bitto (mind you we though it was Viti and called him so for about 3 days until he wrote it down)! He is a very honest and humble man, and you feel very safe with him, especially as he only drives at 60 km's an hour. Needless to say, it was a very long journey in a car only slightly bigger than my nissan micra and made in the 80's.
There is so much to keep you amused along the way though and the numbness in your butt goes away after a few hours and few thousand potholes. The trucks are amazingly overloaded and beautifully decorated. Large herds of cattle just stroll across the road - and as they are sacred, you have to just wait.
India has a secret car honking language of it's own. You have to honk if
Amber Palace
Magnificent!! you pass & if someone is in your way & if someone will not move, just keep you hand on the horn. And if your a truck or bus, you must have one of those fancy honks that plays like a tune for about 5 minutes. So sleeping in the car........onlly if you can block out the honks (happens every 30 seconds) in case you were wondering.
Anyhow arriving in Jaipur was total confusion. It is very busy, but made it to hotel - Hotel Sunder Palace - This is an excellent hotel for about $20 a night.
The forts and palaces in Jaipur are so old and amazing. They are renovating one at the moment called Amber Palace. It's amazing how the Maharajas had so many wives, and secret wives and concubines and places to just sit and watch his harem of women. This particular king had 12 wives. The wives were not allowed to be seen in public, but had special viewing areas to look down through so they couldn't be seen. The palace overlooks the city and is surrounded by a massive fort and a wall - similar to the great wall of china -
Ambert Fort
Ambert Fort - Great Wall INdia Style but only 75 kms long and 7 foot wide.
In this town they also have a sinking palace, which is literally a palace that sits in the water. The king got tired of hunting in the forest so he built a palace in a low lying area, built a dam, and flooded it in - all so he could go fishing - Ahhhh to be a maharaja!!!
We also went to another palace in the famous pink city (a maharaja painted the city pink to impress british royalty). This palace was ruled over by a maharaja that was 7 ft tall and 2 metres wide.......2 metres wide!!! He had 108 wives. His son had only a few wives. But he kept a palace high up in the hills (tiger palace) where he kept 20 more secret wives.
You are constantly hassled for guides at these palaces. They are great for the first one (Amber Palace) but most other places have audio guides to help you through - then you can at least do them at your own pace. And you kinda need something as there are millions of rooms in each place - just helps to paint
Amber Palace
Public Court Yard the picture. Although would rather a time capsule to just take me back there.
The people constantly stare at us here. Most likely because there really aren't that many tourists around, although a popular tourist trail, and because we're white and wearing western clothes. We have been warned off going to some particular bazaars, and whilst we haven't been pickpocketed, beware of small children hanging around eyeing off your pockets.
It gets hotter the further inland you go and a cold shower and good food at the end of the day is always good. I am almost onto western food only - as my stomach has had enough of indian food already....who would've thought.
Oh and if you think India is fully westernised, think again. Every Indian woman still gets around in colourful saris and bangles up every arm. Children dress so well for school. And indian food is the basis of every menu, even in western resorts. It is good to see.
Ok off to bed now
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