Apart from being 1148km and 22 hours of train ride from Mumbai,Jaipur was and will be the only 'pit-stop' for my first Indian trip.I can easily go in and out from Jaipur to the other state or cities on the Northern part of India such as Punjab state and the Himachal Pradesh state.Trains and sleeper busses are so easy to get from here to any destinations at a very reasonable price unless if you bought the tickets near to any festivals or local holidays!
The old Jaipur is known as the 'pink city'.The only pink in the city nowadays is the city gate surrounding the old city.Jaipur is a dusty,hustle bustle and chaotic city with lots of honking and people spitting the betel leaves everywhere.Thats where you will see the red marks on the street!In the old city of Jaipur,you can see lots of busses(public busses and private busses),motorbikes(the main transportation of the people here),autorickshaw,rickshaws,small cars and bicycles.Sometimes there's also some camels with the loads on the back,horses and elephants too!Not to mentioned that there's lots of cows walking by the roadside..and sometimes sitting in the middle of the road and cause the road congestion!There's also lots of pig wandering around the rubbish pile and sometimes in the stinking and smelly drains!Animals in India especially the cow is considered as a Holey animal and you can't hurt them in any kind of ways.There is estimated around 200million cows in India!Just imagine how many cows per square feet..and how big the cow is!
But still...why Jaipur??Not just because of the fact that I've mentioned earlier.In fact Jaipur - the old city offers more then that..and I'm not talking because of the touristic places but the city does have a very unique customs,traditions,historical sites,monuments and beautiful landscapes too.The colorful and friendliness of the people in Jaipur also made me considering to come here again(but not that often huh!).
In November,it's considered as the 'marriage month' where you can get lots of wedding party invitation all week long.In the bazar,you can see lots of the merchants sell decorative wedding talis and so does the bride and groom attire.On the walkway of the bazar,people were waiting on the line to get henna painting on theirr hands which they called it as 'mehndi' .Mostly the henna painter on the walkway is a guy and the design that they make on the hands are so intricate and it is especially for an auspicious event like marriage.Eventhough November is winter time,and the temperature always drop during night time..still the marriage party does go on and they have really a very big wedding celebration.Definitely it is a different culture and customs from the one back home in Malaysia but the celebration is as much the same.I was fortunate enough of being invited to one of the weddings that is being held in Amber.In the wedding party,they served a very hot naans,chapattis,briyanni(the fragrant basmathi rice) that comes with dhals,chow mein,sabhji,salads and everything that you can eat there.The best beverages in this kind of weather is off course the hot coffee!All of the attendees especially Rajasthani women were dressed in bright colors especially their Rajasthani dress,lengga and saris with splash of gold jewelleries..the men,especially the young and single good looking ones were dress in smart and casual wear..I've been told that this is the time where the young guys eyeing for their future brides-to-be in a wedding party..if they found 'the one'.
Arrange marriage is common in Rajasthan and also in India.Speaking off the maarriage ceremony,the groom came to the wedding party on an animal ride.This kind of ride symbolizes their caste.Riding an elephant means you're on the higher caste of Brahmin,horses and camels are for the normal caste and donkey for the lower caste.Together with the groom rides is people holding the lamp on the side of the ride (the wedding took place in night time!) and there is also a group of musicians paling the drums,trumpets and other musical instrument with a very happy melody or tunes.Dais for the bride and grooms were being set out in a very beautiful decorations on the stage that is meant for the ceremony.I can say that Malay wedding and the Indian wedding that I've attended is similar and especially there's an influence of indian tradition also in Malay's wedding.
The other things to do in Jaipur is bazar spree..known as shopping heaven for Rajasthani crafts,textiles,arts and off course gems.Bargaining is a must when you shop in Jaipur and India too.I managed to self indulge by buying some bangles (churi - in Hindi) and salwar khamez for myself,some shawls(chuni - in Hindi) and few pairs of Harem pants(also known as the Aladdin pants - so comfy and cheaper than Malaysia!)Being a woman and had a great Indian mom's love,we went shopping to the famous Lengga market in the old town of Jaipur.My eyes are like going to popped-out just by looking at all of the lengga there.It's the wedding lengga and it was very beautiful,colorful and lots of bling-bling on it...Oh..it's so beautiful and lots of people were almost in every shop there.Noticing that it's a wedding months and people there,especially women were out 'hunting' for the best dress ever even it costs them lots of Rupees..such as more then 10,000 Rupees..!It's really so expensive and good being a woman in India.You'll get more jewellery and beautiful saris and lengga at the same time.Just be beautiful!..I had my chance to try on the pink Rajasthani dress,blue sari and also the red color wedding lengga(Don't get me wrong..I'm not going to get married with Indian guy in a near future..!)
Gosh..I could say I look really different in the three dresses...but glad I tried it on.I really love the intricate designs,colors and the materials of the lengga.The accesories is also a must.Gold and it symbolizes the girl's family background.Indian wedding definitely rich with traditions and customs too!
Bapu Bazar is famous for the lines of shops selling saris and fabrics but you can still go to Johari Bazar which is famous for its gold and silversmith and off course bargaining is a must!Some of the merchants in Johari Bazar is specialisse in cotton.In the other hand,Kishanpol Bazar is famous for its textiles particularly with 'bandhari' (tie-dye) and 'lokaris'(waves tie-dye technique).Nehru Bazar also offer lots of 'Jootis' (traditional pointy-toed shoes),trinkets and perfumes.In Tripolia Bazar,you can find a lot of metal kitchen utensils and trinkets.Being 'crazy' of Indian bangles,going to Maniharon Ka Rasta was the right choice.This is the place where they make the lac(resin) bangles by the bangles maker.All of these bazar were connected to each other and it's easy to go just by walking.
There's always auto-rickshaw or the rickshaw driver by the roadside offering their services and looking for customers.I must say that, walking between these bazar really gives you a lot of new experience about India.Not to worry about it as it is safe there,but don't get yourself lost there!Besides the bazar,you can also see lots of fresh vegetables at the roadsides which is impossible to see it in Kuala Lumpur especially in the wet market!Bargaining is the word here...anywhere and everywhere!
If you go to Jaipur without any visit to any of the historical and beautiful structure,then you've must be missing a lot of interesting places.A visit to the City Palace near the Tripolia Gate ,which is the main entrance to the City Palace.Though only the Royal descendant are permitted to enter via its portal.The public entrance is to the left via Atishpol(Stable Gate).On the north part of the City Palace is the Jantar Mantar - the observatory begun by Jai Singh in 1728 and its the largest and the best prederved built by Jai Singh.Others are in Delhi,Varanasi,Ujjain and Muttra(The observatory has gone - no longer exist!!).Besides Jantar Mantar,there is another attraction that is The Govind Devji Temple on the north of City Palace.From Jaleb Chowk on the right side is Hawa Mahal(Palace of Wind).It's the most distinctive landmark of Jaipur with honey-comb pink sandstone structure.Hawa Mahal was constructed in 1799 by Maharaja Sawaj Pratap Singh to enable the ladies of royal household to watch the life procession of the city.Definitely this structure was built for women.It's not worthwhile to spend monies just to go inside Hawa Mahal as it is just a single structure.Photos can be taken across the street!
The next place to visit is the museum,but I'm not suggesting you to go into the museum unless there is a great exhibition being displayed there.The Central Museum of Jaipur or also known as the Albert Hall is a spectacular architecture and you also can see that it is being house for thousands of pigeons!!You can just take a very fantastic photos during sunset.Some of the locals there offer a horse ride too!
Food is always important to me.Yes,I need energy when I'm travelling,right??And now being in India and being a vegetarian(Which I've never done my entire life!!),things kind of got easy.You can just get lots of vegetarian food anywhere,everywhere with reasonable price.The food place that I really like and with reasonable price is in old city of Jaipur named Mohan(In Nehru Bazar) - recommended in Lonely planet too!The restaurant looks really grabby on the outside but they really prepare fresh cooked food inside.I really love their 'thalis' and also lassi(sweet and salty ones) at a very reasonable price(which you can't get that cheap even in Malaysia!)Price range between Rs10-Rs60.The other restaurant that I favor most is Thali House near the Station Road.You can really eat until you feel full and you just only pay Rs70 for the thalis and that include the Rajasthani Bharti.They will always make sure that your plate is always full by filling up what ever finish in your plate!The thalis comes with chapatti,rice,papad,sabhji(The greens),dhals and local deserts...I really love the fruit juices,in the city.It was totally different back then in Malaysia.Love when they put raisins and some nuts in the ice blended fruit juice.Ya,I might be crazy for trying so many street food in India.And ya,I also had been sick a week before I came back to Malaysia.But that doesn't mean that you can't eat anything there.Just enjoy the travel and taste the local treats.The best fruit juice I ever taste is the papaya shake juice.Thick and yummy!Just perfect drink during hot summer days...Along the famous MI Road there's also the best lassi place - recommended by the Lonely Planet too..called Lassiwala .The lassi served in clay cups and comes with different flavours too!!Bollywood films is synonyms with Indian and their lifestyles too.Here,you can watch Bollywood movie in the old iconic Raj Mandir Cinema .It is situated at Bhagwandas Marg.It is the no one cinema in India and I was supposed to go and watch some Bolly movie with my host's mom,but I couldn't make it.Maybe next time when I go there,I'll treat her to watch the movie.Argghh..lots of things I could tell about Jaipur ..and I supposed this is some of the reasons why Jaipur?..
The old Jaipur is known as the 'pink city'.The only pink in the city nowadays is the city gate surrounding the old city.Jaipur is a dusty,hustle bustle and chaotic city with lots of honking and people spitting the betel leaves everywhere.Thats where you will see the red marks on the street!In the old city of Jaipur,you can see lots of busses(public busses and private busses),motorbikes(the main transportation of the people here),autorickshaw,rickshaws,small cars and bicycles.Sometimes there's also some camels with the loads on the back,horses and elephants too!Not to mentioned that there's lots of cows walking by the roadside..and sometimes sitting in the middle of the road and cause the road congestion!There's also lots of pig wandering around the rubbish pile and sometimes in the stinking and smelly drains!Animals in India especially the cow is considered as a Holey animal and you can't hurt them in any kind of ways.There is estimated around 200million cows in India!Just imagine how many cows per square feet..and how big the cow is!
In November,it's considered as the 'marriage month' where you can get lots of wedding party invitation all week long.In the bazar,you can see lots of the merchants sell decorative wedding talis and so does the bride and groom attire.On the walkway of the bazar,people were waiting on the line to get henna painting on theirr hands which they called it as 'mehndi' .Mostly the henna painter on the walkway is a guy and the design that they make on the hands are so intricate and it is especially for an auspicious event like marriage.Eventhough November is winter time,and the temperature always drop during night time..still the marriage party does go on and they have really a very big wedding celebration.Definitely it is a different culture and customs from the one back home in Malaysia but the celebration is as much the same.I was fortunate enough of being invited to one of the weddings that is being held in Amber.In the wedding party,they served a very hot naans,chapattis,briyanni(the fragrant basmathi rice) that comes with dhals,chow mein,sabhji,salads and everything that you can eat there.The best beverages in this kind of weather is off course the hot coffee!All of the attendees especially Rajasthani women were dressed in bright colors especially their Rajasthani dress,lengga and saris with splash of gold jewelleries..the men,especially the young and single good looking ones were dress in smart and casual wear..I've been told that this is the time where the young guys eyeing for their future brides-to-be in a wedding party..if they found 'the one'.
Arrange marriage is common in Rajasthan and also in India.Speaking off the maarriage ceremony,the groom came to the wedding party on an animal ride.This kind of ride symbolizes their caste.Riding an elephant means you're on the higher caste of Brahmin,horses and camels are for the normal caste and donkey for the lower caste.Together with the groom rides is people holding the lamp on the side of the ride (the wedding took place in night time!) and there is also a group of musicians paling the drums,trumpets and other musical instrument with a very happy melody or tunes.Dais for the bride and grooms were being set out in a very beautiful decorations on the stage that is meant for the ceremony.I can say that Malay wedding and the Indian wedding that I've attended is similar and especially there's an influence of indian tradition also in Malay's wedding.
The other things to do in Jaipur is bazar spree..known as shopping heaven for Rajasthani crafts,textiles,arts and off course gems.Bargaining is a must when you shop in Jaipur and India too.I managed to self indulge by buying some bangles (churi - in Hindi) and salwar khamez for myself,some shawls(chuni - in Hindi) and few pairs of Harem pants(also known as the Aladdin pants - so comfy and cheaper than Malaysia!)Being a woman and had a great Indian mom's love,we went shopping to the famous Lengga market in the old town of Jaipur.My eyes are like going to popped-out just by looking at all of the lengga there.It's the wedding lengga and it was very beautiful,colorful and lots of bling-bling on it...Oh..it's so beautiful and lots of people were almost in every shop there.Noticing that it's a wedding months and people there,especially women were out 'hunting' for the best dress ever even it costs them lots of Rupees..such as more then 10,000 Rupees..!It's really so expensive and good being a woman in India.You'll get more jewellery and beautiful saris and lengga at the same time.Just be beautiful!..I had my chance to try on the pink Rajasthani dress,blue sari and also the red color wedding lengga(Don't get me wrong..I'm not going to get married with Indian guy in a near future..!)Gosh..I could say I look really different in the three dresses...but glad I tried it on.I really love the intricate designs,colors and the materials of the lengga.The accesories is also a must.Gold and it symbolizes the girl's family background.Indian wedding definitely rich with traditions and customs too!
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| Isaarlat,Jaipur |
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| Fresh vegetables on the roadside .. |
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| Jaipur City,view from the rooftop |
Bapu Bazar is famous for the lines of shops selling saris and fabrics but you can still go to Johari Bazar which is famous for its gold and silversmith and off course bargaining is a must!Some of the merchants in Johari Bazar is specialisse in cotton.In the other hand,Kishanpol Bazar is famous for its textiles particularly with 'bandhari' (tie-dye) and 'lokaris'(waves tie-dye technique).Nehru Bazar also offer lots of 'Jootis' (traditional pointy-toed shoes),trinkets and perfumes.In Tripolia Bazar,you can find a lot of metal kitchen utensils and trinkets.Being 'crazy' of Indian bangles,going to Maniharon Ka Rasta was the right choice.This is the place where they make the lac(resin) bangles by the bangles maker.All of these bazar were connected to each other and it's easy to go just by walking.
There's always auto-rickshaw or the rickshaw driver by the roadside offering their services and looking for customers.I must say that, walking between these bazar really gives you a lot of new experience about India.Not to worry about it as it is safe there,but don't get yourself lost there!Besides the bazar,you can also see lots of fresh vegetables at the roadsides which is impossible to see it in Kuala Lumpur especially in the wet market!Bargaining is the word here...anywhere and everywhere! |
| Hawa Mahal |
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| Central Museum of Jaipur |
The next place to visit is the museum,but I'm not suggesting you to go into the museum unless there is a great exhibition being displayed there.The Central Museum of Jaipur or also known as the Albert Hall is a spectacular architecture and you also can see that it is being house for thousands of pigeons!!You can just take a very fantastic photos during sunset.Some of the locals there offer a horse ride too!
Food is always important to me.Yes,I need energy when I'm travelling,right??And now being in India and being a vegetarian(Which I've never done my entire life!!),things kind of got easy.You can just get lots of vegetarian food anywhere,everywhere with reasonable price.The food place that I really like and with reasonable price is in old city of Jaipur named Mohan(In Nehru Bazar) - recommended in Lonely planet too!The restaurant looks really grabby on the outside but they really prepare fresh cooked food inside.I really love their 'thalis' and also lassi(sweet and salty ones) at a very reasonable price(which you can't get that cheap even in Malaysia!)Price range between Rs10-Rs60.The other restaurant that I favor most is Thali House near the Station Road.You can really eat until you feel full and you just only pay Rs70 for the thalis and that include the Rajasthani Bharti.They will always make sure that your plate is always full by filling up what ever finish in your plate!The thalis comes with chapatti,rice,papad,sabhji(The greens),dhals and local deserts...I really love the fruit juices,in the city.It was totally different back then in Malaysia.Love when they put raisins and some nuts in the ice blended fruit juice.Ya,I might be crazy for trying so many street food in India.And ya,I also had been sick a week before I came back to Malaysia.But that doesn't mean that you can't eat anything there.Just enjoy the travel and taste the local treats.The best fruit juice I ever taste is the papaya shake juice.Thick and yummy!Just perfect drink during hot summer days...Along the famous MI Road there's also the best lassi place - recommended by the Lonely Planet too..called Lassiwala .The lassi served in clay cups and comes with different flavours too!!Bollywood films is synonyms with Indian and their lifestyles too.Here,you can watch Bollywood movie in the old iconic Raj Mandir Cinema .It is situated at Bhagwandas Marg.It is the no one cinema in India and I was supposed to go and watch some Bolly movie with my host's mom,but I couldn't make it.Maybe next time when I go there,I'll treat her to watch the movie.Argghh..lots of things I could tell about Jaipur ..and I supposed this is some of the reasons why Jaipur?..
