Jaipur - Day 1

Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, often referred to as The Pink City. The then King decided to paint the city pink for the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1876. Pink is the colour for welcome & hospitality. It is actually now more of a terracotta colour. As we entered through the city gates at night, the atmosphere was immediately different. Hard to explain as there was still mad traffic & horns blaring. Our first morning was a tour of the old city
c/o The Pink City Rickshaw Co. This is a not for profit initiative aimed at providing employment for women from low income households. Fabulous!
They dropped us at the wholesale fruit, veg & flower markets where we easily walked through & loved seeing the buzz of the commercial activity there. Everything so, so fresh! From there, a quick stop to see the Palace of the Winds to view its fabulous facade where the royal women could view festivities & processions behind screens where they couldn't be seen. Maybe it should be called The Palace of the Windows!
And then to the Hindu Govind Devji Temple. Devotees go before & after work to worship here. A mass devotional experience, very different to that which I experienced with Anne in Tamil Nadu.
From there by car to Amber Fort. It appears India loved their forts! This one was actually a royal palace with winter & summer residences, gardens & fabulous views from it's mountainous location. A quick stop to see the Jal Mahal water palace situated on a man made lake underneath the fort. Quite surreal!
After lunch, again on my request, (so bossy!) we visited a textile factory specialising in block printing & they also madehand-madee carpets. I now understand about knots & carpets. How they make those patterns is incredible. One worker makes only 1 carpet pattern for their entire working life. Really ....running out of adjectives now!. Such craftsmanship.
After lunch we were allowed to go shopping! One of the world's largest exporters of gemstones, this is the place to buy. But wait, what about the textiles Jaipur is famous for? Yes! We shopped for those as well at 2 locations. SO much fun. The SALESMEN ( not a woman to be seen) are generous in spirit, very patient & kind. Some purchases may have been made. 😊
Back to the hotel for dinner which was excellent. I braved a mutton curry - Yum! & had a language lesson from our waiter who spoke 7 languages. 🙄
The staff at this small, family run hotel are fantastic, not to mention very handsome. 😊Read more