We sadly had to leave the wonderful Fort Madhogarh, and hopped into our private bus for the 2 hour ride to Amber.
Amber used to be the ancient capital of Jaipur state prior to Maharaja Jai Singh moving it to Jaipur. Construction started in 1592 by Maharaja Man Singh, the Rajput commander of Akbar's army. (Akbar being one of the greatest of the Mughals, who remains known for integrating Hindus into his empire).
The Amber fort is perched high on top a hill which we opted to walk up instead of taking an elephant up. The elephants used for transporting tourists up the hill suffer through intense heat with no breaks after each guest and apparently have become quite distressed in the past. The use of them here is a bit controversial and Intrepid has a policy not to support this treatment. (As a side note, we noticed the elephants in Chitwan after each elephant safari were given breaks - they also weren't walking up a hill in the hot sun and stopped a lot to munch on grass and leaves!)
On the way out of the Amber fort we came across a snake charmer so we watched them out on a show.
We left the Amber fort and drove into the walled city of Jaipur, otherwise known as the pink city. The city was founded and planned by Maharaja Jai Singh II when, in 1727, he decided to move from the cramped Amber fort. He laid out the city according to principles set out in the Shilpa-Shastra, an ancient Hindu architectural treatise, and in 1728 he built an observatory. In 1876, Maharaja Ram Singh had the city painted pink for the Prince of Whales, a colour associated with hospitality. The colour stuck and so came the nickname: "the pink city."
On our way we stopped at a textile shop where they showed us how to do the traditional Indian block printing.
That evening we took a bicycle rickshaw tour of the old town and then went for dinner on the outskirts of Jaipur at a restaurant with a rooftop patio looking over the city. On the cycle tour we stopped to sample traditional Indian Lassis, a yoghurt drink served in a clay cup (that then just got tossed in the garbage when done!)
The next day was a free day. A group of us made our way through the crowded bazaars to the city palace that Maharaja Jai Singh II had built. It encompasses a vast complex of courtyards, gardens and buildings dating from 1726 to as recent as the 29th century. While we were at the palace they were setting up hundreds of flowers for a wedding! (Definitely over our flower budget!)
Shopping on the way
The rest of the day was spent shopping and enjoying a Thali at the famous LMB restaurant. We passed by the Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds), which was constructed in 1799 by Marahaja Sawaj Pratap Singh to enable ladies of the royal household to watch life and processions of the city.
Palace of the Winds
Thali at LMB
Indian women shopping for Saris
Goats and dogs sharing a garbage feast
Entrance to the walled city of Jaipur
At 6pm we made our way to the iconic Raj Mandir Cinema to take in a Bollywood meets Hollywood action movie called Krish III. Unfortunately it was more Hollwood with only three song and dance numbers (apparently at Bollywood movies people often get up and dance but these songs weren't really the right type). The entire movie was in Hindi with no subtitles, but with the odd English word thrown in we got the jist.
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