we headed off this morning for breakfast at a little restaurant that made grilled tomato and cheese sandwiches to die for (or so it seemed :-) from there, we wandered around jaipur city centre doing some errands before we headed off on our half day tour. we were rushing back to the tourist bureau when i was shat on, not once but twice, by pigeons!! luckily they only got me on the shoulder and my front, not my hair, as i would not have been happy!! cleaned as best as possible, we embarked on our tour with mostly other indians.
we started the tour at the observatory (Jantar Mantar) which boasts 18 huge astronomical measuring devices created in the early 1700s to measure time and the astrological affects of time passing on the earth. the devices were all interesting to look at however our guide was so impossible to understand due to his thick accent that i have no idea what the majority of the items were used for!! from there, we went to the city palace and museum which was pretty as much of it was a pinky/terracotta colour. they boasted a massive collection of guns, swords and different period costumes which were fabulous!
we boarded our double decker bus and headed off to amber fort which is about 11km north of jaipur. the fort sits on the site of a hillside (obviously) and is imposing in size and stature. it was absolutely beautiful to look at from a distance. we wandered through the fort, took some photos and then rejoined the tour bus. by now, it was nearing the end of the tour however the guide hadn't managed to fit in all of the attractions so we rushed to the jaigarh forth just south of the city however neither amg nor i could be asked to climb up and take photos!! it was all too hard :-)
i had a quick chat with the tour guide as we'd booked ourselves movie tickets for 6:30pm (tour was due to finish at 4:30pm) however it was close to 6pm when he dropped us off near the cinema. since we were pressed for time, we ended up in mcdonalds for dinner (i know, i'm not proud to admit it) where i had a mcveggie burger and amg had a chicken maharaja mac before heading next door.
the cinema holds 1,500 people and is decorated in an art deco look and feel. the main entrance hall was dusty rose with peacocks painted on the walls and interesting carpet throughout. we bought ourselves a snack and headed for the cinema. it was assigned seating and we had great seats to watch "blue" a bollywood film. it was predominately in hindi with a couple of english words and generally, based on the expressions and postures, you could ascertain what was happening in the film. it was a cheesy but fun movie to see ;-)
i headed off home alone after the movie (amg had to leave early as she needed to buy another suitcase to hold all of her new purchases :-), collected my clean laundry and headed off to bed after an action-packed day.
we're heading off to the taj mahal tomorrow and we've been warned by a number of locals to take care in agra...
No comments:
Post a Comment