Well, the New Year started with a joyous note and there were a large number of visitors to my blog. I do thank you all and hope that you have enjoyed the content that I have been posting here.   Unfortunately my joy was tinged with sadness as no one seems to want to share their thoughts on the posts that they are reading!

I am sure that it is not because everyone agrees with everything I say!

So, here is my New Year Wish and I hope it will be fulfilled: I pray that my visitors will leave their comments and initiate active discussion (hotter the better!) on the blog posts!

Wow! getting that off my chest feels real nice. I so wish the new year will continue on this note of hope.

Getting back on track with the topic “Journeys on Record”,  here is an account of my journey into the historic city of Jaipur.   I have been in the North of India for six years now and had not set foot out of New Delhi to visit the beautiful cities of Rajasthan. I was persuaded to rectify the error of my ways this Christmas.  I set out to visit the wonderful Pink city of Jaipur, take a detour to Ajmer to visit the shire of Salim Chisti and also the ancient temple dedicated to the Hindu Creator Bhrama at Pushkar. Now, back home, I am trying to put together information that will interest my readers and persuade them to consider making a tour of the places that I visited. After all, travel content is a method of persuading the audience and making them patronize the tours that others have enjoyed?  So here goes!

Jaipur is about five hours leisurely drive  by road from New Delhi. We started at around One P.M and reached Jaipur at 6 P.M precisely.  After a quick refreshing wash at the Guest house we were booked into, we proceeded to visit Chok ke dani. Chok ke dani is a cultural village that showcases the cultural mores of Rajasthan. Model houses of Rajasthan, the food of the people, the dress of the region, the music and dance, the snake charmers, the magicians and the elephants and the camels dominate the scene. We spent wonderful four hours, roaming around and immersing ourselves into the mood and rhythm of the state.

The next day we started our journey back into the past.  Our first steps led us to the historic Amber Fort. This fort was constructed by Man Singh I and II and it is a sprawling complex with many secret tunnels and escape routes. It is build over a number of adjoining hills and is truly awesome.  We spent a good three hours walking around the fort and exploring every nook and corner. The most beautiful building in the fort was the sheesh mahal. The highlight of the fort was the elephant ride. There were several tens of elephants carrying tourists round the fort.  The scene was very picturesque to say the least!

Our footsteps next led us to the Jaigard fort which is actually linked to the Amber fort by a secret tunnel. This fort is much smaller, but extremely beautiful. The view from the different towers and walls are breath taking. The different army inspection courtyards and the inner chambers are artistic but not very exciting.  The huge canon at the top of the fort was a tourist attraction.

We then moved on to see the Jal Mahal, Hava mahal, the Jantar mantar and the other sights in Jaipur. The Jal Mahal has to be viewed from the road as it is out of bound for tourists.   As we were running out of time and most of the other places close between 4 and 5 p.m,  we had to rush through them.

We had excellent food during the day at LMB restruant. This is a fairly clean vegetarian restruant that provides standard Punjabi and Rajasthani food to its patrons. The food was tasty and not too oily. The service was excellent.

The next day we proceeded to Ajmer and Pushkar.  Unusual rains marred our day. The narrow streets leading up to the Dargah of Salim Chisti were wet and slimy and we had to walk almost for a km or two to reach it. We were also harungued by beggars on the way and harrassed by persons who would have us perform a number of rituals at the Dargah for our “greater good”.  After navigating our way through the streets and avoiding all overtures we managed to visit the shrine and return intact. Not a very happy experience.

Pushkar was a good one hour drive from Ajmer and the rains again played spoilsport. We also arrived with just a few minutes before closing time. Handbags and mobiles were not permitted in the shrine and we were forced to sacrifice the pleasure of one of our members for the “greater good” of the group. So, we all visited the shrine while the chosen “sacrifice” stood below holding our bags and mobiles. The visit however, was not pleasurable. Slippery mud that caked the marble stairs leading to the shrine made walking hazardous. The narrow passage leading up to the shiva sanctum was dark and extremely crowded. We navigated our way, fearful that a stampede might break out any moment. However, we returned whole.

After lunch we decided to visit the holy sorovar(lake) at Pushkar. Well, not much can be said about it. The lake itself had dried up and there was a small collection of stagnant water that was stored in a small storage area at the bottom of the steps leading up to the lake. We were not tempted to wet our feet or rid ourselves of our sins by stepping into the water.

Since we had a 8 hour drive back to New Delhi, we decided to leave immediately. It was 3 P.M.  We reached Delhi at 11 P.M with a short break of 20 minutes for tea and snacks.