Scintillating Jaipur

Ever since we met, our dream was a road trip to Rajasthan. Just a thought of those colourful streets, the sound of the Ravanhatha and the most beautiful elephants drags you to this amazingly joyful city of Jaipur.

Good Friday, long weekend, work stress! Wait! This calls for a vacation. We took advantage of this and booked our tickets for Jaipur. I have my cousins based out of Jaipur so hence stay and transfers was not a challenge.

Our day started with an adrenaline rush over the fear of missing our flight as it had been raining the whole night which calls for fall in the number of cabs. We had a 5:55 am departure. We somehow managed to get an Uber and we reached the airport in just the nick of the time.

Obviously this wasn’t the start to our trip that we had been dreaming of!

Reaching Jaipur, my cousins came to pick us up from the airport. On the way to home, they gave us a small sight of the Patrika Gate and World Trade Park.

My husband had already chalked out a perfect 3-day plan over a map. We were ready to explore the city and our photography skills as well. One of the major reasons of our visit was photography. We had been following people on Instagram who had recently been to this city.

Our Day 1 started with City Palace. We were eager to capture the amazingly beautiful gates that we had been sighting in all the travelers photos. It’s a huge palace and takes around 3-4 hours depending upon the speed and interest.

Considering the hot weather, it was still crowded and we had to actually wait for all the food photo spots in a queue.

Ticket Prices: Rs. 200/- per person, excluding the bullock cart ride.

There is another option of visiting the rooms of the Palace. The cost for this is Rs.3000/-

There are different combinations of tickets available which might be cheaper depending upon your list of places.

Our next destination was Hawa Mahal. But before this, we took a refreshing break at the famous Bhardwaj Juice Shop. It offers a variety of fresh fruit juices, milk shakes and kulfi.

Haha Mahal or the Palace of Winds was constructed by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh. We spent a good amount of time there for photography.

Tip: Climb the highest window to get the view and the “hawa”.

We were super tired and hungry by now. The weather wasn’t too good to roam. We then had the famous onion kachori and chai. Trust me you cannot miss this!

Next on cards was SHOPPING!! The happiest part of the day for ladies just started. We went to Bapu Bazar for some cotton bed sheets and suits shopping. You cannot skip this if going with wives!

Our Day 2 started early as we had huge goals for today. We first covered Amber Fort. Half a day goes in exploring this huge fort. There are marvellous doors, windows, walls that you can use for photography.

While going uphill, you will find a lot of sellers with colourful umbrellas, traditional stuff and then folk singers with their Ravanhatha. You cannot skip them. They are so soothing to the ears that you will end up listening to them even if you are late. The fort starts tourists paying homage to Shila Mata Temple. It is believed that Maharaja Ma Singh I had got the idol from Bangladesh after the Goddess came into his dream and he promised to make a shrine within the fort.

Again as we went in April, the weather wasn’t too great and we felt like energy was drained out. After this we went to Jaigurh Fort. I would recommend this only when the weather is pleasant as

there is nothing much to see. We sat under the shade of the famous cannon while others were exploring the fort. There was a cool breeze flowing despite of the high temperature.

We stopped by the famous Jal Mahal or Water Palace. You cannot go inside the palace now but can only view it from a distance. The boundaries have been modified and you will see a lot of vendors selling local traditional stuff.

We then decided to go back to the home for some rest now. We left Nahargarh and Panna Meena ka Kund because of time issues. Every monument closes by 5pm so you must manage it accordingly.

We planned to visit Albert Hall Museum at around 7pm as by then the whole city is lit up to something beyond imagination. We could not go inside as there was huge crowd gathered outside for NDTV talkshow shooting. After capturing this beauty, we went to Masala Chowk which is a new addition to the city. You would find every local delicacy from chole bhature to vada pav to kulfi in this open to sky food court. Since it was Saturday night, it was quite crowded. The food honestly is not too great. But the environment is good to spend time in.

Our Day 3 plan was to see sunrise at Nahargarh. So we all had our alarms set for 5am. However, we did not sleep the whole night and had to cancel this plan. We left around 11pm from home( as we were staying at our cousins’ place, things tend to get late). It was a Sunday and my cousins also accompanied us. We first went to Maharani ki Chhatriyan. Today was a very hot day comparatively. We actually had to visit the Gaitor ki Chhatriyan but this is where we came due to confusions!

We had a small argument with the security person regarding our camera equipments ( the day started bad!!) My husband wasn’t happy seeing this place as he had imagined it to be something marvellous because of all those Instagram pictures.

We now moved on to the next destination: Panna Meena ka Kund. The roads are very narrow. We were excited to click pictures at this location again thanks to Instagram for all the curiosity. However, they have stopped allowing people going downstairs as there were a few incidents in the past. There is a police person sitting and watching you!

It is a beautiful location. No matter what, you photos will come out nice because of the symmetrical stairs and the ancient feel to it.

Next was Nahargarh - the most Instagram-able photos are from here! On our way to this fort, the weather turned cloudy and it rained. Words can’t explain our happiness at that moment as we had been frying ourselves in the heat since morning.

We stopped at a view point where we could see the whole city and the rainbow was like a cherry on the cake! You will find a local vendor at this point selling tea and Maggie! Imagine Maggie, a cool drink and the view. You feel like spending your whole life sitting there eating and watching.

After this leisurely break, we drove fast as it was about to get dark and we did not want to miss the sunset view. There was a lot of young cowed climbing the huge stairs of the fort. Tip: wear comfortable shoes as you will have to climb a lot.

We cribbed while going up but once we reached, it was a view to behold. We were not in the main fort at this moment. If you have locals along, this is the advantage that you have. They took us straight to photography points skipping the fort. After this we went to the main fort entrance where again you have huge walls and view point. There are cafeterias on the entrance where they were serving snacks.

We had to skip Gaitor ki Chhatriyan and Galta Ji Temple due to less time. We ended our day with paying homage to one of the most famous temple of Lord Krishna - Shri Govind Ji Temple. There was a different vibe in this temple. We luckily reached during the Arati time when people sing and dance.

Apart from the above locations, you must also visit Patrika gate, Galta Ji Temple and Gaitor ki Chhatriyan for those amazing photos.

Do share your experiences. Happy travelling!!!