Today no early wake-up, its time to enjoy a relaxed day. First thing first, our plan is to go watch an indian movie (very recommended) in the Raj Mandir!!! We always wanted to watch some typical Bollywood-styled movie and what is the best place to do that if not in the most famous, great and spectacular cinema of the country. The Raj Mandir its not just a cinema, is the palace of the cinema ! Beautiful colors, crystal chandeliers and majestic stairs all bonded together to drag you back in bohemian times: this is the unique experience of the Raj Mandir.
We enter the screening room just to discover there was more to see ! Hundreds of beautiful wood seats, a huge screen, red curtains used to decorate all the walls and snack sellers going around the seats with small torches: welcome back to the early 1900s ! After taking our seat, we’re ready for the 12.30pm session projecting the newest most-watched“Banjo”… So fun ! Apart from the few scattered seconds where the actors said a couple of words in english, we completely missed what was going on in the movie but we still laughed our heads off. At every scene and song, everyone around us starts to laugh, say something or start signing along, how could you not have fun ? We love it !
Nearly after 3 hours of laughing and singing the same songs over and over, its time for us to go back to reality. Outside the cinema, our tuk-tuk driver is waiting for us start our “touristy” tour around the remaining sights of the city. The first stop is at the so known “Place of the winds” Hawa Mahal, located in the center of Jaipur; time for a couple of shots, a chat with some people, a few admiring looks at the amazing architecture and off we go to our next stop.
Before heading in the outskirts of the city, the driver also bring us to have a stroll around the gran bazaar; hundreds of shops, colours, canvases, jewellery, smells, food, buyers & sellers, textiles and everything you can ever think of. We throw ourselves in the middle of all that and completely let the flow lead us around the small alleys; once again, the tuk-tuk is there awaiting for us on the other side of this chaotic order. Time for food now ! After a couple of questions on what we like, he bring us in to nice local restaurant where we can have a relaxed late lunch away from the touristy areas.
With the late afternoon starting to roll by, we hop off at our next stop: The Royal Gaitor. Initially build with the purpose of remembering the royal family, it is now an amazing tourist-free temple complex which will leave you speechless. With nobody around (not even the ticket guy) and only monkeys escorting us around, we have enjoy one of the most beautiful and quiet walks of Jaipur; with beautiful architecture and buildings in the foreground and an amazing city-scape in the background the site is just a hidden gem ready to be re-discovered. What a sight !
At sunset, we decide to finish off our day by visiting the majestic Nahargarh Fort (The Tiger Fort). After a quite-long journey on the tuk-tuk riding through mountains and slopes away from the city we finally get to the fort. A 20-min walk bring us straight onto the top roof of the fort where the views are just… unspeakable… The sky is turning orange, birds are flying high and Jaipur is literally on a 360° view under us. Hug-and-kiss are a must here ! What an experience ! As a last wish, we decide to go back to Jaipur center and have dinner at the Peacock Rooftop Restaurant!
This amazing restaurant is nothing but our hotel’s restaurant (read here about our 1st in Jaipur). The restaurant is really worth a visit if not for a full dinner at least for a drink; the food is super tasty, the service is excellent and the ambience is both welcoming and cozy at the same time ! Yeah, the prices are a little above the average but hey… its worth every last penny ! Additionally, on certain nights (reason why we chose to go today), there are also some musicians playing traditional Indian music with traditional instruments (e.g. Sitar) from dinner time until around 11pm. Listening to music while enjoying the night view of Jaipur is just unique. Definitely, a not-to-miss spot !
Today it was simply a perfect day. We’ve managed to squeeze out everything from Jaipur till the last minute. Now its time for bed though, tomorrow’s alarm is set to 6.15am in order to catch the 7am train to Agra ! Many thanks and goodnight Jaipur !
A LITTLE POCKET GUIDE
Where we slept
Pearl Palace Heritage Hotel:Es muy caro pero tuvimos la suerte de dormir allí al precio del otro hotel que disponen (el Pearl Palace); el aire acondicionado no funcionaba y por eso nos trasladaron al hotel más caro por el mismo precio. ¡Hurra! 😀 Es un hotel de lujo, con cada habitación inspirada en diferentes lugares de la India (en nuestro caso, un pueblo de arena del Rajasthan). En su azotea se encuentra el maravilloso Peacock Restaurant. Nuestra experiencia allí fue sin duda un 10.
What we visited
- City Palace: Beautiful place to visit and perfect starting point if you want to start your self-tour from the city center !
- Jantar Mantar: Ancient astrological observatory; stop your imagination right there… its nice and interesting with some astrological instruments scattered around a garden but there’s not much to see !
- Albert Hall Museum: Breathtaking museum that holds pieces of history from several countries ! Must-see !
- Torre Isar Lat: Not much advertised but worth every second. From the top of the tower you have an amazing 360° view of Jaipur.
- Water Palace: Unfortunately cannot be accessed anymore but its still a beautiful view on the way to the Forts.
- Amber Fort: The lowest fort of the two, still requires some walking up to reach but once on top, everything is great. The outer and inner architecture are incredible ! Be aware of guards/unregistered guides that tell you to make a “free-tour”, they probably will ask you for a tip later.
- Monkey Temple: Its an interesting sight with loads of monkeys and a great views at sunset. If you don’t like monkeys or are scared of monkeys being very close (and on top) of you, give it a miss.
- Cine Raj Mandir: Unique cinema that brings you back a century ! Worth to go watch a movie there just to see the gorgeous architecture.
- Fachada del Hawa Mahal: A.k.a. Palace of Winds, its a beautiful sight from outside but we were suggested not to go inside as it doesn’t add anything to it.
- Royal Gaitor: Another must-go spot with beautiful temples, views, atmosphere and most importantly no tourists !
- Nahargarh Fort: The fort just above the Amber Fort. From the rooftop of the Nahargarh you can enjoy the best views of Jaipur without a doubt. It does take quite a while to reach between tuk-tuk and walking but once there you’ll be left speechless.
How we moved
- Tuk-tuk: This is the cheapest, easiest and most effective way to visit Jaipur. As we said in the blog post “Have you tuk-tuk ?“, the fair amount to pay to a driver would be around 20INR /km. Once in the place we want to visit (e.g. bazaar, Amber or Nahargarh Fort), the best strategy is to leave the tuk-tuk behind and just set off on foot to get the real feeling of the place. On the other hand, sometimes is useful to have a tuk-tuk to follow you around all day; that costed us 500INR/per day.
- Full-Day Rent –> 500INR
- FROM Train Station TO Hotel Pearl Palace Heritage –>20INR (bargain a lot at the station before hopping on )
PLANNING A TRIP TO INDIA? CHECK MORE POSTS BELOW!
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