On arriving in Jaipur we appeared to be heading down some dubious streets behind a chaotic bus station, towards our hotel. At this point we thought we’d be looking for another place to stay. Then out of nowhere, a beautiful property appeared, it was our hotel. Thank goodness. We checked in and was taken to our room, it was absolutely beautiful. After a decent nights sleep, we were picked up for our day in Jaipur, known as the Pink City. What we hadn’t realised or planned when we booked the tour, was that it coincided with Diwali. Good to witness however the crowds and traffic were off the scale of craziness. We met our guide for the day, MJ and then taken to a viewing point to see the Amber Fort from across the river. Next up we drove up a famous spot, used in a lot of Bollywood movies, Panna Meena ka Kund, then on to the fort & palace. Our eyes didn’t know what to focus on! So much to see. We drove back down towards the city and stopped off quickly to see the water palace. The king has kept this palace private, so it can only be observed from the outside. When we arrived at the City Palace, the king was in residence. We didn’t see him but his white Maserati was parked in the courtyard. MJ asked if we would be comfortable walking through a local market to see all the Diwali decorations for sale, we had to negotiate about eight lanes of traffic to get there. Due to it being a festival, the city allows stalls/traders to set up on the pavements outside the shops for free, most of these stall owners are from the outlying rural villages. After negotiating the traffic again, we went to see the Hawa Mahl palace (also known as the Palace of Winds) an absolutely stunning building constructed from pink and red sandstone. It has many small windows and balconies that give it a look of honeycomb. Royal females used this building to observe life in the street below. Back to the car we were then taken to see a block printing demo, now as expected they had an shop selling carpets, fabric and made to measure clothing. We made it clear we couldn’t buy anything, however G decided to get himself a made to measure shirt. Selected the fabric, got measured and the shirt was delivered that evening to the hotel, all for the price of £20.
The next morning we checked out of the hotel to head onwards towards Agra, our final destination on the Golden Triangle. Another marathon drive of four and a half hours. As Ankit lives in Agra and it was Diwali, we said we would be happy to be dropped straight to our hotel, so he could clock off early and spend some extra time with his family. What we didn’t bank on was being invited to his home to witness the prayers, fireworks and food. We were picked up from the hotel and driven to his house, where he lives with his wife, two children and his mum and sister.
We watched the Puja – the offering of light, flowers, water and food to the divine. Bringing light to overcome the darkness. Next was time for the fireworks, that his little girl Cuckoo (that’s her nickname) has chosen herself. Then the food was served to us and kept on coming. We enjoyed a meal cooked by Ankit’s wife and Mum, including rice, two types of paneer, curd, naan bread, potato poppadoms, with a sweet fried dumpling to finish the meal.
We met Lucky, our guide for the Taj Mahal and the fort in Agra, then off we went. As we’ve been to so many now, we love a good World Heritage Site! The Taj has to be our best one so far. An ivory/white mausoleum on the bank of the river Yamuna. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth emperor to house the tomb of his wife. It became more popular with tourists after The Princess of Wales visited in 1992. Next stop Agra Fort, Lucky went to sort out the tickets and M was stopped by people wanting selfies with her. The fort is another world heritage site and is actually a walled city, completed in 1573 it was the main residence for the Mughal dynasty until 1638 when the capital was moved from Agra to Dehli. All too soon it was time to say goodbye to Lucky and we set off for our final destination of the day, Fatehpur Sikri around 22 miles from Agra and was founded as the capital of the Mughal empire in 1571.
We arrived at Fatehpur Sikri and met our guide, we affectionately gave him the nickname “The Dr” (he is actually a Doctor) a local who is absolutely passionate about the fort and it’s history, he’s also a massive cricket fan. He was a mine of information, good at photography and didn’t stand any nonsense from the other tourists that got in his way. One family were allowing their kids to run riot and he had a word and another group were sitting on a fence which has clear signage to keep your distance. He did not like people disrespecting the place. We enjoyed his company for around two hours before ending the tour and heading back after a long/hot day. Part One now completed!
