Jaipur is one the most beautiful and famous cities of Rajasthan. It is home to a huge number of bazaars, palaces, historical sites and shopping opportunities but what I found even more fascinating is that Jaipur is where you really feel the romantic and incredible India. Jaipur is where elephants, monkeys, camels, locals and tourists cohabit. Even in the center of the Pink City as Jaipur is often called.We spent three nights (two full days) in Jaipur but could have stayed longer. Jaipur is truly inspirational and exciting. If you have a hotel in a quiet neighborhood, like we did, Jaipur is where you can come to write your memoirs. After a delightful breakfast at our hotel’s rooftop terrace we took a rickshaw to the city center. We were quite lucky, because the first thing we witnessed was a parade of elephants, camels and people wearing colorful dresses. It was like a fairy tale. This is India, I said to myself. After the parade we moved onto the old town and wandered endlessly along the streets (Badi Chaupar area). Everything you could imagine was for sale there: pottery, bangles, precious stones, food, spices, marble statues, silk clothes, etc. –you name it. We negotiated and bough some well-made, elaborate marble statues that Jaipur is famous for. The City Palace, built in the early 18th century, was our next step. Architecturally the palace is a combination of Mughal, Rajput and European styles, and full of charming little details. The palace felt very polished (it is well restored) especially after visiting the Amber Fort but we appreciated the fact that the Palace has been converted into a museum where one can admire excellent collections of different objects revealing the history of Jaipur.In fact, we loved the feeling of Jaipur so much that we just kept walking and walking. Behind every other corner there was an elephant transporting goods, men wearing turbans and selling spices, cows searching for food and elegant buildings. When we were finally done and hopped into a taxi to return to our hotel, we got stuck in a traffic jam. Even at this very moment Jaipur did not cease to surprise us –there it was, an elephant standing next to us, waiting for the rouute to clear! How cute, how incredible.

Welcome to Jaipur!

Note: This is the eight post about our trip in Delhi, Agra, Rajasthan and Bombay in March-April 2008. Previous posts are:
Part 1. Arrival in Delhi: first impressions
Part 2. Eight cities of Delhi
Part 3. Road from Delhi to Agra
Part 4. Visiting Agra and Taj Mahal
Part 5. Fatehpur Sikri: what a pearl!
Part 6. Neemrana Fort-Palace: the magnificent 15th century palace
Part 7. Breathtaking Amber Fort

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