Hey everyone! SWIndia had a super long but exciting day today exploring Jaipur. We woke up bright and early for hotel breakfast before leaving at 8 am to see the city!
Jaipur is also known as the “pink city” so our first stop was a beautiful facade where we got to take pictures. We then headed to the Amber Fort which was located on the top of a small mountain. This required unloading our bus and getting into jeeps that we took to the top! We saw so many animals including elephants, camels, a cobra, cows, goats, and monkeys.
After our short ride, we got to go inside the fort and see all of the scenery and architecture that was included.
Next, we headed to a textiles shop where we got to see live carpet weaving and printing. They showed us many different styles and colors of carpets. They were all so beautiful and such good quality! We also got to see workers actually making the carpets by hand, which was really cool. We then wandered around the store and were able to buy custom made products out of their hand printed materials.
Lunch was at an amazing hidden restaurant where some of us tried traditional Rajasthani thali or small bowls of different dishes to try on one plate. Everything was so delicious and the restaurant was beautiful!
Another thing about Rajasthan is that it is famous for its jewelry so naturally we had to go see a jeweler to see the process. We were surprised to see how big the gems were and learn about the process of shaving, choosing, and pricing different stones. Many of us bought jewelry and even custom made jewelry which was very cool!
After some more shopping, we headed to our next tour at Jantar Mantar. This was an observation site built in the early 18th century that encompasses some of India's astronomy innovations. We saw a small and giant sundial that was accurate to up to 2 seconds and more zodiac/ horoscope devices. The group had a lot of fun with the guide because he was able to tell us personality traits about us based on the day and time we were born. Fun fact- 6/10 of us are Pisces so we learned a lot about the Pisces horoscope!
Our final stop was at the City Palace which is the residence place of the rulers of the state. This palace was turned partially into a museum that highlighted some history of the maharajah of Jaipur and specific outfits they would wear. Since both of the flags were up, it meant that the Maharajah was actually AT the palace and although we didn’t see him, it was cool to know we were in his presence!
After this long day, we headed back to the hotel to rest before getting dinner outside by the pool.
We are going to miss this beautiful hotel!! We spend the evening packing for our early bus ride to Agra tomorrow!