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Published: April 13th 2015
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The next few destinations in India were all in the state of Rajasthan, both me and Laila had them on our to do (Fortunately my do to list was rather unstructured/ not organised at all) and she was kind enough to let me accompany her.
Rajasthan itself had a different feel to both Delhi and Agra, many people seemed friendlier and despite still being a highly populated area wasn't quite as busy as Agra and certainly not as hectic as Delhi.
The guest house was a big improvement on the last in both cleanliness and size and the room had much more attractive décor. Initially the concept of natural light entering the room seemed like a bonus but with windows comes noise and India isn't the most serene place in the world.
Jaipur (the pink city, because of the stone used for many of it structures) was first on the Rajahstan itinerary, the day started early with a trip to a local temple but apart from the spectacle of the sun rising there was very little to see. the highlight was a group of people standing in the park laughing together, I forget the name but essentially it is uplifting
way to start the day which doesn't require the flexibility of yoga.
next was the most well know landmark in the area, the Amber Fort, situated on top of a large hill we had a choice of either walking up or taking an elephant ride. we decided to walk up which may not be quite as exotic or exciting but we were both concerned for the welfare of the elephants and how often they were made to march the incline in such heat .
This was another place where we decided we may get more out of it by having a tour and our guide certainly didn't disappoint. he went through a lot of the history of the building and also showed us interesting elements of the complex that would be impossible to spot without an experienced guide. From the outside the fort was certainly impressive but somewhat featureless, internally it was a completely different story. A mix of varied architectural styles and beautifully decorated rooms with phenomenal attention to detail made the fort a worthy visit.
one of the most impressive exhibitions of elegance was the hall of mirrors, something that can really only be fully admired in person
but I hope the pictures will give you an idea of the craftsmanship that has gone into such a display.
once the tour was finished we were told there was another fort further up the hill. Not as many tourists seem to bother venturing to the top and at first it seemed all it had to offer was a rather impressive view of the area below. Just as we decided we had seen enough, a guard appeared and walked us into an unassuming courtyard which led to areas we didn't realise existed and gave us a guided tour of what the fort really had to offer. He was one of the few people you meet who seemed genuinely good natured and happy to help anyone who was interested in what he had to show them. Here in India it can be very hard to trust people as they usually want to sell you something, in this case it was just someone who loved their job and enjoyed tourists visiting the area.
He showed us some of the areas where the family had lived and we were also treated to an amusing puppet show, somewhat authentic but also included a
special guest dance courtesy of the late Michael Jackson (looking better now than he did the last 10 or so years)
The pedestrian walk back to the main fort had only been a few minutes but a kind gentleman in a tuk tuk said he was going down anyway and would take us free of charge. He was also very nice and keen to show us pictures and letters he had received from previous foreign travellers who had been delighted with his service and kind nature.
Once we were down at the bottom it was a short journey to Panna Meena Ka Kund (aka crazy stairs - not an official name), not really a tourist destination but something we wanted to see as we had viewed pictures online. It was nothing more than a stepped well but it was reminiscent of an M.C.Esher painting with countless stairs running in all directions. My pictures really haven't done it justice but it was interesting to see something which had been overly engineered for its purpose and nothing like you would see in England.
Jantar Mantar was a place full of promise, it consists of old devices/ monuments which very
accurately measure various astrological events and positions. I have a great fascination with the fact ancient civilizations from all over the world built instruments and indeed felt it necessary to measure astrological events and calculate information about the sun and stars with such incredible accuracy.
Unfortunately it sounded better in principle than it was practice, the instruments were certainly exceptional in their capabilities but visually unimpressive.
Seeing pictures of Hawa Mahal we decided this visual marvel had to be visited, if nothing else then for some great photo opportunities. It was worth a visit but the pictures we had seen were somewhat misleading, the building didn't quite seem to scale so what looked like impressive 20 foot high archways with decorative finials were in fact little more than head height. It was slightly taller than most other building within the city so we were treated to a pleasant view of the surrounding area, including the fort.
It had been another early start but that meant we had time to fit in one more site, Galwar Bagh (monkey temple). If you've been paying attention you'll realise this isn't the first monkey temple which i visited on my travels nor
would it be the last. Not as dramatic or imposing as Kathmandu's monkey temple My favourite so far) but probably the only place I will have the opportunity to see a monkey getting a free ride on the back of a pig. There wasn't much to see here but the wife of the priest, who has to live their permanently, was very pleasant and gave us a traditional blessing.
I hope this second post in as many days makes up for the lack of recent blogs but I'm super exhausted now and can't be bothered to read through it to see if it makes any sense. You'll get a rough idea of what went on and if not you'll enjoy the pictures, or your money back!
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