JAIPUR, INDIA

Arriving in Jaipur, we passed through rugged hills until we were welcomed with a glimpse of the ancient Amber Fort or also known as the Amer Palace. It is located 11 km outside of Jaipur in a town called Amer. The Amer fort was built with red stone and marble giving it its characteristic rustic colour and is complemented by the surrounding Maotha Lake. As mentioned earlier, Maharaja Ram Singh was the ruler or Jaipur and led Mughal Emperor Akhbar’s army. As a result, the architecture of this palace is a fusion of Rajput and Mughal artwork, representing Hindu and Islamic styles, respectively.

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Once you arrive at the fort, you have the option of riding the many elephants that take you to the top, or you can walk to the top. The elephants are all dressed in colourful saddle cloths called jhools with some artwork done with coloured powder. It’s extremely hot at any time of the day and seeing these beautiful mammals hard at work nearly broke our hearts. We have all ridden animals at some point in our lives and in situations where it is the only mode of transportation. However, this attraction is responsible for roughly 100 elephants that carry tourists up the one kilometre steep hill that is finished with hard cobblestones being tough on the animals.

There are alternative ways to reach the entrance of the fort at the top of the hill, such as golf carts, bikes and cars. We decided to walk. The walk is roughly 20-30 minutes and gives you a chance to go at your own pace, take lots of pictures and admire the scenery. The fort looks majestic from the outside and it takes you back a thousand years once you start exploring it from the other side of the wall. Once you are at the entrance, you have to pay extra to see the inside of the palace, costing 500 rupees. The area is huge and you can explore at your own leisure. Pick up a map and take your time exploring this fascinating palace.

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My favourite place in all of Jaipur was the Hawa Mahal, which means Wind Palace. This palace is located on a very busy street. The palace has 953 small windows to keep the wind from blowing inside. The architecture of this Palace is quite intriguing, as it was built for the royal women to enjoy the festivities taking place on the streets from the windows without being seen. The bee-hive pattern of the windows allow you to see perfectly from the inside out but not the other way around. If you still want to see more palaces, you can quickly see the beautiful Jal Mahal, which means water palace. This is an abandoned palace situated on a man made lake. It’s a quick stopover look from the sidewalk as you can not go inside. Rumour has it that boat tours will be operating soon.

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