Jaipur, Rajasthan

A couple of weekends ago, the Lauder Hindi track went to Jaipur.  We left on Friday afternoon but first we stopped off for a night at Neemrana.  Neemrana is between Delhi and Jaipur and the location of an old fort, which has been converted into a hotel.  This is where we would stay on Friday night.  The fort itself was gorgeous.  We spent a good 2-3 hours exploring the fort before jumping into the swimming pool to cool down.  Beyond the natural beauty we were a little disappointed with the hotel itself – small rooms, mediocre meals and we would later learn that half the fort was built specifically for the hotel!  Despite that, we had our fair share of fun (which may or may not have included some late night sneaking around the fort in the dark).

The next morning we left for Jaipur.  Our trip took a turn for a worse as we were stuck in traffic for much longer than we should have.  We had a corporate visit at a textile factory in Jaipur, which turned out to be a bust.  Not having had any lunch, we were all starving and had little interest in the textile factory itself.

Despite not having eaten, we didn’t want to miss the opportunity of seeing the Jaipur sunset from Nahargarh fort.  It was by far the most memorable moment of the weekend and one of the most beautiful and unique sunsets I’ve ever seen.  From the top of the fort, we could hear individual voices, cars horns and prayers from each of the many masjids in Jaipur.  We saw the daylight turn into a beautiful spectacle of city lights and could see fireworks going off in the distance.  For anyone going to Jaipur, I would highly recommend watching the sunset from Nahargarh fort.  It’s breathtaking!

As we drove back from Nahargarh fort,  I couldn’t help notice the numerous animals on the streets – cows are commonplace in India but there were horses, camels and elephants being ridden on the streets!  After a much needed dinner, we crashed at the Hotel Arya Niwas.

On our way back to Delhi, we stopped at Amer fort.  Once again, the views from Amer fort are breathtaking.  The fort itself is massive and quite a spectacle but by the end of it I had definitely seen enough forts for the weekend!  The trip to Jaipur felt a little short and we unfortunately didn’t have time to see the older part of the city (The Pink City).  Nevertheless it was a fun trip and I’m sure I’ll return at some point in my life to see the rest of Jaipur.