Trip to Jaipur - Dec 23 - 25, 2006

(Amer fort from the highway)

Another long weekend, another opportunity for a weekend getaway, so what better place to go in this chilly weather than the nearby Jaipur. We planned and got the hotel booked on the same day (i.e. 20th Dec 2006) via http://www.makemytrip.com/ . Due to the peak season and our late timing all we could grab was a three star hotel (Hotel Kanchandeep, Vanasthali Marg, Sindhi Camp, Jaipur) for about Rs 5200 for a couple of nights. Though the next day we got a call from http://www.makemytrip.com/ that due to some problems at the hotel end, we could not get the reservation and had to settle for another hotel in the same locality (Hotel Kohinoor, Vanasthali Marg, Sindhi Camp, Jaipur). The hotel was actually awful (more about that in another post maybe), but after the bookings had finally been confirmed we decided to take the road trip to Jaipur starting Saturday early morning.

Day - 1 , 23rd December 2006

8'O clock in the morning we finally started off for Jaipur. It was a lot more foggy than expected, but hopefully it cleared out within a couple of hours. Finally reached & checked in to the hotel at around 3:00 PM the same day and headed for a Rajasthani Thali meal nearby for 55 bucks which was really awesome. After that took a auto for 100 Rs. and headed for Jantar Mantar in the core of the city.

(Hired Auto in the pink city - Jaipur)

The experience at Jantar Mantar was really awesome, with some great time measuring and astrological tools. It's actually hard to believe that people could think in such a scientific manner with the bare minimum resources they had at their disposal at that time. A visit to Jantar Mantar is very much recommended during your stay in Jaipur. Next we headed for Hawa Mahal, but unfortunately we got late and could not get the entry (as the entry for most of the palaces, forts and other places of interest closes at around 4:30 PM.), so all we had to be content with a view from outside :-(

(Hawa Mahal)

Next we decided to head for Chowki Dhaani, which is a good 20 kms from the center of Jaipur and luckily we managed to reach there by 6 in the evening. As expected this place is actually a world apart and a heavenly experience. The entrance on that day was Rs 300 per head which included the main meal (I guess we had options of three cuisines) and most of the activities inside were for free. We were welcomed with a traditional tikka at the resort, and as soon as we entered the resort it looked like a neat and tidy village setup of Rajasthan. We were greeted by quite a few people and some of the popular activities going inside were

• Free champi maalish for all visitors.
• Magic shows, puppet shows etc.
• Elephant, Camel and bullock cart rides for a very nominal ride of 20 rs per person.
• Various games like arrow shooting etc.
• To top it all the Rajasthani buffet dinner was really awesome.

All in all Chowki Dhaani is definitely not to be missed in your trip to Jaipur. Check some of the pics which we clicked.

(Chowki Dhaani Entrance)

(Bhul Bhulaiya)

(Shopping place in Chowki Dhaani)

(Eating area in Chowki Dhaani)

(Another view of the eating area in Chowki Dhaani)

(A Dog show in progress in Chowki Dhaani)

By around 10'o clock we were really exhausted and decided to head back to the hotel. The Jaipur road Atlas which I had bought on the way, really helped me out with finding the way back in one go ;-). So my exciting first day in Jaipur finally came to an end. Do check out my next post about the adventures on the second and third day in Jaipur.

Day - 2 , 24th December 2006

Woke up the next day in the morning and decided to visit a few forts in Jaipur. Starting off with Amer fort, leading to which was a hilly road which both of us quite enjoyed. There is also an option of taking a Camel ride up the Amer fort, but we preferred to take our car all the way up (Be prepared to drive in the narrowest of lanes if you choose this option.)

After Amer Fort, we next headed for Jaigarh fort, which holds the largest canon in the world. Some other attractions of this particular fort is that as per the legend there was a treasure inside the tank in this fort, which has now been extracted (for which you often hear stories of different versions.)

We concluded our fort visit by a short stop at Nahargarh fort, where we also had our lunch. The highlight of the fort are the nine palaces builr for the princess, plus the panoramic view of the whole Jaipur city is awesome and makes this palace definitelt worth a visit.

After this we decided to head for Chowki Dhaani in the evening again because of the great experience we had the previous night. Unfortunately being a Christmas eve, Chowki Dhaani was overcrowded and we changed are mind. We finally settled to roam around the market in MI Road and had dinner at Dasaprakash ending our second day in Jaipur.

Day - 3 , 25th December 2006
Finally it was time for holidays to get over, and we checked out of the hotel at 10 in the morning and were back at our home at 2:45 PM. So watch out for this place for my next travelogue post.

P.S. - Kudos to www.makemytrip.com They took notice of the dissatisfaction which I had made against the hotel and took the required action. The bad experience in the hotel has been very well compensated by www.makemytrip.com Keep it up.....