Jaipur. Fort, Fort, Fort!


We continued our drive over to Jaipur for another four hours or so with a few stops for food and the bathroom on the way. We finally arrived just before sunset and checked in to our hotel (more like an AirBNB). Not bad for only $6 per person per night.



The hotel.



We had some shopping to do so we took a cab over to Bapu Bazar.



Serving up some Panipuri, which is a common street snack that consists of a hollow deep fried bread filled with flavored water.



Shopping.



Shopping.



Picking up some sugar cane juice.



Sorry for the blurry picture, but for dinner we got butter chicken, laal maas and some biryani.



Day 7


You didn’t guess correctly this time, we were actually able to sleep in past sunrise today! The plan for the day was to hit all of the main sights in Jaipur as we wanted to relax a bit the next day and get some more shopping out of the way.

We hired a rickshaw again for the day to take us around to the three forts and the other sites around the city.



Breakfast.



The first stop was City Palace, which was mostly a museum.



City Palace. The royal family lived here for decades.



Archway, City Palace.



Peacock Gate, City Palace. There are tons of peacocks around the outskirts of Jaipur.



Peacock Gate.



The next stop was Jantar Mantar, an equinoctial sundial.



There are actually five similar sites in India, but this one in Jaipur is the largest.



Jantar Mantar was built in the early 18th century.



Now on to the forts. The first fort of the day is the largest one in Jaipur, Amer Fort.



Climbing up into the fort.



Looking up at another fort in Jaipur, we’ll visit that later.



Interior courtyard in Amer Fort.



Great view of the other surrounding forts.



Pillars. The fort is made of red sandstone and marble.



Of course, if you didn’t want to walk, elephants were at your service.



Instead of taking the rickshaw up to the other fort, we decided to hike it. It was a tad hot outside (roughly 90F) but it was a relatively short and easy hike. Next stop, Jaigarh Fort. View from the top.



Camel ride.



The world’s largest cannon on wheels of the Early Modern Era.



View from Jaigarh Fort.


Monkeys.



We departed the fort and headed to some nearby stepwells for pictures.



Stepwell.



The next and final fort was the Nahargarh Fort.



This fort had a small museum as well.



It provided the best views of Jaipur.



Jaipur.



Close up.



Nahargarh Fort architecture.



For sunset we headed back down the mountains to Jal Mahal (translates to water palace). As far as I know, you can’t actually visit it, but it makes for good pictures from afar.



Sunset behind the mountains.



Jal Mahal was built in 1799.



Pig walking around.



I wanted to shoot Jal Mahal during blue hour but they didn’t turn the lights on until about an hour after sunset. Oh well.



Next up was dinner at an Indian chain restaurant, Barbeque Nation. We started with some veggie appetizers.



Followed by some Laal Maas and biryani.



Day 8


Today was one of the slower days since we had covered so much the day before. We started with breakfast at McDonald’s (yes, I know) as it was convenient. Oddly though, they were out of most items. Also… Veg Pizza McPuff lol.



We then hired an Ola cab out to Galtaji Temple, which was a bit further outside of the city than expected (with no cell reception). So if you’re going out there, make sure you have your return sorted out to avoid getting ripped off by the rickshaws waiting to take you back.



Galtji is an ancient Hindu pilgrimage site which consists of a series of temples built into the foothills.



Painter.



Galtiji is also known by tourists as the Monkey Temple.



Monkey.



View of the Monkey Temple.



Our next stop was Albert Hall Museum, named after British King Edward VII.



Photography wasn’t allowed in the museum (learned that the hard way) so moving on. We went to Tapri Tea House for some tea and a quick lunch. I opted for iced tea as it was 92F outside.



My co-workers got hot tea, which was presented nicely.



Maggi for lunch.



The next destination was a photo stop at Hawa Mahal. People recommended we not go inside as it’s just empty rooms so we just got some exterior pictures and went on to souvenir shopping.



Hawa Mahal translates to “Palace of Winds”. It’s made of red and pink sandstone.



Sharpening.



Walking around.



Not a great picture, but we saw this monkey run from across the street, steal some grapes from a street vendor then jump on the roof to consume them.



Jaipur architecture.



Once we finished shopping, we called it a day and headed to the airport, which took over an hour. Our Uber driver also rear-ended some people on a scooter at the airport entrance but thankfully no one was hurt.



Back on another ATR for the even shorter flight to Delhi. The next day was our last day in India as both of us were flying back to the US from there in the late evening.



Oh man. This hotel. Initially when I booked it I booked based off of the good reviews. We checked in and were advised we were ‘upgraded’ to a king room (from twin beds…). They had no more twin rooms available, so we took it. The room’s ac unit displayed a temperature of 29C (84F) and it was unbelievably humid. They kept saying the AC would kick in but it never did, so they moved our room. This time the AC worked but the mattress was about as hard as tile. There was a piece of cardboard over the “window”, everything was dirty, it was an electrical nightmare, and no hot water… you get the point. Further research shows that 40 of the last 46 reviews on Trip Advisor are all from people who have ever issued one review and they all use the owner’s name… Hmm. Just take my word and don’t stay at Hotel Emperor Palms in Delhi.