Our trip to India
Fall 2005

[Start] [Delhi] [Agra] [Taj Mahal] [Fatehpur Sikri] [Jaipur] [Wrap Up]

Jaipur

The road from Fatehpur Sikri to Jaipur is a about 200km, 180km of which is is a pot-hole infested road that is not always a road because so much of it is in a state of disrepair. It was still interesting.

Interesting Factoid: Half-way between Delhi and Agra and again halfway between Agra and Jaipur and finally once again between Jaipur and Delhi are conveniently located places called "midway" (all 3 are named the same). These are approximately half-way between these major cities and they contain a few very nice restaurants. You need not worry about holding your bladder nor going hungry because these "midway" points are really nice places to stretch the legs and have a good meal.

The most interesting thing I saw between Fatehpur Sikri and Jaipur was a little town about 50-60km from Jaipur that appeared to be artisans who carved huge slabs of white soapstone / rock. I saw several lathes that were anywhere from 6-10 feet long that they were using to create these stone pillars. Simply amazing when you think about a few tons of rock balanced on a lathe spinning so they can smooth it down to a nice column. In the states we would have simply poured concrete in a tubular form. Just not the same.

The road throughout our journey had been largely flat and uninteresting. This changed drastically as we neared Jaipur and began climbing through a canyon. As we entered the city, I was amazed that unlike the other places we had visited, people were actively living in what was definitely an archaeological site.

We stayed at Le Meridien, definately the nicest hotel we stayed at during our trip. I can't recommend this hotel enough. Lady Luck must have been shining on us, as they upgraded us to one of the external suites. We lived like a king & queen for two days.

Our first stop the next day was Amber fort. It is quite impressive as you drive towards it.

Of course, the recommended way to enter Amber fort is to ride an elephant to the entrance in the morning. With 50 elephants, that only do 3 trips each, you need to arrive fairly early in the morning (by 9am at the latest) to ensure a spot on one. I have to say, this is without a doubt the most uncomfortable mode of transportation I have ever used. The gate of the elephant is such that you are kind of rocked in a circle and the frequest blasts from the trunk spray a fair amount of phlegm that you can not help but get on you.

As you climb the stairs, you can look down to where the Amber Fort entrance area. The red raised platform near the back is where the elephants drop you off.

It is still used for special events and they were apparently getting ready for one when we visited.

Even though Amber fort is much newer, the state of the buildings is much, much worse than any of the other places we visited. Here is a view down to the queen's courtyard. Each of the 11 queens had rooms encircling this courtyard and each room.

Amber fort also has a "mirror" room, which by my tastes is rather guady. Perhaps it looked better 200 years ago.

The view from the top parapets is quite amazing as you look down on the modern city of Jaipur. If you look closely on the hillsides to either side, you will see that a very huge wall encircles the entire area.

I am always amazed at the detail of the gardens inside of these palaces. The room we were standing in when this picture was taken was the "summer" room, where the king stayed and it is "air conditioned" by running water that went through the room and into the pond in front. Apparently, laborers worked throughout the day to carry water from the pond to the holding tank in the rear.

This is another good view of the walls surrounding the fort and the lake they used to store water during the hot summer months.

After leaving Amber fort, we went into the city proper and visited City Palace. It is still in use to this day by the king's court so it is in much better repair. You could only walk around and not into any of the buildings, except for a few that were like museums.

Inside the courtyard, they had 4 exsquisitely carved / painted doorways. This is the Peacock door.

At one time, the king made a visit to Britain and did not trust the water, so he had two of these urns that he used to bring water from the Ganges.

Another palace that we could only view and not visit was the water palace. They say it is not used anymore. Looks like a nice summer cottage!

We also visited an observatory that has some rather large sundials & other very interesting buildings that measured the various seasons of the year. However, I have to admit that Jaipur was the least interesting of the places we visited. I guess I like looking at buildings that are more than 400 years old. Ones that are only a few hundred for some reason are not as interesting. For one, they are largely painted and that has worn off and they actually look much worse than the other places we visited.

Next up is some interesting things & final thoughts in Wrap Up.

[Start] [Delhi] [Agra] [Taj Mahal] [Fatehpur Sikri] [Jaipur] [Wrap Up]