The city of Pink and Amber

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Leaving the serenity of India's untamed forest behind, we travelled north by train to Jaipur, the capital and largest city of Rajasthan, known both as the Pink City and as the City of Victory. We would be in Jaipur for 4 nights, giving us enough time to see the sights in and around Jaipur. We headed straight for one of the gates into the old walled city, which was planned by Maharaja Jai Singh II in 1727 when he moved his capital from nearby Amber. Jaipur only became 'pink' in the 19th century when it was painted this colour in honour of a visit by England's Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). I use inverted commas because pink needs to be applied very loosely to describe the colour of this place. Terracotta or dirty red would be more accurate, but I guess less seductive.

The old city has a number of attractions clustered together around Jai Singh's City Palace, which is now part-museum and part royal residence. Our first port of call was Iswari Minar, or 'heaven piercing minaret', a rather grand title for a short white tower built randomnly behind a row of hardware shops on Tripolia Bazaar and accessed via a curious ramp (maybe they were worried that cows would climb up and not be able to get back down?). The minaret provides good views over Jaipur, but sadly it's not an attractive sight... beyond the City Palace and immediate surrounds, Jaipur is ugly, flat and polluted. It is, however, surrounded by a number of hills featuring impressive monuments which we would visit over the next few days.

Somewhat disappointed by the view and worried that four days in Jaipur would be too long, we made the short walk to Hawa Mahal, or 'palace of wind' (does everything in Jaipur have a nickname?!), a whimsical palace built by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh in 1799. Named for the breeze blowing through it's many openings rather than the rich food undoubtedly enjoyed within, the palace's eastern facade is easily the most distinctive building in Jaipur, a beautiful and finely detailed piece of architecture which sits incongruosuly on a dirty, ugly road full of touristy shoe shops and pesky beggars. It's a great place to explore, with dozens of miniature alcoves, light spread in patterns on the floor through stained glass and more weird ramps (did the Maharaja of Jaipur have a stair phobia?).

Next to Hawa Mahal and the City Palace is Jantar Mantar, an open-air observatory plonked in the middle of the city. Built by the Maharaja (obviously), its many constructions do all sorts of clever things with celestial objects, none of which I really understood aside from the giant sundial... but worth a look nonetheless, even if it did remind me of a crazy golf course. Not great fans of museums, and balking at the 300 rupee entry fee (which didn't let you look in the actual palace itself, just the museum), Dad and I went for a stroll (and a haircut) while Mum browsed the galleries.

Our second day saw us head out of Jaipur and into the surrounding hills to visit Amber, the former seat of the Maharaja, and two nearby forts also built by you know who... Jaigarh and Nahargarh. Amber Palace is an immense and imposing place. Built on a ridge in the middle of a steep valley, it presents a forbidding approach from every direction, with huge sand-coloured walls surmounted by turrets and towers. Sadly, the place is overrun by tourists (yuck!), most of which are on guided tours, but luckily you don't have to stick to a pre-ordained route, so exploring was easy and the coach parties were easily lost. Built over several centuries, the palace is a huge labyrinth of inter-connecting courtyards, ramps, rooms, gates and walkways, with views across the surrounding countryside at every turn. The palace is guarded by a series of walls, much of which are still intact, so I defied our driver and climbed a short section for a birds-eye view of the valley... I'd highly recommend it to anyone visiting Amber, even if the initial hop through a donkey pen is a bit off-putting.

We drove on from Amber to Nahargarh Fort, 'nahar' meaning tiger. The fort is a fairly recent building which provided accommodation for the Maharaja's nine queens, or Maharani. Each has an identical apartment within the palace, with a corridor running around the inside providing easy access for the Maharaja... the names of the occupants were helpfully located on the wall outside the opposing apartment so he knew whose pad he was slipping into just by looking out of the window (what a thoughtful chap!). The palace is no longer furnished, but it retains most of the original decoration, and has interesting guides to explain its purpose and design - well worth a visit. Our final stop was Jaigarh Fort, which was built to protect Amber Palace (I won't bother telling you who built it as I'm sure you already know) and provides stunning views down across the palace and valley. By this time, we were forted-out, so headed back to the hotel for a cooling dip in the pool (the Bank of Mum and Dad is paying for this one!) and a well-earned cup of tea (with seperate, cold milk) at the rooftop restaurant. The evening was topped off with an italian meal on a rooftop near the old city, where we were served beer in a teapot and mugs... their story was that they didn't have a license, but I think it was a sneaky way of charging us for Kingfisher while serving us some cheapo beer like Indus... poor show.

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Photos

Photo 12
The famous facade of Hawa Mahal, 'palace of the winds'

Photo 15
One of Jai Singh's clever instruments at Jantar Mantar

Photo 17
Amber Palace guarded by Jaigarh Fort, seen from the city wall

Photo 9
Mum and dad peek out of the ramparts at Jaigarh Fort