Rajasthan
Blog: By Way of the World - 19 September 2009
By: Erin
We began our 10-day whirlwind tour of Rajasthan in Agra, which is technically not in the state of Rajasthan, but very close. Our next stop was Jaipur. Jaipur is known as the "pink city" because most of the buildings are painted a shade of orangey-pink.
I'd thus far successfully avoided the dreaded "Delhi belly" (after all, we had been travelling quite a while), but oh boy, I got hit in Jaipur. First of all, the smell walking down the street was nauseating. I'm sure it was just where we happened to stay, but still. I got food poisoning and was out of commission for an entire day. I was still suffering for the next couple of days, but managed to get through sightseeing to avoid Dan's grumbling about paying for a car we weren't using.
When I finally did venture out, we toured the impressive Amber fort, with a palace inside.
This was our third fort in about 4 days. Luckily, all the forts in Rajasthan are unique, or we would have been really sick of forts! The coolest thing in Jaipur is Jantar Mantar, an observatory begun in 1728.
It is home to the biggest sundial in the world, as well as many other gigantic tools for astronomy and astrology.
Next stop was Pushkar, a holy city with the only temple in the entire world dedicated to Brahma. Pilgrims come here to bathe in the holy waters of Pushkar lake.
However, we were a bit turned off by the hassling and demands for money. A holy man latches on to tourists, recites blessings, asks how many family members you have, you make a wish for each one, then he demands offerings for each. But how can you not donate 500 rupees for EACH family member? Don't you want the blessings to come true? Oy vey.
We had much better luck at the nearby Sikh temple, which was absolutely stunning and unique, and the Sikh man inside was very warm and friendly and didn't demand any sort of offering. He was content to talk with us about his religion. Funnily enough, this temple wasn't in the guidebook at all.
After a run-in with a very angry cow who shook its horns wildly and grunted as Dan approached (we promptly ran away), we made our way to Jodhpur, the blue city.
Apparently when the caste system was in full swing, all the Brahmins (the highest caste) decided to paint their houses blue to make themselves easily distinguished. The view was best from, you guessed it, the fort. We also visited a nearby memorial for the Jodhpur royalty.
Jaisalmer was our favorite city.
This is a unique fort in the middle of the Thar desert, about 100km from the Pakistani border, where people actually still live. Mostly they run hotels and restaurants for travelers, but still, it's pretty cool to stay inside a bonifide castle. We found an awesome room for $15 in one of the rounded walls of the fort, at the Desert Boys Hotel. It was a lot of fun getting lost inside the maze that is the fort. We also went into at least seven Jain temples.
The Jains are admirable for their concern for the tiniest creatures. They are strict vegetarians and the truly devoted go so far as to sweep the path in front of them to avoid harming any creatures as they walk.
We also drove out to the desert to see the Cenotaphs, or the memorials for the royal family. Upon our return, Dan realized he'd lost the key to our room in the castle (as we liked to joke). It was one of those great big padlock things, I suppose for the old-fashioned effect. While embarrassed, we figured the hotel would have a duplicate. No such luck! The owner had to be called, and two hours later, after pouring oil in, fiddling with it, and finally busting it open with a hammer, we paid for the broken lock and relished in our AC. Literally, 5 minutes later, our trusty driver showed up. He'd found the key.
Our last stop in Rajasthan was the beautiful city of Udaipur. It's nicknamed the "Venice of India" and we thought that was pretty accurate.
With a beautiful palace on the lake (now an ultra-expensive hotel) and gorgeous views from the palace, Udaipur is a romantic spot for a honeymoon.
We really enjoyed our tour. Normally we wouldn't have dreamt of spending so much on a private car, but in this case, it was well worth it. We learned that there are, indeed, many ways to travel, and depending on your budget, how much time you want to spend, and your preferences, spending a little extra to guarantee your enjoyment is sometimes worth it.
I'd thus far successfully avoided the dreaded "Delhi belly" (after all, we had been travelling quite a while), but oh boy, I got hit in Jaipur. First of all, the smell walking down the street was nauseating. I'm sure it was just where we happened to stay, but still. I got food poisoning and was out of commission for an entire day. I was still suffering for the next couple of days, but managed to get through sightseeing to avoid Dan's grumbling about paying for a car we weren't using.
When I finally did venture out, we toured the impressive Amber fort, with a palace inside.
This was our third fort in about 4 days. Luckily, all the forts in Rajasthan are unique, or we would have been really sick of forts! The coolest thing in Jaipur is Jantar Mantar, an observatory begun in 1728.
It is home to the biggest sundial in the world, as well as many other gigantic tools for astronomy and astrology.
Next stop was Pushkar, a holy city with the only temple in the entire world dedicated to Brahma. Pilgrims come here to bathe in the holy waters of Pushkar lake.
However, we were a bit turned off by the hassling and demands for money. A holy man latches on to tourists, recites blessings, asks how many family members you have, you make a wish for each one, then he demands offerings for each. But how can you not donate 500 rupees for EACH family member? Don't you want the blessings to come true? Oy vey.
We had much better luck at the nearby Sikh temple, which was absolutely stunning and unique, and the Sikh man inside was very warm and friendly and didn't demand any sort of offering. He was content to talk with us about his religion. Funnily enough, this temple wasn't in the guidebook at all.
After a run-in with a very angry cow who shook its horns wildly and grunted as Dan approached (we promptly ran away), we made our way to Jodhpur, the blue city.
Apparently when the caste system was in full swing, all the Brahmins (the highest caste) decided to paint their houses blue to make themselves easily distinguished. The view was best from, you guessed it, the fort. We also visited a nearby memorial for the Jodhpur royalty.
Jaisalmer was our favorite city.
This is a unique fort in the middle of the Thar desert, about 100km from the Pakistani border, where people actually still live. Mostly they run hotels and restaurants for travelers, but still, it's pretty cool to stay inside a bonifide castle. We found an awesome room for $15 in one of the rounded walls of the fort, at the Desert Boys Hotel. It was a lot of fun getting lost inside the maze that is the fort. We also went into at least seven Jain temples.
The Jains are admirable for their concern for the tiniest creatures. They are strict vegetarians and the truly devoted go so far as to sweep the path in front of them to avoid harming any creatures as they walk.
We also drove out to the desert to see the Cenotaphs, or the memorials for the royal family. Upon our return, Dan realized he'd lost the key to our room in the castle (as we liked to joke). It was one of those great big padlock things, I suppose for the old-fashioned effect. While embarrassed, we figured the hotel would have a duplicate. No such luck! The owner had to be called, and two hours later, after pouring oil in, fiddling with it, and finally busting it open with a hammer, we paid for the broken lock and relished in our AC. Literally, 5 minutes later, our trusty driver showed up. He'd found the key.
Our last stop in Rajasthan was the beautiful city of Udaipur. It's nicknamed the "Venice of India" and we thought that was pretty accurate.
With a beautiful palace on the lake (now an ultra-expensive hotel) and gorgeous views from the palace, Udaipur is a romantic spot for a honeymoon.
We really enjoyed our tour. Normally we wouldn't have dreamt of spending so much on a private car, but in this case, it was well worth it. We learned that there are, indeed, many ways to travel, and depending on your budget, how much time you want to spend, and your preferences, spending a little extra to guarantee your enjoyment is sometimes worth it.
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