Jaipur Day 1: A Day of Palaces, Forts, and Timeless Crafts in the Pink City

On Saturday Dec. 21 after a long travel day and finally finishing our last set of domestic flights, the team checked into the Moustache hostel in Jaipur. 



Despite its quirks and green water swimming pool,  we were delighted to get cozy into our little bunks for a good night’s sleep before our first day exploring the city known as the “Pink City” for its trademark building colour. 


Our very first stop was to the one that Dan’s been waiting for since our initial trip planning days, the Jal Mahal!!


The Jal Mahal, meaning water palace, was originally constructed around 1699 which sits in the middle of a lake. Although we could not go to the palace, we enjoyed taking pictures from afar. 

Next the team braved the crowds and many stairs to visit the Amber Fort located high on a hill. The fort is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is known for its artistic style. It features large ramparts, a series of gates, cobbled path, mirror work and many maze like passageways. 






After the fort it was time for lunch (a huge chocolate dosa and something called immunity shots were involved) and then off to the Anikhi museum of hand printing.  This heritage craft of carving designs onto wooden blocks and then stamping the designs onto textiles with rich natural colours has been a tradition in Jaipur for over 500 years. Here we saw both a demonstration of how the blocks are carved and how the process of layering the stamping occurs. 






Post museum, we tried to race to the top of the hill that the Nahargarh Fort sits in hopes to catch the sunset. Extreme traffic got us there just after the sun had set but we still had a great time exploring the fort.





Dinner was back at the hostel (Tara’s and Maeve pizza was delicious) and then it was time for some much-needed sleep before another day of exploring.



Comments

  1. Dave GordonDecember 23, 2024 at 10:08 PM

    Now seriously jealous. Please bring pictures of the street grid to add to my maps in 814. Cheers. DG

    ReplyDelete

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