India Awaits: Jaipur - the Pink City

Our third stop on our mini-vacation was Jaipur - the Pink City. Known by this because in 1876 Prince of Wales was visiting and the leaders decided to paint the town pink and it is still followed today. We were supposed to travel by train to Jaipur from Agra but I managed to get a stomach bug and I really didn't feel like train travel. So we managed to get our driver Rakesh to take us there. The drive was 'interesting' to say the least…. lots of slum areas, small villages, a few kamikaze villagers crossing the road, cows, dogs, camels… you name it, we saw it.

The hotel we stayed at was the Samode Havelli - a beautiful old hotel with HUGE rooms and lots of eclectic decor. The pool and bar were in a beautiful setting and the boys were very keen (as always) to take a dip or 6 !!

We arranged to have another guide for a half day in Jaipur, and Danesh was keen to take us to the Amber Fort and ride an elephant from the bottom to top. We stopped for a scenic family photo on the way and were very quickly joined by two men and their cobras !! June was very keen to have a 'play'…. the rest of us were happy to just enjoy the view.

Onwards to the Fort and the elephants were waiting. They are only allowed to do 5 trips a day in Winter and 2 in Summer - Mike and I felt very sorry for our elephant 'Anur' who had to carry us to the top - the 'driver' seemed to be doing a lot of kicking to get her to keep going. I think she would have liked to stop half way!

The Amber palace was spectacular with the most amazing marble, sandstone, gems and paintings. By this time, the boys were 'over' visiting the forts and palaces, so we tried to get through as quick as possible.

The pool called, and the boys were very happy. That night we went out to dinner (a short walk from the hotel) at a Turban museum/restaurant - thanks Tripadvisor. Mum had the little musical man quite enchanted and then we both got up and danced with the Rajasthani women. We had a very fun night topped off with Mike being wrapped in a 9 metre turban. The walk home was eventful, especially with mum videoing the entire walk in the dark and I discovered that the place we were at was in the movie, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

The following morning we headed to a Hindu temple that was now home to hundreds of monkeys. The temple is still used as by pilgrims even with the putrid water they were to bath in. Needless to say, there was quite a bit of gagging on this little adventure. The remainder of the trip was fairly uneventful with more swimming and Dad and Mike managed lunch at the Polo Club.

The end to a fun and insightful few days.

Our beautiful hotel

Mum and her friend the Cobra

Mum and Dad bound for the Amber Fort

The crew

Monkey Monkey everywhere

Mike, Jack and I at the Turban Museum/Surabhi restaurant

The Nairn's on the way to the elephants

Block Painting in Jaipur

The blisters on the this man's hands were incredible

The textiles in this store were amazing

Jack looking a bit 'over' the shopping

A sample of the stitching

The sample of the block painting the boys got to take home

more monkeys

Apparently in this village if you are unwell, you should throw
your clothes on the nearest bush/tree to shed yourself of the illness.
This was everywhere.