November 20, 2006 Jaipur

November 20th 2006


Since we had retained room # 404 before going for the 2 night, 3 day trip to Shekhawati Region, we had the comfort of having the same room, one of the nicer rooms, as the place is fully packed. We woke up early and after breakfast, left to see the sights of Jaipur again. We had still not seen much of this city. The Forts, Palaces, Hawa Mahal in details etc.

9.00 am - Left the hotel for sightseeing.

First we went to the backside of Hawa Mahal, which Pavan had not seen. The front is very misleading, till one sees the side and the back of this Hawa (wind) Mahal. It is absolutely Gorgeous. Pavan got his shoes polished by a young lad, and paid him, but I gave him twice as much as a tip. He seemed happy. He was a very quiet, contended young boy.

Then we went to Jantar Mantar. The following is the explanation of this great place at the Jantar Mantar website:

Between 1727 and 1734 Maharajah Jai Singh II of Jaipur constructed five astronomical observatories in west central India. The observatories, or "Jantar Mantars" as they are commonly known, incorporate multiple buildings of unique form, each with a specialized function for astronomical measurement.

Our third halt was at the City Palace. The Maharaja is in residence at this point. There is a flag that suggests that. As we were walking around the grounds of this beautiful palace, suddenly we heard a lot of oohs and aahs, and soon realized that the SUV that came out of one of the private gates belonged to the Maharaja, and he was waving to the crowds. The yellow light was ON at the top of the SUV. Saw the museum (photography not allowed inside), the Peacock Gate and every nook and corner of this magnificent Palace, which is very well maintained. Walked inside one of the cottage industries where they wanted us to see the looms and how they weave the cloth etc. Next door was a bookstore, where Pavan saw some books, and the owner wanted us to buy or atleast place an order. Good thing we did not, as we got the same books at half price via Sunil. But I did buy 2 ties for the Beams.

Left the Palace for Arya Niwas, but came back via the RTDC hotel (Gongour) where we wanted to exchange Jaidev's outfit for one size bigger.

1.00 pm - Returned to Arya Niwas, had lunch and discussed further travel plans with Mr Bansal.

Took some rest.

7.00 pm - Went with Sarawan Singh to Choki Dhani. What an experience. Bhabhi had said we must visit this place, definetely worth it. It is a village scene with all the works. It was started 14 years back by a local Sindhi businessman - Vaswani and is really set up like a village.

Entrance fee is Rs 250 per adult, which is used to pay your dinner bill. The meal is supposed to be eaten on chokis and people sit on the floor on "gaddas". Pavan and I requested for chairs (I have a metal rod in my leg :-), I got a wicker chair (they only had one) and Pavan was given another choki. The dinner was served on plates made from leaves, but they were actual plates!! as well as the 5 katoris (also made from leaves) and a clay tumbler. They started with 3 types of chutneys, 3 vegetables, daal, curry, makki ki roti, bajra ki roti, plain roti ( all the size of a katori), papad, khitchdi (served with ghee and sugar), rice with more curry, more curry, more vegetables and finally Halwa. They kept pouring and I kept saying no, but they would not take no for an answer.

The food was delicious!

We had visited a store (it is too big to see everything in one evening), and danced with a lot of local performers. In the store, we bought a "pagdi" for Eric, 3 tops for me and one bansuri for Pavan (?).

Pavan videotaped most of the visit there and I used the Nikon 8800. During dinner, we were too busy eating to think of photography. So, no photographs of that eventful dinner.

10.00 pm - Returned to Arya Niwas, very happy with our day's achivements. Saravan Singh was very happy to see us so pleased.