I went to Jaipur last weekend on a part work but mostly leisure trip. Jaipur is the third Rajasthan city that I’m exploring after Udaipur and Jaisalmer. I’m quite fond of Rajasthan actually – perhaps its the desert and the timeless charm of the cities that draws me to them. I boarded the crowded Ashram Express on late Friday evening. I spent most of the time reading, completing a book (Fooled by Randomness) that I started long ago. The rabri and curd at Palanpur station (Gujarat) was quite a treat. Served in small earthenware, they were delicious! Apart from that, the journey was quite uneventful as I slept early and woke up the next morning (around 4am) to get off at Jaipur.

I had made a reservation at Arya Niwas, the day before. Its a decent budget hotel with super clean rooms and courteous staff. The cafeteria in the hotel serves some really sumptuous meal – both continental and indian at fairly decent prices. Its one hotel that I’d highly recommend for the budget traveller.

One good way to explore a new place is to go riding around town with a map. I got a scooter, thanks to a dear friend. What struck me at Jaipur, was the amount of tourists – the place is infested with them, unlike any other place I’ve seen in India. The downside of having so many tourists is the exorbitant rates that you are almost always charged – be it at speciality stores or even rickshaws. I visited the City Palace, Hawa Mahal, Jantar Mantar and the old city lanes on day 1. Most of the shop sign-ages were in hindi – bold black text on white background which, by the way, is quite unusual considering the influx of tourists there.

The second day began early, with a warm sunny ride towards the Amer Palace and Jaigarh fort. The Amer Palace is perhaps my most favorite palace amongst the ones I’ve seen in Rajasthan. It houses the Sheesh Mahal – private chambers of the maharaja and his queen. Shards of mirror and colored glass form an intricate mosaic that entirely covers the inner and outer-walls and the ceilings of the rooms. The detailing of the architecture and the interiors is dazzling considering they were built more than 400 years ago. The Jaigarh fort thats perched on the adjacent hill was rather plain in comparison. The fort contains the world’s largest canon, which needs about 100 kilos of gunpowder to send a ball 35km.

There’s a lot more that I’d like to share about the trip , but I’ll save them for another day. I’ve got tons of photographs that needs sorting and some post processing, so that will take a bit of time. I want to build a travel diary as a section on this site and have some ideas brewing. Hopefully, something should materialize soon.