When travelling you rely a lot on recommendations to find good areas in a city to stay. Some of those are good recommendations which lead to places like Tapovan in Rishikesh, a lovely area with everything we needed. Some of those recommendations lead to places like Bani Park in Jaipur. This is how we ended up staying in a nice hotel in a nice area that happened to be an hours walk across the city to any of the sights. A walk that crossed a main ring road and many questionable neighbourhoods. Maybe this isn't an issue if you just get a tuk-tuk, but what can i say, we're just stubborn...and cheap.
We're also not organised. We arrived to Jaipur at 7 at night and jumped into the (free) hotel arranged tuk-tuk. From there it was a speedy from the train station to the hotel where we were met by the smiley-est receptionist I've ever met. We checked in and dumped our stuff before heading to the roof for dinner. This all went smoothly, what didn't was the next morning. We assumed that on our hour walk towards city palace that we would find somewhere to eat breakfast; it wasn't quite that simple.
We were 45 minutes into our walk when we met the jewel cutter, a helpful man who said he would lead us the rest of the way into the city centre and to somewhere we could have breakfast. We were feeling slightly overwhelmed and lost as the traffic was manic, so we agreed. He and Ben struck up a conversation, all the while the man was adeptly weaving through the traffic as if it wasn't even there. I, not being quite so confident, left them to it and concentrated on not getting run over. The restaurant he took us to wasn't quite what we were looking, so after a quick trip for him to show us where his shop was we said our goodbyes. He was genuinely a very nice man.
From here there was a long a fruitless search for a cash point that would give us money, before giving up and finally going for breakfast. We found a nice but overly pricey cafe with beautiful views of the Hawa Mahal (the palace of the winds). The palace, a red and pink sandstone structure, was commissioned in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh as a way for the royal ladies to view the passing world and parades without being seen themselves. The building itself connects to the women's quarters of the City Palace and is reminiscent of a honeycomb. This, along with many windows to see from had the added bonus of keeping cool in the summer months. During this time in history all royal women in Jaipur obeyed the rules of purdah, which forbade them to be seen in public without heavy face covering.
From here we went to the City Palace. The city palace is as old as Jaipur itself. It was founded by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in 1727 when he moved his court from Amer (Amber Fort), due to an increase of population and water shortages. Although still home to the Jaipur royal family, parts of the palace have converted into the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II museum. There were two options for tickets at the city palace; a 2500 Rs ticket that would grant us access to the museum plus access to a few rooms in the Chandra Mahal (what used to be the Maharaja's private quarters) or a 500 Rs ticket that just let you into the museum. We obviously went for the 500 Rs option. We were then offered an audio guide for 200 Rs each... being cheap, we decided we would share.
The audio guide and the museum were brilliant. We had a few issues of where to start the tour, as we had to walk through most of the grounds to get to the beginning, but apart from that it was very descriptive and informative. It was so good that by the end, Ben and I - who had been walking no more than the foot apart the headphones would allow us - admitted it might have been worth having one each.
The museum is set in many different buildings of the Palace. Our first stop was to the Mabarak Mahal, this building stands alone in the middle of a large courtyard and was built in 1900 for the purposes of receiving and housing guests. It was set far enough away from the royal cambers to give the palace occupants privacy but the building was grand enough that the guests wouldn't feel slighted. The ground floor of the building is now a textile gallery, here was saw many examples of traditional Jaipur garments, rugs and wall hangings.
The audio guide also took us the the Sileh Khana, where the arms and armour gallery is and to a painting and photography gallery. Along with this we saw the largest silver artefacts in the world, two silver jars. The jars once carried Ganga river water across to England for the Maharaja to drink while visiting England for King Edwards VII coronation. We also took some silly photos in some very decorative doorways... we just couldn't resist.
After leaving the city palace, despite having no plans to, somehow, we ended up in a tuk-tuk. It's really amazing how persuasive those guys are! Our driver had decided there were many places we hadn't planned on seeing and he was there to fix that. To be fair, it was very cheap and we mostly enjoyed it.
First stop was to the Royal Gaitor. Although we didn't know it at the time, it is a tomb for many Maharaja's of Jaipur. It cost us 30 Rs each to enter and we spent about half an hour wandering about the structures. Although there was locals relaxing on some of the verandas the whole area felt almost unknown to tourists as we didn't see any others while we visited. It is a very peaceful place that seemed to be free from the noise of the city.
From here we stopped by to see the water palace, one of the most photographed spots in Jaipur. The water palace is seen from the Jaipur to Amer road and sits in the middle of Man Sagar Lake and the bottom four floors of the palace are normally underwater. Personally i really didn't get it, although i'm sure with a good enough camera you can get a cool picture, to me it really wasn't that impressive. It just seemed like a bad idea to try and build there in the first place.
As it was Ganesh Chaturthi - a week long festival celebrating the birth of the elephant headed Hindu god Lord Ganesha - we were told that the local elephants had a day off from working at Amer Fort and we could go visit. Although I don't agree with elephants being ridden (don't get me started on a rant about training methods) i didn't want to pass up a visit to an elephant house to see what their conditions were like, and if they seemed happy.
Although the two males in the back had a foot chains on, there was no sores and they seemed relaxed. I was told they are chained mainly so they don't fight during dinner time and to stop them wandering about in the mid-day sun. The elephant we spent some time with wasn't chained at all, she was more than happy to be fussed and followed after you if you stopped! We were told that the elephants were allowed to roam outside during the night when it's cooler. Overall we pleasantly surprised at how happy the elephants seemed, at how clean the elephant house was and how well cared for they were.
Our tuk-tuk driver was doing well but then he thought we'd like to see the Mughal City. This turns out to be a fancy name for shops. Although the clothes shop he took us to showed us the block printing process and wasn't too pushy trying to get us to buy things, I still didn't want to buy anything. The same for the spice market we were dragged to next. I am of the firm belief that when I want to buy something I'll go to the shop, and when I don't want to buy something, showing me 12 different types of tea isn't going to change my mind. The driver had a jewellery market lined us for us next but we said "no, thanks!" and asked to be dropped off back in town.
Once back in in central Jaipur we headed to the Jantar Mantar (Observatory), because we hadn't seen enough sights for one day. The Observatory, completed in 1734 is a collection of nineteen architectural astronomical instruments. It features the worlds largest stone sundial called Vrihat Samrat Yantra, which means the "great king of instruments". There are many other instruments that although i have no idea what they do, thought they looked rather impressive. The site suffered damage during the 19th century but has been lovingly restored of the last 100 years, with all of the instruments being intact today. The entry fee was 200 Rs each and it was worth every penny. We could have opted for the composite ticket which included the Amer fort, Hawa Mahal, the Albert Hall Museum and two gardens for just 1000 Rs each. For us, as we were only planning to go to the Amer fort the next day it made more sense to get separate tickets.
After finally finding a cash point that would actually give us money and grabbing some dinner at this strange rooftop restaurant (that for some reason wanted us to play dress up in hats and take photos) we headed back home to sleep. It had been a busy day. The next morning, we wisely decided to have breakfast at the hotel to save some time and set out to find a tuk-tuk driver.
We found many, but the one we chose would take us where we wanted, had some good advice AND was the cheapest. First stop was Amer fort (Amber fort) which is situated 11 km from Jaipur. This is when we learned that maybe cheaper doesn't necessarily mean better. After learning that we might want more than 3 hours he recommended to see Amer Fort and also Jaigarh Fort (which is placed directly above) he said he wouldn't wait for us because he had other things to do that afternoon. We were a bit pissed off at this point. We were under the assumption that we'd hired him for the day but as there was nothing we could do we paid him as little as we could and tried not to fume about it too much.
When we left the tuk-tuk we found ourselves on the road with the red stand stone Amer Fort looming on the hill above us. There are two paths to reach the fort itself, the walkway or the elephant road. Not being elephants we walked up the stairs.
The fort is an extensive palace complex and was home to the Royal family for many years before they founded the city of Jaipur. We had an amazing time here, wandering from the more well preserved formal and public areas to mazes of less decorative hallways and private rooms. What did surprise me about Amer fort was the lack of exhibitions to show how the rooms would have been set up, the whole place was empty of furnishing. Maybe we would have learned more if we had hired a guide but it was great to have the freedom to explore at will.
The room we found most impressive in the Amer fort was the Diwan-i-Khas (the room of private audience). The room which was used to meet with special envoys was built in 1621 and is covered in intricate glass mirror decorations.
As the fort isn't really a fort and more of a gigantic palace it needed some protection, this is where we went next. The fort above the fort, called Jaigarh fort. The best way to get there from Amer was through the escape tunnels. They could be accessed from 3 main points when the fort was in use, from the Man Singh Palace (where the Maharaja would live), from the Zenani Deorhi (Ladies apartments) and the Diwan-i-Khas - this is where we entered. The tunnels are subterranean before continuing roofless for half of the distance to Jaigarh fort. It was boiling in the roofless section of the tunnel, it seemed to continue forever! When finally exiting the tunnel we found - to our delight - another section of mountain road to clamber up.
Eventually we made it up to the fort and by flashing our city palace tickets we were able to get in for free (yay!). Jaigarh fort was built in 1726 to protect Amer Fort and it definitely had a military feel to it with all the cannons along the ramparts. The fort actually had its own cannon foundry, which was the most efficient in the world (during the 17th century). I didn't learn that fact when i visited however, as on arrival the foundry a fort worker continuously said "come sir!" until it was easier to follow him than to ignore him... saying "no thanks!" did nothing. He then gave us fly-by tour of the next courtyard - pointing to exhibitions saying one word such as "iron" or "oxen" before repeating "come sir!" till we followed again. At the end of this one minute tour i handed over a small amount as a token thanks, on seeing the amount the man shouted and hissed while following us. I just love being berated for not paying enough for a tour I was forced to go on...
Despite one more incident - this time of a man in military uniform trying his hardest to give us a tour despite the fact we asked to be left alone many, many times - Jaigarh fort was interesting and well worth the walk. Although most of the fort had a utilitarian feel to it, it still of course had the royal apartments.
After a maze of hallways that leads into the royal apartments, it really opened up and there was beautiful gardens with views overlooking both Amer fort and the valley below. There was also set-ups showing how the Maharaja would dine with guests and how the kitchen would typically be set up in the time period the fort was used in.
We wandered the fort a little longer, seeing a massive reservoir inhabited with monkeys, and the world biggest cannon (when it was built in the 18th century) before heading back to find a tuk-tuk to take us to our next destination - the monkey temple.
Although we didn't know it there are two main ways to reach the Galta Ji (monkey temple), you can be directly dropped off at the western entrance of temple complex or you can be dropped off the other side of the large hill - which happens to be a shorter journey from Jaipur. Of course we were dropped off on the other side of the hill, with not so helpful instructions of "go up there".
We brought some nuts and headed up the hill. Within seconds i was mobbed and robbed by monkeys - who seemed to be waiting for an unsuspecting tourist to wander past - and all the nuts had gone. Following the directions of "up there" didn't actually take us where we needed to go, we kept on climbing the hill and came to a temple. There was a few monkeys there, but this was not the monkey temple. We had arrived at the sun temple. It had beautiful panoramic views over the city and we did manage to help some monkeys have a drink from a tap, however it wasn't where wanted to see so after a quick hide in the shade we carried on.
As we must have looked as lost as we felt some kind strangers pointed us in the right direction, past some buildings filled with chanting and back down the other side of the hill. After debating whether we could be bothered to climb the hill again on the way back, we decided to go for it. At the bottom of the hill we found another man selling monkey food, this time we decided Ben should be the one to look after it.
Within minutes of entering the temple Ben was a monkey's best friend. They were climbing over him and although I tried to get some good pictures its hard when monkeys are springing off you to get to the food! It was a strange experience to have locals bathing in a sacred pool on one side and monkeys leaping at you on the other. It was great fun, although Ben did better as keeper of the monkey treats they were quickly grabbed from his hands and we thought it was time to go.
That evening, sun burnt and exhausted we picked somewhere very local to our hotel for dinner. To our surprise we had lovely food and two peacocks strutting their stuff around the garden as we ate. It was a lovely end to a hectic few days sightseeing.
Next stop is Jodphur... but first we found out just how long is too long to be a train station for.
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