Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

I'm posting this blog after the fact, because things really got crazy and busy towards the end of our journey in India.  However, I didn't want to leave out an entry for Jaipur because its truly a beautiful city with a lot of wonderful things to see.  We visited the city from August 3 - 5 (a.m.).

Firstly, we stayed at a beautiful hotel, The Jai Mahal Palace.  Now although we've stayed at incredible places, I especially loved the modern decor of this real live palace which dates back to 1785.  Everything has been updated so the rooms were interestingly decorated.  There were fabulous modern paintings and prints throughout the hallway, and the piece de resistance was an incredible, human-sized chessboard in the gardens.

On the 4th, we were able to visit the Amber Fort.  What a jewel!  I thought we were just going to ride elephants up to an old fortress, but the scenery around the fort was truly enchanting and I think the bad weather added a certain air of mystery to the whole place, at least for me.

If you want to know more about the Amber Fort, check out this link:

http://www.jaipur.org.uk/forts-monuments/amber.html

In the meantime, here are some of the pics I took.  You begin the visit by mounting elephants that take you to the fort.

Arriving at the top of the fort.  This is not the highest point.  From here you need to climb on foot.

Our elephant and driver with Flat Stanley.  

Beautiful views from and around the fort.

If you want to see more pictures of this beautiful place, check out my flicker photostream.

The people in the group that had been to China said the fort wall reminded them of The Great Wall of China.

That evening we were treated to a traditional Rajasthani thayli dinner.  

       

Oh yeah and I even saw the Floating Palace I had seen online when this whole adventure was still a dream.