Thursday 6th February 2020 - to Jaipur

On the road by 8.00 for the journey to Jaipur. Once again interesting incidents on the road! At least 2 occasions when a tractor was coming the wrong way down a dual carriageway, in the fast lane 😱🤦‍♀️

I was using the time to write up the blog so probably missed many other incidents but that was, I expect, a good thing!

The scenery didn’t really change much. At times you could see the Aravalli hills to our right, a range of hills that stretches from Delhi in the north east to Mount Abu in the south west. Everywhere is hazy. We are told that it is quite normal for it to be misty in the mornings but this carries on until lunchtime and I wonder how much of it is created by the dust that is everywhere.

India does waken all your senses. The endless noise of traffic and horns in any place where there is more than one vehicle. The smells, food and spice, fumes, plus other things not so nice! The sight of old buildings, dirt, colourful clothes, fruit and veg. The tastes of the food, and I have to say the dust!! And then using a liberal amount of hand gel whenever you touch things and before you eat!

We are really enjoying the food. Still sticking to the vegetarian diet, but without problem. There are lots of ways to dish up rice (lemon rice one day), and usually a choice of vegetarian main dishes that are different. Sometimes I’m not really sure what I am eating but the flavours and spicing of the food is delicious. And then there are the naan breads. 😋

So onto Jaipur. We arrive at around 1.00, have a quick lunch, dump our cases in our rooms and then go off to tour the Amber fort.

On the way we stop to look at a step well. Built in the 16th century it was a very large square well with steps on all 4 sides that people could go up and down with their containers and could reach the water whatever the level. The water level was maintained by both the spring and rain, but it is no longer used.

The Amber Palace, also know as Amer Palace, was built over 2 centuries by 3 generations of the Singh dynasty, beginning in the 16th century. Maharajah, Sawai Jaisingh II moved the capital of Rajasthan from Amber to Jaipur in 1727. I can’t fully remember the story of how the Palace was overrun, but it was and somehow that linked to the establishment of the city of Jaipur! Can’t get Google to check it out!! The views of the area and the wall that was built by the successful army, some 17km, plus forts, were really impressive.

Having had an afternoon of culture we were glad to get back to the hotel where we were grateful for a hot shower!