We’re spending our next few weeks in the state of Rajasthan, the land of the Kings. For those of you who have not visited India, Rajasthan is what you picture in your head when you imagine it – it has the vast Thar desert, camels, palaces, temples, forts and gorgeous haveli (ornately carved sandstone mansions filled with murals). Aladdin would feel completely at home here.
Our first stop was Jaipur, where the oldest part of the city was once painted pink to welcome a visiting British monarch and has been maintained in pink ever since. The Pink City was incredibly beautiful, if somewhat shabby, and much to Dan’s dismay it had the best shopping that we’ve encountered so far. Here we were thrilled to see our first snake charmers, each of which had two de-fanged snakes in a small basket. I was saddened to see that as soon as the music stopped the snakes would immediately start hissing and try to pierce the charmer’s hands with their no longer present fangs... I pitied them, enslaved and robbed of their natural defences. We spent a very relaxing week in Jaipur taking in palaces, an ayurvedic massage and a McSpicy Paneer Burger and Chicken Maharaja Mac from you know where...
Beached in Delhi, thankfully we had plenty of time before our train so we could help the poor guy out. On the train, our favourite mode of transport.
The pink city gate and busy streets. Our next stop is the beatutiful Amber Palace... unfortunately on a scorchingly hot day! To our surprise we came across an air-conditioned cafe with cold coffees deep inside the palace... oh the little things.
And I finally got a picture of the locals taking a picture of us... happens every 5 minutes or so.We spend a lot of time speculating what they do with these photos! In an effort to spend more time viewing the attractions than posing for photos with the locals we have restricted it to one photo per family.
Tunnels under the palace that all the cool kids used, well the royals actually. And some sneaky graffiti...
Jumping monkeys and Maharaja Mac burgers, pretty good actually. I'm mostly just embarrassed to be eating at McDonalds...
We spent an evening at an enchanting little place that our local guy called 'the night palace', it did have a real name but I forget. Was great to see the locals out and about, enjoying the night. There were all sorts of attractions, elephant and camel rides, carnival stalls, and even fortune telling... turns out Sophie has met the man of her dreams and will live happily ever after.
Waiting at the station can be a harrowing affair when Dan goes to buy snacks! Our train to Jodhpur departed FIVE HOURS late, but our not insignificant disgruntlement quickly faded upon arrival because we were greeted with...
Jodhpur contains a plethora of blue buildings that are stunning to behold. The locals say this is because the chemical that makes the paint blue also keeps the mosquitoes away, while the historians say that it is because the Brahman priests painted their dwellings blue to signify their status , only to have Joe Public (or perhaps Amir Public?) follow suit. The main attraction of Jodhpur is the immense Mehrangarh Fort which sits omnipotently above the town like a parent keeping a watchful eye over a child. It was jaw droppingly, eye-ball poppingly breathtaking both inside and out. I particularly liked the intricately carved and hollowed screen doors that allow cooling breezes to enter the palaces, and through which royal women once secretly spied on palace affairs. I think I’ll build one in my own home one day...
A common sight at the local train stations, the narrow streets of Jodhpur.
The next day we scaled the epic fort... never fallen in battle... so epic
Local opium devices, hookah too. Also an old man.
Guarding treasures can be tiring work. On the right is the 'creative room' where all the musicians and poets would hang out and get creative...
View from the back, the old city.
Dan spent a very long time taking photo's of all the weaponry. This one must be his favourite.... (yeah it was hard not to include more, but I don't think everyone is as into ancient weaponry as I am)
And finally a visit to a cenotaph made of pure white marble, and a little music lesson on the way out.
Our first stop was Jaipur, where the oldest part of the city was once painted pink to welcome a visiting British monarch and has been maintained in pink ever since. The Pink City was incredibly beautiful, if somewhat shabby, and much to Dan’s dismay it had the best shopping that we’ve encountered so far. Here we were thrilled to see our first snake charmers, each of which had two de-fanged snakes in a small basket. I was saddened to see that as soon as the music stopped the snakes would immediately start hissing and try to pierce the charmer’s hands with their no longer present fangs... I pitied them, enslaved and robbed of their natural defences. We spent a very relaxing week in Jaipur taking in palaces, an ayurvedic massage and a McSpicy Paneer Burger and Chicken Maharaja Mac from you know where...
Beached in Delhi, thankfully we had plenty of time before our train so we could help the poor guy out. On the train, our favourite mode of transport.
Snakes! And camels! We'll be riding these soon on our desert safari... Camels that is... not the snakes.
The pink city gate and busy streets. Our next stop is the beatutiful Amber Palace... unfortunately on a scorchingly hot day! To our surprise we came across an air-conditioned cafe with cold coffees deep inside the palace... oh the little things.
And I finally got a picture of the locals taking a picture of us... happens every 5 minutes or so.We spend a lot of time speculating what they do with these photos! In an effort to spend more time viewing the attractions than posing for photos with the locals we have restricted it to one photo per family.
Tunnels under the palace that all the cool kids used, well the royals actually. And some sneaky graffiti...
Jumping monkeys and Maharaja Mac burgers, pretty good actually. I'm mostly just embarrassed to be eating at McDonalds...
We spent an evening at an enchanting little place that our local guy called 'the night palace', it did have a real name but I forget. Was great to see the locals out and about, enjoying the night. There were all sorts of attractions, elephant and camel rides, carnival stalls, and even fortune telling... turns out Sophie has met the man of her dreams and will live happily ever after.
Waiting at the station can be a harrowing affair when Dan goes to buy snacks! Our train to Jodhpur departed FIVE HOURS late, but our not insignificant disgruntlement quickly faded upon arrival because we were greeted with...
Jodhpur contains a plethora of blue buildings that are stunning to behold. The locals say this is because the chemical that makes the paint blue also keeps the mosquitoes away, while the historians say that it is because the Brahman priests painted their dwellings blue to signify their status , only to have Joe Public (or perhaps Amir Public?) follow suit. The main attraction of Jodhpur is the immense Mehrangarh Fort which sits omnipotently above the town like a parent keeping a watchful eye over a child. It was jaw droppingly, eye-ball poppingly breathtaking both inside and out. I particularly liked the intricately carved and hollowed screen doors that allow cooling breezes to enter the palaces, and through which royal women once secretly spied on palace affairs. I think I’ll build one in my own home one day...
A common sight at the local train stations, the narrow streets of Jodhpur.
The next day we scaled the epic fort... never fallen in battle... so epic
Local opium devices, hookah too. Also an old man.
Guarding treasures can be tiring work. On the right is the 'creative room' where all the musicians and poets would hang out and get creative...
View from the back, the old city.
Dan spent a very long time taking photo's of all the weaponry. This one must be his favourite.... (yeah it was hard not to include more, but I don't think everyone is as into ancient weaponry as I am)
And finally a visit to a cenotaph made of pure white marble, and a little music lesson on the way out.
Wow, golly, I mean - Geeeez. Amazing. :)
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