Day 54 (30 July): Rain in the Desert
I arrived in Jaipur at just before 7 am on a short flight from Delhi. Jaipur is about 270 km southwest of Delhi and the capital of the state of Rajastan, which literally means ‘land of the kings.’ The landscape in Rajastan is fairly similar to that in Arizona and was originally divided into several different kingdoms run by different Rajs; it is probably the place that tourist to India are most likely to see after the Taj Mahal.
Upon arriving at my hotel, I booked a tourist taxi for the day and got a really nice driver to show me around Jaipur’s main sites: the ‘Pink City’ (since the walls are all the color,) the City Palace, and the Jantar Mantar (or Observatory.) We also saw the sites in nearby Amber, its fort and temples, which was the capital before Jaipur. Along the road to Amber we stopped at the Jal Mahal which is a palace that looks like its floating in a lake in the monsoon season only, since the rest of the year its dry. We also stopped at a couple of temples.
Today it also rained off and on, which was strange, since the only place I’ve been in India where its been raining is technically a desert.
Observations:
1) Quick decorative changes. In efforts to make the rooms flexible form a decorative standpoint in the palace within Amber fort, the walls are mirrored with tiny mirrors. When the carpets are changed, the wall’s color changes as well, saving money on what would otherwise take repainting the rooms.
2) Transport. In Amber, I rode an elephant up into the fort, since that was the way that the kings used to do it. It cost a decent bit for the kings to do (and still costs a decent bit to do today but I figured it would be worth the chance to ride on an elephant.)
3) The power of philanthropy. The temples that we stopped at on the road to Amber were revitalized by the Birla family, which is one of the modern day ‘industrial’ maharaja families. It seems like this is the only way to keep historic sites clean and well-maintained, since the government run ones tend to be dirty and in dis-repair.
4) Asking for tips. In both the hotel I am staying in and in the City Palace museum (which was one of the best in India so far, but also privately funded by the former royal family of Jaipur) there were large signs posted that say ‘no tips.’ That didn’t stop people working in either place from asking for them though. This deepened my impression that in India it seems that most rules are ignored.
5) Polo. I had always though of Polo (the game played on horses) as being an English thing. Apparently, the most successful polo team ever was from Jaipur, however, going undefeated in international play between 1930 and 1938.
Upon arriving at my hotel, I booked a tourist taxi for the day and got a really nice driver to show me around Jaipur’s main sites: the ‘Pink City’ (since the walls are all the color,) the City Palace, and the Jantar Mantar (or Observatory.) We also saw the sites in nearby Amber, its fort and temples, which was the capital before Jaipur. Along the road to Amber we stopped at the Jal Mahal which is a palace that looks like its floating in a lake in the monsoon season only, since the rest of the year its dry. We also stopped at a couple of temples.
Today it also rained off and on, which was strange, since the only place I’ve been in India where its been raining is technically a desert.
Observations:
1) Quick decorative changes. In efforts to make the rooms flexible form a decorative standpoint in the palace within Amber fort, the walls are mirrored with tiny mirrors. When the carpets are changed, the wall’s color changes as well, saving money on what would otherwise take repainting the rooms.
2) Transport. In Amber, I rode an elephant up into the fort, since that was the way that the kings used to do it. It cost a decent bit for the kings to do (and still costs a decent bit to do today but I figured it would be worth the chance to ride on an elephant.)
3) The power of philanthropy. The temples that we stopped at on the road to Amber were revitalized by the Birla family, which is one of the modern day ‘industrial’ maharaja families. It seems like this is the only way to keep historic sites clean and well-maintained, since the government run ones tend to be dirty and in dis-repair.
4) Asking for tips. In both the hotel I am staying in and in the City Palace museum (which was one of the best in India so far, but also privately funded by the former royal family of Jaipur) there were large signs posted that say ‘no tips.’ That didn’t stop people working in either place from asking for them though. This deepened my impression that in India it seems that most rules are ignored.
5) Polo. I had always though of Polo (the game played on horses) as being an English thing. Apparently, the most successful polo team ever was from Jaipur, however, going undefeated in international play between 1930 and 1938.
posted by Traveling Brian at 1:41 AM
1 Comments:
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