Tours in Rajasthan
Tours in Rajasthan
Two days on a train may seem a long time but our journey from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu to Jaipur in Rajastan pretty much flew past. We were traveling next to a old couple from near Jaipur who spoke no English but were really keen to chat. Luckily they had relatives coming past and visiting them every few minutes some of these guys spoke English and so could translate what the older couple wanted to tell us. We learnt loads about the area around Jaipur and the beautiful old haldwani houses built by rich Jaipur merchants. And we were force fed snacks, given bangles and bracelets and invited to stay at their home (which due to having booked our onward train ticket, we had to regretfully decline).
Stepping off the train in Jaipur at 4am we could tell we had left behind the south of India by the dry heat and the appearance of camels as transport. The station was manic as seems to be the case on a perpetual basis for India's train stations. The railways apparently transport over 15 million people on average each day!
It was no surprise to us that our room wasn't ready so after breakfast Wind palace corridor we got on with the sightseeing straightaway. We were slightly delirious with tiredness which made walking through the old city of Jaipur an even more exotic experience as we dodged camels, cars, ornately dressed horses topped with red turbaned Rajastanis.
The magnificent Wind palace or Hawa Mahal (1799) was built to allow the ladies from the royal household,who were in purdah, to watch processions and daily life behind small shutters, remaining unseen themselves.
Next we wandered off to the nearby city palace ignoring super aggressive touts and rickshaw drivers as best we could. We did laugh at a new tactic as we heard a very indignant: "Why don't you people ever talk to Indians?!" We laughed this off and later heard from friends who did stop to chat that this was of course another tout not so much after a chat but money...
The city palace is beautiful, very ornate and the museum contains some wonderful pieces of clothing worn by the Rajas- the kurta for the 2m tall and 1.2 wide S W Singh who weighed in at 250 kg, looked like a tent. Gates representing the 4 seasons were amazing with the peacock gate taking top prize.
The next day we were lucky enough to meet a rather nicer rickshaw driver, an older fellow called Nana, who took us to the Amber fort and Jaigarh fort, both impressive but we were also amazed by the walls built all along the crests of the arid hills around Jaipur. It is pretty dry in this part, the Amber Fort has a big lake that hasn't seen water for years.
Next stop was Agra so we choose car rental service for jaipur to agra. so we had to say goodbye to the excellent Pearl Palace hotel early in the morning. We stayed spitting distance from the East Gate in a rather nice little hostel with rooms around a garden. A much appreciated oasis of peace in Old Agra which is a busy place with small narrow streets and lots of folks trying to make a buck of the many people attracted to the Taj Mahal. We took a half day trip to see some other sights such as the baby Taj and the excellent Mehtab Bagh park, across the river from the Taj Mahal. We were talked into visiting a marble shop which was actually pretty interesting (after all you don't have to buy anything) but put our foot Facade of Wind Palace
down when the rickshaw driver wanted to take us to another store. Then next day we were amongst the first to wander through the gates to see the main event - the Taj. After two days we had already viewed the building at sunrise, sunset, moonlight, from across the river, from the roof top cafes and had never tired of the sight - and it is a beautiful close up as it was from further away (although - whinge alert!- we couldn't believe that, like too many other monuments in Rajasthan, people had tried to graffiti their names on the building ie Ranj luves Sita etc etc). Space Tourism: Will it go far or fizzle out? Welcome To The World Of Celebrity Gossips Daily deals perfect for summer holidays Have a Merry Office Christmas A Lloret de Mar Holiday in Costa Brava, Spain Gorilla Playsets Swing Sets Deliver Fun Just In Time For The Holidays Gianni Truvianni's "South Africa 2010", Poetic Justice As Germany Humbles England By 4-1 The Comparisons between Natural Diamonds and Man-Made Diamonds Diferent Ways to Travel Destination Florida Beach Wedding – A Growing And Popular Trend Trafalgar Tours - Britain The different areas of London Florida Destination Beach Wedding – Choose Destin Wedding Vendors Wisely