JAIPUR

17th - 20th April 2015

We made it in to Jaipur Junction round midday and tuk tuked our way to Stephels Guest House. It's is a lovely place set around a vibrant courtyard hidden down a side road off Mi Road. (One of Jaipur's posher shopping streets) and only a fifteen min walk from the Pink City walls. For the grand price of just under twenty quid for three nights. The owner was a really lovely bloke and was always on hand if we needed anything. 

Shortly after check in we went in search of a veg cafe hidden up on a roof top near one of the city gates. On route we got talking to this local guy, we spent the whole time waiting for the catch. It never came and he ended up joining us for lunch. He wanted us to come back to his shop later to listen to his band play traditional music. He seemed quite agitated for some unknown reason so we said maybe later and disappeared into the bazaars. We were a bit disappointed that the pink city was more of a dirty terracotta rather than pink. Apparently it was painted pink in preparation for the visit of The Prince of Wales in 1876, as pink is traditionally the colour of hospitality.

You can buy a lot of tat in these places and you are constantly being sold to, it's a shame it's so hard to find a genuine person who isn't trying to get something from you. The temperature was threatening to break 40 degrees and in the early afternoon wondering around outside became unbearable. So we went in search of the Indian Coffee House. This is a great little find, in a tiny rustic courtyard down a crumbly alley way. The iced coffee is something special and the friendly waiter was dressed in traditional attire. With the pealing paint and worn furniture it felt like we had jumped back in time to an older India. After killing some time, we got a tuk tuk over to the foot of Narangath fort, that rises up above the city.

We had to walk a few small streets and the zig zag path that lead to the top. Looking down over the city we could start to see how massive it was. Colourful buildings stretched off to the surrounding hills in the distance. It was reminiscent of Kathmandu valley. We stood and watched a group of kids playing cricked on a rooftop for a while until the obvious happened and the smallest was sent off to find a way up onto a near by roof to retrieve the ball. I guess that still only counts as six.

The view from the top was awesome. The walls snaked their way across the hillside in both directions, at times rising over high peaks then disappearing into low valleys. A large family of monkeys started to gather nearby the palace forcing us to retreat to the walls. The sun was just beginning to set filling the sky with warm orange tones blending in to a deep blue. As the sun slid away in the distance we followed the wall East towards a little cafe perched upon the battlements. 

We shared a picturesque beer while Jaipur began to light up for the night time.

On our way back we realised we could not go back the way we came. The only option was an expensive ride on the back of a motorbike back to the foot of the hillside. At first we thought we could walk it but a large group of office worked from Delhi befriended us, advised us against the walk as if was super long and apparently a bit dodgy at night. They said we could catch a ride with them as they had cars waiting and it was all paid for. The driver of the car we were in was an ex F1 driver and had raced with Schumacher. Luckily he was in a convoy and couldn't show off his skills. 

The following day we did a spot of sightseeing in the centre of the Pink City. It turned out it was World Heritage Day so everything was free. Firstly we went to Jantar Mantar. It is an eccentric observatory with loads of quirky buildings designed to look at the heavens. It is the home of the worlds largest sun dial which is accurate to two seconds and soars 70 feet high. There are also a range of other odd looking structures for looking at the stars and measuring their movements. 

Near by is the Hawa Mahal. You enter around the back into courtyard with a fountain in the centre. The architecture is a mixture of Rajasthani and Mughal with symmetry playing a big part. Afternoon sunlight was illuminating the famous stained glass windows filling the internal rooms with colour. However the main attraction was seeing the building from the outside. Originally it was built so the noble women could look down and watch the city life. All the windows on the main facade are covers by intricate screens or stained glass so the women could not be seen.

Our last landmark of the day was to climb the stairs of the Iswari Minar Swarga Sal tower rooted in the centre of the pink city. The 360 views were incredible and we could see all the places we had been so far. We stood for a while to take it all in then headed back to the guest house via a ridiculously spicy kabab. 

Our final act of tourism was to rise early and ride an elephant up to the Amber Palace situated just north of the city. We caught a local bus and had a bite to eat on the street below the fort. It was a great breakfast setting as the bright Amber coloured walls cast a warm light over the surrounding area. We could see a procession of elephants marching up to the fort so we got in line and joined in. This was the way Kings used to enter the palace, and we thought it would be cool to do the same. 

We disembarked off the elephant in the main courtyard and decided to get a guide to bring it all to life a little. He was brilliant! And told us loads of interesting stuff such as, the Hindu architecture styling (animal carvings) and the Persian architectural styling (geometric patterns & symmetry) came from the Emperors two wives who were from different places and held different beliefs, the water systems in place dripped water through grass curtains creating a fragrant form of aircon when the breeze passed through the grassy screen, there were different palaces for monsoon, summer and winter, and talked about the amazing hall of mirrors, each one convex, meaning you are reflected a thousand times. 

After a hour or so wondering around the palace, our guide showed us a secret passageway to the Jaigarh Fort further up the hillside behind. This was used as a secret escape tunnel by the emperor.

We spent an hour or so up there looking at the beautiful views over the city and surrounding hillside. It was a beautiful scene that you could get lost in for hours. The highlight of the fort is the world largest cannon. It is bloody massive, however it was only fired once as a test sending a giant cannonball 22km. The fort was so feared that no body ever attacked it so the canon just sits above the city crowning the fort.  

We hid in our new favourite coffee house while the sun did its work, and in the evening walked up the road to the Raj Mandir cinema to experience our first Bollywood film. The cinema was an incredible building, it looked like the set of a Disney film with bright lights and curly flourishes. Inside a huge winding staircase with a red carpet consumed one side, while ornate gold and silver paneling and large chandeliers filled the rest of the space. It was full of people, it felt a lot more special than a UK cinema. Having only one screen it felt more like a theatre than a cinema, you could even get VIP seats and treatment. The film was a action / sifi / romance called Mr X and was completely in Hindi. However the over the top expressive acting made it easy to follow, almost more so than a silent move from the twenties. The audience were brilliant, every time there was any passion (the most being a kiss) or a cliche heroic moment, the auditorium would be filled with whoops and cheers! It was awesome. 

The following day we chilled out at the hotel and achieved very little. We spent a long time chatting to the hotel owner. He was a lovely man and we whiled away the afternoon talking about all things from old Bollywood films to his family and his travels in Europe. We decided that with the temperature hitting around forty making the majority of the day unpleasant, we would cut short traveling through Rajasthan and head north back towards the Himalayas for cooler climes. Later that evening we had a fantastic curry in a street food stall on the road outside the station, then curled up in the sleeper train for our 14 hour journey to the city of Amritsar, 30km east of the Pakistan border.