Jaipur - part 2

On Wednesday, we had booked a driver for the day so we could explore the main sites close to Jaipur but outside the City centre. After a brief stop en route to take pictures of the Amber Palace from a convenient vantage point…

…our first stop was to visit the Panna Meena ka Kund step well. There are apparently much bigger examples, but we thought this was pretty impressive in its own right.

Then on to see probably the most famous site in Jaipur, the Amber Palace. There were plenty of tourists about, the majority Indian, but the site is vast and bar a couple of large tour groups, which we managed to avoid, it absorbed the crowds pretty well. It’s completely spectacular - hopefully the images below will give you an idea.

Tourists can ride up to the palace by elephant - whilst we didn’t condone this, I couldn’t resist a picture, as they are the first elephants we have seen in India and so wonderfully colourful.

There are two forts on the hillside up above the Amber Palace, Jaigarh and Nahargarh. Jaigarh fort is interesting mainly for the presence of the Jaivan cannon, reputedly the largest cannon ever made. It required 100 kg of gunpowder to fire a 50kg cannonball. There were also good views down over the Amber Palace. You can see some of the fortified walls which surrounded the city of Amer - 12km in length.

Nahargarh fort is a popular spot for watching the sunrise and sunset, looking down over the modern city but we decided just to incorporate it into the natural flow of our day’s tour. We particularly enjoyed the wall paintings within one of the palaces, which comprised 10 separate sets of apartments - 1 for the rajah, and 9 for his concubines. He died in 1922….!!!

Finally, down the hill to take in the view of the Jal Mahal or water palace…

…before exploring the cenotaphs of the royal family - one for the Kings and one for the Queens. The King’s cenotaphs were particularly beautiful, and the grounds very well-maintained. Diana had the opportunity to practise her pose for the Taj Mahal.