Because this hotel doesn't have its own restaurant we eat breakfast (and usually evening meals) at their sister hotel which has a rooftop restaurant. The hotel owner provides free transport between the two hotels via Tuk Tuks.
One of the Tuk Tuk drivers was particularly insistent that we should allow him to give us a tour around Jaipur town and we provisionally agreed that he should meet us at 10am this morning. We then realised there wasn't much in the nearby town that we hadn't walked around on Tuesday and we really didn't fancy sitting in an uncomfortable Tuk Tuk to travel out of town. We broke the news to him this morning and he tried very hard to change our minds but he accepted a small monetary token as an apology!
His 'chat up' line was that he'd ferried Rachel Johnson (Sister of Boris Johnson) around Jaipur when she was in Town and he showed us her photo on his mobile phone. We didn't think any more of it till our Tuk Tuk driver yesterday said he'd spent 10 days driving Miriam Margolyes round when she was in Jaipur … he too showed us a photo of the lady. So with two of them laying claim to having befriended and regularly driven 'personalities' it seems to be a bit of a scam and if any other Tuk Tuk driver tries the same trick I intend to play them at their own game and pretend the lady in question is a friend (or at least an acquaintance) and asking for more details so I can remember him (driver) to her!
We made a spur of the moment decision to take a taxi and visit 3 attractions outside town. Fares are ridiculously cheap here. We were out for 3.5 hours (including waiting) and the fare was the equivalent of £13.
We had a lovely taxi driver who told us he was 71 years old, has 5 children and 15 grandchildren. He didn't go to school after 14 years of age and has worked as a driver ever since - his English was self taught and very good. Some of the Grandchildren live with him and his wife in Jaipur as their Dad (his Son) works in Delhi for an American company. He needs to continue working to be able to help them all …. So he got a generous tip.
First stop for us was the Amber Fort which is about 11kms outside Jaipur. The Fort used to be the old capital. It has sturdy battlements and beautiful palaces and was originally built by Raja Ma Singh in 1590s. Additional extensions were made by successive Maharajas until Sawai Jai Singh who was the last Maharaja of Amber built the new city called Jaipur and he then shifted the capital to the new city in 1721. Its about 11 kms outside Jaipur.
We visited the fort in 2014 and took an elephant ride from the base of the Fort up the hill to the top so we didn't want to revisit. We just took some photos from the lakeside at the bottom of the hill.
If you look very carefully at this 'zoomed in' photo you can just about see people being transported up the hill to the top of the fort by elephant. We took this mode of transport last time - the elephants are beautifully painted and decorated to appeal to the tourists but it must be a boring life for them. We were on an organised tour previously so had to 'go with the flow'.
From there we stopped off at Jal Mahal (Water Palace), Its a small palace set in the middle of Man Sagar Lake. It used to be possible to get a boat across the lake but this was stopped and rumour has it there are plans to renovate and reopen part of the palace as a restaurant. If that happens I fear it will be targeted by the tour operators bringing in bus loads of visitors (but I'm starting a cold so am possibly being overly negative)!
It isn't grand compared to other palaces but its in a nice setting and there were lots of birds around.
One of the Tuk Tuk drivers was particularly insistent that we should allow him to give us a tour around Jaipur town and we provisionally agreed that he should meet us at 10am this morning. We then realised there wasn't much in the nearby town that we hadn't walked around on Tuesday and we really didn't fancy sitting in an uncomfortable Tuk Tuk to travel out of town. We broke the news to him this morning and he tried very hard to change our minds but he accepted a small monetary token as an apology!
His 'chat up' line was that he'd ferried Rachel Johnson (Sister of Boris Johnson) around Jaipur when she was in Town and he showed us her photo on his mobile phone. We didn't think any more of it till our Tuk Tuk driver yesterday said he'd spent 10 days driving Miriam Margolyes round when she was in Jaipur … he too showed us a photo of the lady. So with two of them laying claim to having befriended and regularly driven 'personalities' it seems to be a bit of a scam and if any other Tuk Tuk driver tries the same trick I intend to play them at their own game and pretend the lady in question is a friend (or at least an acquaintance) and asking for more details so I can remember him (driver) to her!
We made a spur of the moment decision to take a taxi and visit 3 attractions outside town. Fares are ridiculously cheap here. We were out for 3.5 hours (including waiting) and the fare was the equivalent of £13.
We had a lovely taxi driver who told us he was 71 years old, has 5 children and 15 grandchildren. He didn't go to school after 14 years of age and has worked as a driver ever since - his English was self taught and very good. Some of the Grandchildren live with him and his wife in Jaipur as their Dad (his Son) works in Delhi for an American company. He needs to continue working to be able to help them all …. So he got a generous tip.
First stop for us was the Amber Fort which is about 11kms outside Jaipur. The Fort used to be the old capital. It has sturdy battlements and beautiful palaces and was originally built by Raja Ma Singh in 1590s. Additional extensions were made by successive Maharajas until Sawai Jai Singh who was the last Maharaja of Amber built the new city called Jaipur and he then shifted the capital to the new city in 1721. Its about 11 kms outside Jaipur.
We visited the fort in 2014 and took an elephant ride from the base of the Fort up the hill to the top so we didn't want to revisit. We just took some photos from the lakeside at the bottom of the hill.
If you look very carefully at this 'zoomed in' photo you can just about see people being transported up the hill to the top of the fort by elephant. We took this mode of transport last time - the elephants are beautifully painted and decorated to appeal to the tourists but it must be a boring life for them. We were on an organised tour previously so had to 'go with the flow'.
From there we stopped off at Jal Mahal (Water Palace), Its a small palace set in the middle of Man Sagar Lake. It used to be possible to get a boat across the lake but this was stopped and rumour has it there are plans to renovate and reopen part of the palace as a restaurant. If that happens I fear it will be targeted by the tour operators bringing in bus loads of visitors (but I'm starting a cold so am possibly being overly negative)!
There's a promenade walk alongside the lake which is full of souvenir sellers and people providing colourful turbans and Indian veils for the ladies then offering to take photos … Luckily a couple of coachloads of tourists arrived at the same time as us so we were left alone as the coach passengers were targeted when they were listening to their tour guides.
I got more surreptitious photos of 'characters' to add to my 'to draw' list.
I believe this is an Oriental Magpie Robin ... he might be a different colour to our British Robins but there's no mistaking that attitude.
Red Vented Bulbul
Then on to the Monkey Palace. We hadn't visited this before and it was a last minute decision to add it to our itinerary this morning. Reviews are very mixed with people either loving or hating the place. I'm pleased we visited.
Its a holy pilgrimage centre and has a temple dedicated to the Sun God. The complex is set on a very steep hillside with winding pathways leading to the Sun God, and other, small temples at the top of the ridge overlooking a gorge. You get an impressive view of the city (but its hot work climbing to the top)!
I'd read that it would be sensible to employ the services of 'the monkey man' and buy some nuts to feed the beasties; that the monkeys are shy and the monkey man can tempt them out and encourage them to sit on your shoulder for photoshoots if required. We opted not to buy nuts from the many hawkers trying to sell bags of them to us and we didn't see anybody who resembled a monkey man so we set off on our own.
The winding pathway is lined with Indian beggars trying to sell nuts or offering to let us photograph them for a fee … we just carried on and were rewarded with the sight of lots of monkeys eating bananas and nuts which had been put out for them - there was lots of competition for the food and several mini fights but the monkeys weren't worried about us being nearby and I got plenty of photos. On the way down from the temples there were no monkeys to be seen - they'd just disappeared. I guess that's when the services of the monkey man would be needed - we just got there at the right time it seems!
one of the priests
and the views over Jaipur City were worth the climb
One final picture .... I spotted this on our drive home so took the photo through the car window but it didn't turn out too badly. Horses being shod at the side of the road
I've just started a cold today despite religiously taking 'Vicks First Defense' every time we come into contact with coughing/sneezing people. It sounded like a doctor's waiting room at breakfast this morning so there's a lot of it around.
We're flying back to Delhi in the morning and are hoping that the air pollution situation will have improved. It has certainly been breezier and fresher over the last few days in Jaipur. Fingers crossed!
The Jal Mahal looks very much like the palace they used in the Jewel in the Crown.
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