Diary: Wednesday 8 March 2000

Wednesday 8 March 2000

We took the easy option for seeing the sights of Jaipur and booked ourselves on the all-day tour organised by the RTDC (Rajasthan Tourist board). It was the most uninclusive tour that we have ever been on! The tour itself cost 125 rupees per person but that only covered the cost of the coach. With all of the entrance fees and lunch on top it probably amounted to 3 times that! It was just as well we got out some more money before we left this morning! That aside, the tour was good, although it did cram rather alot into a short space of time.

The first stop was at the Birla Mandir temple. This is a fairly new (1985ish) Hindu temple built from marble. It was built by a wealthy family who have been told by a shrewd religious guy that they will lose their wealth if they do not build a new temple every year! The temple was interesting, but not spectacular. It did have a novel alternative to stained glass in the form of a carved marble 'window' that was thin enough to let the light through.

We trooped back onto the bus and made our way to the Jantar Mantar, observing the 'Palace of the Winds' (Hawa Mahal - a place where the ladies of the court could observe street processions behind marble screens) as we drove past. The Jantar Mantar is an astronomical and astrological observatory built in the 1700s. It boasts the worlds largest sundial.

A short walk through the streets brought us to the City Palace, a part of which is still used by the Royal Family. The remainder of the buildings have been converted to a museum, devoted to the history of the Raj. It houses the worlds largest single items of silver. Two vast water jars which were used by the King to hold Holy Ganges water for his visit to the UK in 1900ish. Rather ironic that an Indian should not trust British water!

From here we headed out of town to Nahagar Fort. This fort is somewhat in ruins but commands stunning views of the town and surrounding countryside.

Next stop, another fort, Amber Fort. This houses the largest cannon in Asia, although it has never been fired in anger. There is also a small armoury museum and the ruins of the fort. Graffiti everywhere.

The next stop brought us to the highlight of the trip: Amber Palace. Yet another Moghul Palace. However, this one merged Hindu and Moghul designs. It was in a good state of repair and must have been an impressive residence.

After lunch, we moved onto the inevitable handicrafts shop (a fixed price number, run by the RTDC). Marketing strategy worked and we came away with a new sheet/bedspread that we felt was lacking from our lives!

The final stop back in town was at the Planetarium to view a video in Hindi. We copped out and came back to the hotel to collect stuff for uploading the website. After several abortive attempts (no CD drive, a CD drive so old it wouldn't read multisession disks). We found a cafe that allowed FTP as well. We settled in for the longhaul. Uploaded approx half without problems and then crashed out! Will return tomorrow to complete. Hope the site is working in the meantime.