Exploring India - Wandering the Pink City also known as beautiful Jaipur
Exploring India - Wandering the Pink City
also known as beautiful Jaipur, India
This past November I had an amazing opportunity to visit the beautiful city of Jaipur or as some know it as the pink city. I was able to travel to Jaipur with a group of close friends where we found amazing accommodations at the Pearl Palace. The Pearl Palace exceeded my expectations. The rooftop restaurant had a beautiful view along with some of the most amazing Indian food (don’t worry they also offered a lot of western options).
BOOK YOUR VISIT TO JAIPUR, INDIA TODAY - CLICK HERE FOR BOOKING AT THE PEARL PALACE
Our first day in the city we went to the City Palace. This was quiet interesting. We were able to walk through rooms and courtyards full of history from textiles to the King and Queens thrones. A great place to mingle with some of the locals. Don’t worry about the stares from the locals everyone is curious in India just as you are of them. My group and I were able to snap a couple of group shots with the locals here which made for great memories. Walk across the street and you can enter the Jaipur observatory Jantur Mantur. This was a really neat place that dates back centuries with history of astrology and dating back to 1738 CE. I would recommend getting a package ticket which gets you into all these attractions for a low cost of 1000 rupees a piece. I believe this ticket is worth the cost apposed to purchasing tickets at each attraction for around 300 rupees a piece. From the observatory we went to what our tuk tuk driver called the Eiffel tower of Jaipur. Once at the top of this tower you get an amazing bird eyes view of the city. But be careful what shoes you wear it’s a slippery slope up and down the tower. Next, we were taken to the popular monkey temple. At the base your immediately overwhelmed with the amount of wild life. Monkeys running everywhere, cows roaming, and dogs barking. As we headed up the hill to the temple you start to see a little more wildlife such as wild boars, pigs, and a few villagers and holy men. Once to the top you come to a beautiful temple where a woman blesses you and you get the beautiful view overlooking the city.
The next day we attended the Amber Fort which again is high up so you will receive amazing views as well. The architecture and beauty of this place will be a photographers dream. Turning corners, you’ll notice a couple snake charmers so be aware. We also were able to attend the home of some elephant owners that our driver recommended for us. Really some of the best hospitality we received as soon as we arrived they offered us cold beers and explained to us the life of their elephants. Offering a couple different packages, we chose just to ride and feed the elephants for around 1,500 Rupee. Great experience definitely recommend this for anyone that wants to mingle with locals and get the chance to meet some elephants.
Lastly the night bazaars. So many things to buy with most items costing less than $2 USD. Wondering around you smell different aromas of street food and let’s be honest street smells. Do yourself a favor and buy a couple pair of elephant pants for around 150 Rupee. Don’t forget to always haggle and cut prices in half. If you don’t haggle the vendor may be offended thinking they could have received more money from you.
Check out my article on 1,000 ruppee in Pushkar, India here!
Thanks for reading - more content coming soon... ~MYT