Jaipur
"The Pink City"
13.02.2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawa_Mahal
Hello everyone, this is Jenna writing to you now. I was very excited to finally be in Jaipur, the “Pink City”. With a population of about 2.7 million people, Jaipur is a large city with a lot to offer. It is called the “Pink City” because most of the buildings were built out of pink stucco in imitation sandstone. This was quite a spectacle.
Izel, Katrina, and I toured the city by Rickshaw and taxi stopping at Jantar Mantar, the Jal Mahal, the Hawa Mahal, and the Amber Fort. A Rickshaw is a man-powered cart. Men pull you while you are in a little seat on wheels.
Jantar Mantar is an interesting observatory with a collection of architectural astronomical instruments built completely out of stone and marble. Constructed in the 1700s, Jantar Mantar is the largest of these observatories built by Maharaja Jai Singh II in India.
The Jal Mahal is a water palace that sits in the center of Man Sarobar Lake. It is a beautiful structure that is worth a photograph or two.
Traveling into the city, we went to the Hawa Mahal, better known as the Hall of Winds. This pink palace stands five stories high in a pyramid-like pattern. The front wall of the palace has 953 small windows that allow a breeze (hawa) to circulate the building keeping it cool even the hot months. The architects in the 1700s were very intelligent!
We had to travel by bus to the base of the hill that the Amber Fort rests on. Then, we rode an elephant up the hill. That was an amazing experience! You can choose to take a guided tour or see the fort by yourself. (1) We chose to do an English guided tour. The most interesting sight was the Hall of Mirrors. When the royalty lived in the fort, all they had to do was light one candle and the entire room would light up because of all the mirrors. (2) When you go to Jaipur, do not miss the Amber Fort for its amazing history and view.
Tonight we are staying at the Park Plaza hotel in Jaipur’s city centre. Tomorrow we will travel to Varanasi.
