Max in India Part 2: Jaipur Oh Jaipur!

The second part of the Indian series I will bring you to the beautiful city of pink Jaipur. We were supposed to go there via train from Delhi but we were duped hastily on board the train, as we did not have proper tickets. We were EXTREMELY fumed. It was very ugly at first as we were told go to this so-called legit "tourism center" in hopes of sorting out our journey to Jaipur. In the end we missed the train and forked out about US$300 (mind you it's not in Malaysian Ringgit!) for chartering a car to Jaipur.

We were reluctant at first but once we were thinking about living, breathing and embracing Jaipur, we put our fumings aside (well they died down along the way anyways) and pronto! off we go to the pink city.

And hey, it turned out to be a pleasant journey after all :)

We were all napping when our driver woke me up and said "Max! look, monkeys!"
I woke up and I got this image. Ha!



OMG A camel! Who says only Egypt has camels? Who? Apparently the state of Rajasthan is very famous for camels. They are everywhere, period.

We stopped by for breakfast making our way to Jaipur and let me let you see what India has to offer, gastronomically:

The breakfast we had is pretty much Westernized; except for the paratha. Now that's something Indian. Goodness thinking about eating authentic paratha in India is making me hungry now as I write!

Once we arrived Jaipur, Jaigarh Fort is the first place we visited:

Breathtaking isn't it?



See? Another camel!



The state of Rajasthan is also very famous for their maharaja maharani dolls. I spotted them at Jaigarh Fort. With a man playing the tabla, they put on a puppet show.

Once we finished touring Jaigarh Fort, we made our way to the city and as we slowly descended down the hill, we told the driver to stop the car and just admired the beautiful view. That's the Jal Mahal by the way in the middle of Man Sagar Lake. Keep reading and scrolling down if you want a close-up of the majestic Jal Mahal! :D

When we finally arrived Jaipur, off shopping we went to buy us some kurtas, punjabis, pashminas, Indian fabrics, and the list goes on; souvenirs from India basically.

Us donning the kurta in Jaipur. Awesome!

Since we could not stop spotting camels there, Steffy & I decided to ride on it!

The place where we had the camel ride is not too far from Jal Mahal; in fact the lake where it is located is just right next to it so we went as closest as we could and took a photo with us three in it.

To top it all off in what to be a challenging and trying day in the beginning and turned out to be a great one towards the end, we had a great dinner, Rajasthani style.

After we had our dinner, there was a small performance going on and the dancer invited us to dance along with her. Again the Rajasthani style! What a great way to end the day.

The following day we visited these places:

The beautiful Amber Fort.



And who says only China has Great Wall? India has it too!



I had the chance to see snake charmers live in my own eyes, and I got to perform with them too! :)



I had all the courage in the world to kiss the snake!





I know henna is for the ladies but since we were in India and we didn't have anything to lose, why not give it a try?



Jantar Mantar.



The Albert Hall. It's actually a museum exhibiting a collection of arts and crafts. Worth the visit if you are an archaeology enthusiast.



The magnificient Hawa Mahal. Actually this is the reason why I wanted to include Jaipur in the itinerary so badly!

In Jaipur, we stayed at the wonderful Krishna Palace. The hotel exceeded our expectations; the room is clean and tidy, friendly people at the reception counter (especially the owner of Krishna Palace Mr. Vivek, he greeted us personally!) and we love heart love dining at the rooftop restaurant! Hazriq and I only paid about RM93 for the deluxe room that we stayed overnight. I'm not kidding! Click the photo below for the link to their website :)

Dhanyavad Krishna Palace!





I really miss this. My breakfast at the rooftop restaurant.

I lie if I tell you I don't love Jaipur. We spent two days living and breathing and embracing there. Not only the places of attraction are beautiful and inspiring; Jaipurians are very friendly and love to greet you at their best. This is also the city where I have begun to love drinking and sipping masala tea. And yeah, you really do see pink everywhere in Jaipur!

I will definitely miss the dancing, camel ride and performing together with the snake charmers.

I ♥ you Jaipur! Dhanyavad Jaipur for the experience!

Chele jao Agra hai! :)