Jaipur

Jaipur, the first planned city of India has been painted pink, the color of hospitality, since Queen Victoria's visit in 1876. It is a main stop on India's popular Jaipur - Taj Mahal - New Delhi "Golden Triangle."

The Hawa Mahal (Wind Palace) is the most iconic structure inside the walls of Jaipur. It is a screened wall built to allow female royals to watch activities on the street below without being seen by the public.

On our two separate tours, our day exploring Jaipur was packed full of sights. We started with a 6am bike tour around the walled city for 3 hours. We rode down streets and bumpy alleys, seeing the local life starting their day. We stopped to sample masala chai tea, local grain snacks (the flavor of corn nuts), and the popular yogurt drink lassi.

Sellers of pigeon food outside gates of city palace, Jaipur.  Feeding the birds is "good karma."

Biking around Jaipur is not as crazy as it sounds. Our guide said the 4 million Japurians are pretty "lazy" so the streets stay fairly empty until 10am. Weaving through cars, tuk tuks, scooters, other bikes, and people, I never felt unsafe. 

Our 3-hour bike ride with Le Tour de India

Actually, the people here are not lazy. They get up at the crack of dawn and after finishing their morning routine, go to work. As craftsmen, they commute to the ground floor of their home to work on their trade, passed down for generations. After a few hours they open their store in the front of their home and sell their wares.  (Jaipur is particularly known for its fabric and jewelry.) 

A unique experience was our stop at Govind Dev Ji Mandir, the largest Hindu temple in Jaipur. People flooded in like ants to food. "This is going to be a concert type of thing," explained our guide as we approached. In the temple, we were engulfed in a sea of clapping, singing worshipers. The spirited celebration is held 7 times a day. 

Sea of worshippers at Jaipur's largest temple

After singing and clapping for the good part of 20 minutes, the curtained altar opened and hands were held high in praise.

The most exciting part of the tour was winding through the city's chaotic commercial vegetable and flower market. Everywhere we looked were massive stacks of colorful vegetables and bright flowers. Women workers balanced overflowing, large bags on their heads. 

Fresh stacks of vegetables at the market.

Such a warm smile.

Heaps of flowers for worship.

After the bike tour we met our local guide to tour the city by car. He started with the observatory and city palace.  Assumedly lacking time, I had scratched these off our agenda. Not willing to spend $56 each for the royal palace tour, we opted for the scaled-down $7 version. It was minimally interesting and highly skippable. 

Engineer-minded Greg particularly found Jantar Mantar fascinating. It is an astronomical observation site built in the early 18th century. The park contains about 20 precise instruments designed for the observation of astronomical positions with the naked eye.

Built in 1734, the Jantar Mantar is an engineering and scientific wonder. 

The gem of Jaipur is Amber Fort. The fort rises from a rocky mountainside about 11km northeast of Jaipur.  Constructed in 1592, it was where royalty lived for centuries before moving to Jaipur's city palace. 

Opulent Amber Fort is considered the best tourist attraction of Jaipur. 

Each morning you can choose to skip the steep climb by riding one of the 80 elephants up to the fort's entrance. As an attempt to prevent over-working and animal cruelty, the elephants leave for the day at 11am - so we missed them. I was hoping to witness the sight of the grand animals, not ride one; they carry contagious tuberculosis and can fight with each other while holding riders. 

The main of four courtyards in the fort.

Don't miss the most captivating building of the fort, the Jai Mandir. The walls and ceilings of its Hall of Mirrors (Sheesh Mahal) are covered in an intricate mosaic of shards of mirror and colored glass. 

The walls of the Sheesh Mahal contain tiny convex mirrors and colored glass compositions that form a breathtaking kaleidoscope.

A beautiful niche in the fort.

Between the city of Jaipur and Amber Fort is the Water Palace. Closed to the public, it's just a brief photo stop. Of the four stories, the first is completely submerged in water to keep the palace cool in the severe summer heat of Rajasthan. 

Jaipur's Water Palace

Families dress up and use the palace as a backdrop.

Having done so much already, I was hoping we wouldn't run out of time for Galta Temple, the Hindu temple on the outskirts of Jaipur. Our guide managed to squeeze it in as our last stop of the day.  Built into the side of the mountain, not only is it a unique pilgrimage site, it's also a sanctuary for hundreds of macaques monkeys. The monkeys live in luxury because worshipers believe they personify Hanuman, the cherished 'Monkey God'.

Galta Temple grounds

Devout woman crawling to the temple.

The women's bathing pool

Everywhere you look are monkeys

These cute, mischievous creatures, also known as the Monkey Thieves of Jaipur, can be aggressive and wreak havoc in the city.

Suddenly a group of monkeys took flight down the stairs.