'Pink City'; as the name suggests, welcomes its visitors with a touch of warmth and hospitality. I witnessed the charm and beauty of this city when I visited Jaipur along with my friends on a two day trip. The month of January is the best time to visit this place and if you are visiting Jaipur on Makar Sankranti, you can witness the famous 'Kite Festival' when it appears the sky is painted with different colours.
Day 1-
We had planned a two day trip to Jaipur and had made our plans accordingly. We decided to take a road trip and booked a cab for 12th and 13th Jan. Excitement was on its peak even days before the trip and I could not sleep the whole night prior to journey in excitement. On 12th Jan,our driver reached our residence at scheduled time in the morning. Luckily, the driver was from Jaipur and was very helpful throughout the journey. The road trip was fun throughout. We had a good time during the journey and the five hour journey did not seem to be exhausting at all. The driver also gave us suggestions regarding places to visit and narrated some of his experiences. His bizarre experience at 'Bhangarh Fort' (one of the most haunted places in India) was so scary that we were shaken to the core.
We reached our hotel at around 12.30 PM in the afternoon. We have booked OYO rooms for our stay in Jaipur. After check-in formalities, we kept our bags in our rooms and went out to explore the Pink City. Our first plan was to visit Nahargarh Fort, built on the edge of the Aravalli Hills. The Fort offers a panoramic view of the entire city. A few scenes of movies like 'Rang De Basanti' and 'Bhool Bhulaiya' were shot in this fort. We were mesmerised by the architecture and magnificence of this fort. It seemed we were back in the glorious times of Rajas and Maharajas. However, due to lack of time, we could not visit Sheesh Mahal and Jaipur Wax Museum.
Next, we visited Amer Fort located in the outskirts of the city. There is a lake just besides the Amer Fort which offers a mesmerising view at sunset when sun's reflection falls in the water of the lake. At the entrance of the fort, we purchased traditional pagdis for each one of us and went inside the fort. It has a spectacular design and marvelous architecture which will leave you spellbound. I was just admiring the beauty of the fort when others were busy taking selfies. We roamed inside the fort for about two hours and decided to watch the sound and light show at Amer Fort, which takes place at 7.30 PM. In the meantime, we visited Meena Bazaar located nearby. The shopkeepers welcomed us with a lot of warmth and affection and showed us their unique and rich collection of traditional clothes and jewellery. I purchased a beautiful traditional 'Maharani Sari' and a set of ear rings from the market. After spending some time there, we went back to see the sound & light show at Amer Fort. We were seated in the open under the sky and the show started. We came to know the entire history of Amer Fort through this show. The description was in the voice of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan which made this show totally worth it. After the show was over, we went to a restaurant for dinner and returned back to our hotel.
Day 2-
The next morning, we woke up early and got ready to continue our journey. We had breakfast at the hotel, packed our bags and checked out of the hotel. We visited the famous Birla Mandir of Jaipur which is a highly regarded pilgrimage for the Hindus. The temple has a marvellous structure and has lush gardens all around. The walls of the temple are decorated with beautiful drawings.
After this, we went to visit Hawa Mahal, another landmark of Jaipur. Hawa Mahal has 953 windows (jharokhas) in total. These windows were constructed so that the women of Royal family could see the view of the street and any festivals that took place outside the palace, since they were not allowed to go out of the palace without covering their faces. Another purpose of these jharokhas was to keep the palace cool during summers by allowing the cool breeze to flow in and out, thus providing ventilation. Night view at Hawa Mahal is much more beautiful and leaves you spellbound.
After this, we visited Jantar Mantar observatory which features some of the instruments of ancient times which served the purpose of measuring the positions of celestial bodies and calculating the local time during that era. It features the world's largest stone sundial, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.We were surprised by the innovativeness of the scholars of that time. We calculated the time using the sundial and to our surprise the time came out to be very accurate. Overall, it was a very knowledgeable session for all of us.
After this, we went to one of the local markets of Jaipur, Bapu Bazaar. The market has a unique style where shops are constructed on both sides of the road and each shop is given a unique serial number. Some of us purchased a few things and then we went for lunch at 'Natraj Restaurant' where we got a taste of a variety of Rajasthani cuisines.
At last, we visited 'Jal Mahal' that is located in the middle of Man Sagar Lake. It is a five storeyed palace out of which four floors remain under water and the top storey is exposed. We only clicked a few pics as there was nothing much to do, except for camel ride. Our Jaipur trip would have been incomplete without it. It was a wonderful experience for me and the view of the city was simply amazing, while riding on the back of the camel. That brought us to the end of our trip and we departed from Jaipur, with beautiful memories etched in our heart. While writing this blog, my mind is back in Jaipur as if I am reliving those moments once again.
The only low point of this journey was that we could not visit Chowki Dhani (a traditional village resort) due to lack of time. But overall, it was a short but amazing trip which I thoroughly enjoyed. I would like to thank each one of you who accompanied me to this trip- Ankit, Anshul & Pinak (Dada). Thank you guys for making this trip a memorable one.
Day 1-
We had planned a two day trip to Jaipur and had made our plans accordingly. We decided to take a road trip and booked a cab for 12th and 13th Jan. Excitement was on its peak even days before the trip and I could not sleep the whole night prior to journey in excitement. On 12th Jan,our driver reached our residence at scheduled time in the morning. Luckily, the driver was from Jaipur and was very helpful throughout the journey. The road trip was fun throughout. We had a good time during the journey and the five hour journey did not seem to be exhausting at all. The driver also gave us suggestions regarding places to visit and narrated some of his experiences. His bizarre experience at 'Bhangarh Fort' (one of the most haunted places in India) was so scary that we were shaken to the core.
We reached our hotel at around 12.30 PM in the afternoon. We have booked OYO rooms for our stay in Jaipur. After check-in formalities, we kept our bags in our rooms and went out to explore the Pink City. Our first plan was to visit Nahargarh Fort, built on the edge of the Aravalli Hills. The Fort offers a panoramic view of the entire city. A few scenes of movies like 'Rang De Basanti' and 'Bhool Bhulaiya' were shot in this fort. We were mesmerised by the architecture and magnificence of this fort. It seemed we were back in the glorious times of Rajas and Maharajas. However, due to lack of time, we could not visit Sheesh Mahal and Jaipur Wax Museum.
Next, we visited Amer Fort located in the outskirts of the city. There is a lake just besides the Amer Fort which offers a mesmerising view at sunset when sun's reflection falls in the water of the lake. At the entrance of the fort, we purchased traditional pagdis for each one of us and went inside the fort. It has a spectacular design and marvelous architecture which will leave you spellbound. I was just admiring the beauty of the fort when others were busy taking selfies. We roamed inside the fort for about two hours and decided to watch the sound and light show at Amer Fort, which takes place at 7.30 PM. In the meantime, we visited Meena Bazaar located nearby. The shopkeepers welcomed us with a lot of warmth and affection and showed us their unique and rich collection of traditional clothes and jewellery. I purchased a beautiful traditional 'Maharani Sari' and a set of ear rings from the market. After spending some time there, we went back to see the sound & light show at Amer Fort. We were seated in the open under the sky and the show started. We came to know the entire history of Amer Fort through this show. The description was in the voice of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan which made this show totally worth it. After the show was over, we went to a restaurant for dinner and returned back to our hotel.
Day 2-
The next morning, we woke up early and got ready to continue our journey. We had breakfast at the hotel, packed our bags and checked out of the hotel. We visited the famous Birla Mandir of Jaipur which is a highly regarded pilgrimage for the Hindus. The temple has a marvellous structure and has lush gardens all around. The walls of the temple are decorated with beautiful drawings.
After this, we went to visit Hawa Mahal, another landmark of Jaipur. Hawa Mahal has 953 windows (jharokhas) in total. These windows were constructed so that the women of Royal family could see the view of the street and any festivals that took place outside the palace, since they were not allowed to go out of the palace without covering their faces. Another purpose of these jharokhas was to keep the palace cool during summers by allowing the cool breeze to flow in and out, thus providing ventilation. Night view at Hawa Mahal is much more beautiful and leaves you spellbound.
After this, we visited Jantar Mantar observatory which features some of the instruments of ancient times which served the purpose of measuring the positions of celestial bodies and calculating the local time during that era. It features the world's largest stone sundial, and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.We were surprised by the innovativeness of the scholars of that time. We calculated the time using the sundial and to our surprise the time came out to be very accurate. Overall, it was a very knowledgeable session for all of us.
After this, we went to one of the local markets of Jaipur, Bapu Bazaar. The market has a unique style where shops are constructed on both sides of the road and each shop is given a unique serial number. Some of us purchased a few things and then we went for lunch at 'Natraj Restaurant' where we got a taste of a variety of Rajasthani cuisines.
At last, we visited 'Jal Mahal' that is located in the middle of Man Sagar Lake. It is a five storeyed palace out of which four floors remain under water and the top storey is exposed. We only clicked a few pics as there was nothing much to do, except for camel ride. Our Jaipur trip would have been incomplete without it. It was a wonderful experience for me and the view of the city was simply amazing, while riding on the back of the camel. That brought us to the end of our trip and we departed from Jaipur, with beautiful memories etched in our heart. While writing this blog, my mind is back in Jaipur as if I am reliving those moments once again.
The only low point of this journey was that we could not visit Chowki Dhani (a traditional village resort) due to lack of time. But overall, it was a short but amazing trip which I thoroughly enjoyed. I would like to thank each one of you who accompanied me to this trip- Ankit, Anshul & Pinak (Dada). Thank you guys for making this trip a memorable one.
