Our Golden Triangle Tour

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Itinerary

• Day 1: London To New Delhi
• Day 2: Arrival in New Delhi
• Day 3: Old Delhi and New Delhi
• Day 4: New Delhi to Mandawa
• Day 5: Mandawa and Pushkar
• Day 6: Pushkar and Jaipur
• Day 7: Jaipur
• Day 8: Jaipur to Agra
• Day 9: Agra - The Taj Mahal
• Day 10: Agra to New Delhi
• Day 11: New Delhi to London
• ... Last Word ...

Slideshows

• Delhi
• Rickshaw Ride in Old Delhi
• From New Delhi to Mandawa
• Camel Ride around Satbir's village
• Mandawa to Pushkar
• Pushkar
• Arrival in Jaipur
• Jaipur
• Elephant Ride
• Jaipur to Agra
• Agra
• The Taj Mahal
• Agra to New Delhi
• Hindu Temple

Indian 'Cottage Industry'

• Indian Carpet Making
• Indian Block Printing
• Gem Polishing
• Gem Inlays

Saturday 29th March 2008

Jaipur, the Pink City

Raj and Satbir picked us up at 8.30am. We were heading for Amber, historical town famous for its Fort and Palace. On route, we saw parts of the 'Great Wall of India', surprisingly similar to its Chinese equivalent!

• The first adventure of the day was an elephant ride to the Palace of Amber!
  

• How do you climb onto an elephant's back?
  The solution is simple: you climb up steps to a sort of 'pier' which is about the height of the elephants and then it's just like boarding a boat!
  
  
• How do you stop yourself falling off the elephant?
  In Jaipur, all the elephants have a little crate with railings on the top of their back (a bit like a little square bed). You step into the crate and sit down. It's really quite safe and you can always hold onto the railings, but elephants usually move quite slowly and steadily, so it is quite a relaxing kind of ride!
  
  
• How does the elephant-rider get the elephant to go where we want?
  The elephant-rider sits on the head of the elephant. By leaning to one side, the rider tells the elephant which way to go. When the rider wants to stop, he touches the trunk of the elephant and it stops.
  
  

• The magnificent Palace of Amberis situated about 11 kilometers from Jaipur. It is a classic fusion of Mughal and Hindu architectural styles, built in red sandstone and white marble and a perfect example of the grandeur and opulence enjoyed by Indian Kings and Maharajas.
  The city of Amber lies in a small valley at the foot of the Aravelli Ranges along which runs the Great Wall of India Spot the similarities... and the differences between the 2 Great Walls!
  
  
• Cottage Industry: Carpet-Making and Block-Printing.
  The quality, the exteme precision and the skills involved in these crafts are most interesting, but the 'hard-sales' techniques which concluded every visit were, at times, a little difficult to handle...
  
  
• Visit of the Jantar Mantar, a most ingenous open air observatory, built by Maharaja Jai Singh II.
  
  
• Visit of the Jaipur City Palace
  
  
• More Cottage Industry: card and picture makers
  
  
• Another visit to the Tailor's shop: at 4.00pm, I decided there was still enough time to get another Punjabi Suit made for dinner in the evening!
  This was duly delivered at our hotel... all in good time again!
  
  
• And yet more Cottage Industry: gems polishers and jewellers
  
  

images of the morning:
     Jaipur (36 images)