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Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur December 26th 2023

Masala omeletted up, we took a surprisingly long Uber to Patrika gate. The tall pink structure centred around a long hall that held a riot of STUNNING craft. Columns, ceilings and scalloped arches displayed a mixture of pastel toned block colour, floral and bucolic motifs, bright repetitive border patterns, realistic architectural paintings, and stylised Indian narrative scenes of Gods, stories and people. We were in awe, it must have taken years and painstaking care to achieve this feast for our eyes. Many natives, especially couples, were dressed to the nines, taking professional photos along with crew, and professional equipment. Hattie wants to do this with Gabe in front of Buckingham Palace and Marble Arch. She settled for Grace instead, getting in on two gorgeous ladies’ photo shoot. We then went to the nearby JKK, an arts ... read more
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Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur December 22nd 2023

With half closed eyes we ordered an Uber from the hostel and traversed through dimly lit Jaipur. We got out at a beautiful sandstone gate that was blocked by cows and dogs. We sidestepped them and began the trek up to the sun temple as the sun began to rise. Hundreds of monkeys were eating banana breakfasts and the babies were having their morning milk before we’d even had our chai! The view over the trees and mountains and the city was gorgeous and we could hear religious chanting from near by temples. This really was a memorable moment and set a lovely calm tone for the day. The block colour of different dwellings became more vibrant as the sky changed from pink to blue. We walked back down the hill now in the light, half ... read more
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Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur December 20th 2023

We woke up at the crack of dawn to get a four hour taxi journey to Jaipur. We said goodbye to our gracious hosts and fell into the hands of Iksha and her uncle, many journey snacks in tow. When we arrived to have a chai break at our first Indian service station, we breathed in our first full fresh air since landing in Delhi. In Wiltshire the air pollution is 3 but in Delhi it’s closer to 400 due to fires in the countryside and winds blowing it into the city - also the immensely heavy traffic. The Chai wallah gave us a cute clay no-handle mug which was meant to be one time use but Hattie took a liking to it and popped it in her handbag to have her morning coffees in back ... read more
Albert Hall halls hall
Mini boy
Jaipur’s famous block print

Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur April 29th 2023

Later start today at 9.30am as it's basically a free day. Gordon and Peter had booked another driver like we did for the day, but Arjun said it wasn't necessarily as he and the driver were at our disposal. So we all cancelled the driver and just joined the optional cooking class. First stop for photos was the Albert Hall (at my request) which fortunately was on the way to the scheduled stop, the Lakshmi Narayan Temple. This is a beautiful Hindi Temple completely built with white marble. It was nice to witness the end of a service when we arrived. Had our first proper rain fall as we arrived but temperature today had dropped considerably. Week before we arrived the highs were over 40 degrees centigrade. This week, it's dropped to low 30s, much more ... read more
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Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur April 26th 2023

Buffet breakfast was interesting. A lot of Indian style items we'd never heard of before. We went around and tried small portions of everything. Daisy had a dosa made which she really liked. Tour started at 8.30am and we met our guide Arjun and driver, Arjay. Surprisingly, there was still just the six of us for this entire tour. Certainly wasn't expecting a small group tour. Robyn and Anne however didn't opt for the Varanasi extension. First stop was a visit to Old Delhi. We were taken to the Jama Masjid Mosque (the largest mosque in India), which has three great gateways, four angle towers and two minarets constructed ofalternating vertical strips of red sandstone and white marble. First we had a rickshaw tour through Chandni Chowk, a colourful shopping bazaar in OldDelhi. Then a tour ... read more
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Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur March 14th 2021

http://www.heygo.com 13th March - Amber Fort - Jewel of Jaipur The historic hill fort rises above the town of Amer (it is sometimes called Amer Fort), which was the capital of the Kuchwaha Rajputs from the 11th to the 18th century. Construction began in 1592 by Maharaja Man Singh, a commander in the army of the Mughal emperor Akbar. In shades of honey and rose stone, white marble and gilt decor, Amber Fort is more of a palace than a fortress, and the design is a unique mix of Hindu and Muslim styles. Dilip was our virtual guide & as he climbed the steps he stopped for breath and we could listen to the musician. We entered through Sun Gate, the palace is divided into four main sections, each having its own entry gate and courtyard. ... read more

Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur March 13th 2020

Blogs of Rajasthan are plenty in the net, covering almost all well known places. I will add one more with a different perspective. I searched elaborately thru internet for appropriate inputs, to finalize the logistics of a weeklong tour program covering important historical places, wildlife of Ranthambore and of course the desert of Jaisalmer. But I did not get it in a nutshell and had to pick and choose from various sources. In this blog I attempted to summarize our overall experience, program, means of transport, accommodation arrangements etc. sharing our feelings, advantages and pitfalls as felt by us, to facilitate planning of an overall tour schedule by future travelers of Rajasthan. I also narrated detailed description of my location wise experience in detail, thru separate blogs. OUR PROGRAM Rajasthan is one of the most popular ... read more
Ghoomar folk dance
Shadow of a tiger
CAMEL RIDE , SAM DUNES

Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur February 16th 2020

Time to move on from Agra and explore Rajasthan, known as the Golden Triangle. We boarded the train at 2.30 in the afternoon and just like before it left bang on time at 2.50pm. Could teach British Rail a thing or two! Out seat numbers were 34 and 35 so we thought they'd be together but the weren't. A group of Americans got on and their seats were all over the place but in the same area too as was another English couple's seats. Between us we rearranged things so we were sat with our respective partners. When the ticket man came along to check tickets he was totally confused and finally gave up and let us stay where we were sat. Each time we stopped at a station and more passengers got on we pretended ... read more
Elephants carry people up to the fort. We walked
Inside the fort
Amber fort

Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur December 30th 2019

Hariom was waiting outside for us at 8.30am this morning for another big day of sightseeing, our last in Jaipur. First stop was the City Palace. Hawa Mahal, or Palace of the Winds, which we saw the first afternoon we were here, is a wing of this palace. Still the residence of the Jaipur royal family, some wings, courtyards and gardens are open to the public. We purchased the Royal Grandeur tickets which entitled us to enter some of the reception and sitting rooms still used by the royal family. A guide is mandatory with this ticket, and security guards were everywhere, even taking the lifts with us. City Palace is a palace complex, which used to be the seat of the Maharajah of Jaipur and is made up of an impressive array of courtyards, gardens ... read more
Diwan I Aam, the Hall of Audience at The City Palace
The largest silver vessel in the world, One of a pair
Gateway to The City Palace

Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaipur December 29th 2019

For the next twelve days, we have the luxury of our own private driver and car, something we’ve been looking forward too. No more haggling with taxi and rickshaw drivers or airport runs for nearly two weeks...... Bliss! Hariom was waiting outside the hotel at 8.30am as arranged. His car, an SUV as I requested, was immaculate, with white covers on our two buckets seats, free water/wipes and onboard wifi. After introductions, we planned the days activities with him and headed away. Our first stop was in the town of Amer, 11klm from Jaipur, to see Panna Meena ka Kund, one of the stepwells responsible for sparking my interest in these structures. The water at the bottom of the stepwell was bright green, obviously full of algae. All it took was a Pinterest photo and I ... read more
Panna Meena Ka Kund Stepwells
Amber Fort
Tourist Elephant at Amber Fort




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