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Published: October 7th 2015
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We arrived in Jaipur late in the evening and checked into the four star hotel we had booked for 2 days as a wee treat. It did not disappoint. We had a huge room, a HOT shower, a kettle with teabags in our room, a swimming pool, a lift, people holding doors open for us and free buffet breakfast with live music.
On our first full day we went to visit the historical tourist attractions Jaipur has to offer. The first stop was the city palace, which is still home to the Maharaja (King) of the City. The Raj still had influence during British rule but this was significantly reduced after independence until the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, reduced the Raj to a tourist attraction in 1971 The once powerful house still has considerable wealth which is used to keep the palace grounds looking fantastic.
There was some great exhibitions inside the palace including the largest silver container in the world used to carry water (8000 L). Said container was used by the Maharaja in a journey he made to the UK in 1902 for the coronation of Edward VII. Again, with most palaces and forts in India, it
was filled with beautiful buildings. Later on in the morning we visited the Jantar Mantar which is a garden dedicated to early developments in the astrological world including instruments to determine sunrise/sunset. We also visited the Hawa Mahal where we were stopped by various Indian families who wanted to take pictures with us.
After a huge lunch of various different curries, we made the trip to the Amber Fort, which is located just outside the city of Jaipur. This was definitely the most impressive fort we had come across so far and was filled with Indian tourists. As the climb up the fort loomed over us, and we felt quite intimidated by the attention we were receiving from Indian tourists, we met a guide called Duli. Duli showed us round the fort telling us all the history, with additional comedy, dancing and fortune telling. The most interesting part of the fort Duli showed us was the terrace filled with Belgian glass. This included mirrors which, at the right angle, produced the coolest photos.
Amber Fort also introduced us to bats. As the building is very old and the perfect home for them, there are areas swarming with them.
Neither of us are a fan.
Jaipur is overall much cleaner than other places we have visited in India. This also creates quite a contrast in the city. For example, when we walked out of the entrance to our four star hotel, we were met by homeless people sleeping on the street and stray dogs rummaging around piles of smelly rubbish. Then just down the road there are clean streets with new buildings on them.
The next day we visited an elephant farm, called Elefantastic. Although we were wary of elephant attractions after our experience in Kumily, this farm had excellent reviews. We met our elephant, Tarmunna who was just 19 years old. We fed her a huge amount of maize and were encouraged to get close to her so she could get to know our smell. At first we were a bit apprehensive about getting close but after ten minutes we were cuddling in. She was very friendly and we could immediately see the bond she had with her mahout (trainer) who had been with her all her life.
After a very satisfying lunch made by the owners mum in their family home, we were taught
traditional bamboo painting which is applied to the elephants with natural colours. Tarmunna took no notice of us painting and continued to eat her pile of food. We painted a Scottish flag and a message to one of Susie’s friends who loves elephants.
Then it was time to give Tarmunna a long drink and a wash to cool her down. Her mahout showed us how to climb onto Tarmunna by climbing up her trunk! Very surreal moment. Then we finished the day off with a relaxing walk around the farm land watching the sunset. Although the price was relatively expensive in comparison to most attractions in India, it was well worth it, especially for Marc who had never been up close to an Elephant before. It was refreshing to see how well the elephants were treated, with no chains or sticks. A perfect end to our time in Jaipur.
Train station bound again to make our way to Jaisalmer.
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