JAIPUR – another great couple of days,

Japuir is considered part of the golden triangle and visited by most tourists to India.
At first the town is not that appealing. However after a few days seeing the sighs of Japuir it is clear why this town is visited by most tourists.


AMBER FORT
This is called a fort but is in reality a Maharaja’s Palace. Built on the top of a hill it is also surrounded by a fort with ”the great wall of India” for protection. As you arrive there is a magnificent view of the old fort; the palace and the drive to Amber Fort you start to see all the elephants. It is fascinating to see these large animals on regular roads with cars and trucks. The view of the palace and fort, the lake in front, the elephants, jeeps, vendors and general confusion it is a the scene at the bottom is quite remarkable.

Getting to the top – elephant or jeep.
Elephant
There is an elephant ride to the top of the fort. It is inexpensive about $13 per elephant up to two people per elephant. It takes about 30 minutes to the top. However, in order to do this you must get there early and line up, it is first come first served and they only allow two people per elephant and only 300 people a day. It meant getting up really early so we decided to wait until we got to the safari camp to do our elephant riding.

There are four wheel drive jeeps that take you to the top. Not good for taking pictures the jeeps are covered and you cannot see out very well.

Touring the Palace
This is a very interesting tour. There are some areas that are still in excellent condition and never been restored. All the frescos were done with vegetable dies and have stood the test of time. The sights range from areas that are almost ruins to preserved rooms decorated with frescos, mirrors that are quite beautiful.

The combination of the drive in, seeing the fort palace and all the elephants this is a great tour. It takes about three to four hours to do the whole thing.

The other tour we took was to the old city that was first painted in honor of the visit of the Prince of Wales. This tradition has been maintained and now every building in the old city must be pink. First you see the pink walls and then you know right away you are in the pink city. The observatory and city palace are in the old city.

The observatory is interesting with the largest sundial in the world that keeps time to two seconds. It is quite fascinating. The Palace museums are housed in part of the City Palace and there are three museums. They are not large. These have items from the Maharajas of this region. One has clothing, one has weapons and the third is paintings, rugs and howdeh’s (elephant saddles for carrying people). The current Maharaja still lives in this complex.

Shopping- I have my Indian outfits
Japiur is known for the shopping. Tailor made clothes in a few hours , bangles, bags, and souvenir items are everywhere. The streets are lined with vendors and all the brightly colored goods on display. Bargaining is the order of the day. Although there is the normal “come into my store” requests once you say no the the store owners or street vendors they back off more than they do in other areas of the world. We had lunch at a hotel and then wandered into a store close by - two hours later I left with 3 Indian outfits being custom made for me. It is hard to buy ready made clothing here as everything is custom made. I bought three outfits and one of the others bought an outfit. This was at about 3.00 pm we left the shop, the delivered the outfits to our hotel by 7.30 pm.!!!. One turned out well, one okay but the third did not work well. They made everything too big and one style is huge. They placed a turban on Ken as a good husband buying his wife clothing. The outfits cost about $85 each. Pants, top and scarf, all washable silk. Nice materials and with sequins and beads. Just imagine something on me other than black on the ships they may not recognize me. You never see black here just a color they don’t wear.

We stayed at the Oberoi Rajvilas another super luxury hotel. The only negative about this hotel is that it is about 20 minutes out of town. The rooms are wonderful, large and comfortable, a great bathroom with a sunken marble tub, with candles and the tub looks out onto a private courtyard with plants and a big urn full of flowers. There was internet in the rooms. The grounds are huge, with lush green lawns, flowers and trees. The pool area is a dream for those who like to relax poolside. The décor of the hotel is contemporary and Moorish and quite stunning.

We had a fabulous out door candlelight dinner one night. Big urns were lighting the area with fire, they had candles floating in the water in the courtyard and it all reflected on the soft peach colored Moorish architecture. Indian music and dancers provided the entertainment. The stars were shining, the temperature perfect, the food was fantastic, this was a very romantic and magical evening.

THE TAJ MAHAL.

Finally we reach the Taj Mahal. Agra is the where the Taj is located and this is the dirtiest most unappealing town we saw. The area leading to the Taj was smelly and the street vendors here incredibly persistent. I thought if someone just flew in from the ship and just saw the Taj and Agra their impression of India would not be good. We stayed at the Oberoi again and it is a super luxury hotel. This is the way to go in India. In a few places the Taj hotels are good but the Oberoi is the best in my view. On arrival in our room we were greeted by a spectacular view of the Taj and in the forefront the incredible pool area. Indian dancers were performing. This trip has been a series of incredible sights that will be forever etched in my memory.

We visited the Taj that afternoon and all opted to get up and be at the gates when the Taj opened again in the morning at 6.00 am. So many times you get to see a sight that you have built up in your mind and then you are disappointed. Not so with the Taj Mahal. It is a magnificent structure. I loved it and just could not stop looking at the Taj. The late afternoon visit and the sunrise visit it was amazing how the colors of the marble changed. We left this morning and the group from the Voyager are coming in this afternoon. Missed them by a few hours!!!! It would have been fun to have been there with the Voyager. I cant really write much on the Taj but to say it is truly one of the most awe inspiring man made structures I have ever seen.. The crowds were not bad either in the evening and very few in the morning.

I feel like my visit to India is over now. We have tonight in Delhi which is just going to be another big city. Tomorrow we head out for the tiger reserve. A 3 hour flight then a 7 hour drive we will arrive late at night. One full day (2 game drives) at Camp Mewar and then we leave at around 4.00 am – 7 hour drive and then the 3 hours flight back to Dehli. A day room for about 8 hours and then the flight back to the US. This is going to be strenuous and no internet. So I probably wont post again probably until my return. I am so hopeful of seeing a tiger. I usually am lucky and we have had perfect weather for the whole trip. It has been raining in Delhi and now we arrive in bright sunshine.

My impression of India has changed. I was not excited about this trip. I was concerned that I would get sick from the food, find it dirty and unappealing. The princess in me was definitely hesitant to undertake 16 days here. I have left with a new appreciation. The luxury is certainly here, hotels that are probably some of the best I have ever experienced. All the Oberoi hotels you can even drink the tap water. None of us have any tummy problems of any kind. The food is okay, not the best but not the worst either, in most cases European food is available although of course Indian food is always available. I gained weight on this trip as I don’t like any Indian food so ate the pastas, breads and desserts that I normally do not eat. The sights are more interesting than I had aniticapted and of course the Taj is magnificent. The dancing and entertainment I really enjoyed. The dancers in each region and town are completely different so it far more appealing than seeing the same thing all the time. The colors of the saris and the general chaos of the towns kept me fascinated. It is necessary to drive to get from place to place and this is a real experience. At first it is a little scary it is really madness on the roads, but you come to realize that this is “organized’ madness and relax with the whole situation. The people are really friendly and that surprised me also.

India is a new destination and worth visiting for those who have been to many places in the world. I think that India is going to become more popular with the increase in the 5 star hotels, and the fact you can eat here and not get sick Americans are going to start visiting in greater numbers. From what I understand just in the last five years the infrastructure for tourists has expanded greatly and it will continue to improve. For those who do not travel much I think other destinations I would put higher on the list.

India is not cheap either. Although it is a poor country for sure the luxury hotels are in high demand and the prices match. I have been told by all the hotels that in October the prices are jumping 25% to 40% Right now a 10 day tour with all hotels, transfers, full time guide, specialist guides in the towns, flights, transfers etc is about $5000 - $6000 per person depending on where you stay. No other way to go.

Ken is going to try to add a few shots. We have just come in from dinner it is 12.30 am and we leave early tomorrow. Delhi was a surprising city better than I had imagined. More on that later

Now everyone cross their fingers that I get to see a tiger.

A few pictures


We just stopped this elephant on the road.

Camels all over the Agra to Dehli Highway.

The Taj, it is so beautiful

Our guide showed us this unique picture opportunity.