We had quite a long day yesterday. Long but great! We had to get up rather early to start our day as the Fairmont is so far away from the city. The hotel itself is spectacular, but the location and the services are very odd... definitely not like any other Fairmont I have ever encountered. Breakfast was great tho, they have an open concept for the kitchen so you can see all everyone working away throughout your meal.
Our first stop yesterday was Amber fort (actually pronounced Amair) for ELEPHANT RIDING!! The elephants take you up to the top of the fort - I was like a child waiting to see Santa Claus. Our Elephant's name was Sarswati, she was named after the goddess of knowledge. I much prefered Lucy (I had already decided on the name prior to meeting her) although the name Speedy was the best fit! She was faster than all the other elephants, she was running from time to time! The result was quite a bumpy ride - but it was SOO fun! When we reached the top, we got to explore the entire fort. And was it ever fun! There were tons of secret passages and great lookouts to explore. It was definitely the best fort we have seen!
We then went to another fort that was built in the 1700s and had alot of british influence, so all of the detailing was painted instead of carved into the marble. It was stil quite beautiful but not as well kept as Amber fort.
Next on our journey was City Palace. We traveled thru old Jaipur to get there, and it was a great drive to the palace. The streets were lined with shops, which were all built into the palace walls. The owners of the shop pay $1.25 in rent to the King of Jaipur per month! The profit margins for these shops are unbelievable. The city palace was stunning - the royal family still resides in the palace, but they have opened up certain sections of it to display the heritage of Jaipur. They had all the old carriages, tapestries, clothing, royal jewels and thrones on deisplay. It was really interesting to be in a palace that was still inhabited by the royals!
Next to the Royal Palace is Juntar Muntar - an ancient science complex. As we approached it, ii realized I had been pick-pocketed and our compound tickets for all of the attractions were gone. Luckily that was the only thing that I had on me, Harky had everything else and it was all accounted for. That put me in quite a sour mood, but Juntar Muntar was fascinating! they had constructed massive intruments to tell time, to find holy spirits, and measure how far the moon was from the Earth, how far places were from the equator, and much more... Definitely and unexpected favourite of mine!
By this time it was 3pm, and we were starving. We made our way to a famous thali house in the New Jaipur. Thali is essentailly tapas indian style - a rajisthani specialty! And its all you can eat- did I ever enjoy myself! After bein pleasantly stuffed, our driver stopped for us to have kulfi - a famous dessert in Jaipur. This one was traditional pistacchio, and my god it was the best I have had in my life.
We also saw Jal Mahal - the Water Palace. It was built during the dry season on a lake that evaporates, so when the lake comes back 2 stories of the 4 story palace are underwater... The premise of it was that as the water started to come back, it would keep the building cool, which is when the King would live there. We saw it half submerged by water, and it was still glorious. There were camels and stalls set up all around the port that lead out to the palace, as well as cows and dogs and chickens in cages, pretty much everything you could imagine. It was so hot that we had to have some coconut water from the street vendor. and WOW real coconut water tastes 100% better than the stuff we get in Cananda... I could drink it all the time.
By then we were well past exhausted, and took the long journey back to the hotel. We passed on dinner as we were still so full, and fell asleep by 830pm. What another great day! We are heading out to Ranthambore today, and then Pushkar tomorrow, and a 11 hour train ride to Jaisalmer after that. Not sure how great internet will be... so if there is no word from me for a while, fear not!
