Travel : Jaipur visit in 1 day

Hi Good day ppl !
This post was in Drafts for a year.
 I had for long thought of visiting the Golden triangle: Jaipur, Udiapur, Agra,Delhi. Wish comes true in parts.
If you think you need lot many days to cover this Golden triangle, you need just 3days, 1day for each.

  One destination covered : Jaipur-The Pink City, the capital of Rajasthan, hub of art crafts, kingdom still ruled by kings.
  Over the Christmas weekend my husband had a client visit in Jaipur, so I joined in for a much needed vacation. Though of 3 days, it was good !
  Here is our travel/exploration experience of Jaipur. I have given tips, alerts, trivia wherever necessary.

I have divided the post into parts.
Check:
Travel : Jaipur visit in 1 day
Travel: Jaipur- Albert Museum and Birla Temple
Travel: Jaipur- Hava Mahal and Jantar Mantar
Travel: Jaipur-City Palace and Jaigarh Fort/Jaivana Canon
Travel: Jaipur-Amber or Amer Palace and Jal Mahal
Travel: Jaipur-Bapu Bazar




  We flew from Mumbai to Jaipur on Friday, 21st December 2012. Next day while my husband went for his client visit I roamed around our hotel premises: Alsisar Haveli. It was a Haveli of just 10 rooms earlier, 10 years ago looking at the tourisim boom, they converted it into a 2 storied hotel keeping in mind the old rustic architecture with modern amenities. It is 25 minutes away from the airport.

Alert:
* Keep in mind, if your hotel cant arrange for a vehicle to pick you up, find a  radio cab kind of cab company from Jaipur and arrange for pick up. The Government prepaid taxi's are looting you. For 25 minutes of journey we were charged Rs. 400. While returning we hired a Metro Cab service, the charge was  Rs. 280, as per meter. :p

Here are a few images of the hotel we stayed at. Its a good hotel for its price. We opted for Bed & Breakfast option. They have a nice restaurant with buffet for breakfast & dinner. Lunch you can order off the menu. The staff is very friendly & helpful. Try the masala tea there :)

 

In the evening my hubby, hired a cab driver to take us around the entire of next day, visiting the most famous tourist spots around Jaipur. The driver suggested that for dinner we should try a famous eating out place on the outskirts of the city-Chowkidhani.

Alert:
*When hiring any vehicle (even auto rickshaws) fix on the fare for the entire route along with any other charges. The drivers later crib, argue with you for minor expenses and spoil the entire experience. Our driver at the end demanded money for parking charges at Chowkidhani, when he felt we werent generous enough in tipping him for the 1 1/2days of traveling. We didnt hire him the next day for our shopping spree & airport drop seeing his modes of extracting unnecessary money.
* The auto rickshaws are supposed to ply and bill you as per meter, but they ask for triple the amount for the ride. So insist upon paying as per meter or look for another auto. Also have a rough idea of how much it will cost for the ride. Avoid local or gov run buses.

The Chowkidhani-new. One of the to-be-visited theme restaurant. It gives you the feel of Rajasthan, along with great food.

There are 2 Chowkidhani restaurants facing opposite each other. We went to the new one. Our driver said the old one is too much crowded, one doesnt get their food on time. We were later told the old one is better than the new one :D.

At the entrance you pay a one time price per person for the entire experience. We paid Rs.450each. There are some items on the list which you separately pay for.The main dinner is at the end. You are told the time slot you will be served dinner till then you can enjoy the Village atmosphere Live.

You are greeted with garlands and tikka, trumpets playing. Jal jeera is served as welcome drink. In the middle of the evening we went back for more Jal jeera glasses, cause that seemed to correct our tummy of acidity after eating so many different types of appetizers before the actual dinner.
 

Rajasthani traditional dance. Greeting guests with music & small campfires around this stage to keep you warm.

Masala Chai & Pakora. It was so yummy on a cold evening, I kept going back to this stall for more :D. Wasn't interested in dinner after this ;)

Toy shop. Jaipur is famous for wooden toys. You need to pay for these.

The Bhakri served with ghee, jaggery & a spicy chutney. This was my husband's fav.  The lady was making hot bhakri's on cholha with the spicy chutney to give its superb taste. There was a long queue here as the chutney kept getting over and it takes a little time to make the perfect bhakri.

Rajasthani dance. This lady danced with pots on her head, then on steel glasses, then on shards of glass.

There are palm readers who will tell your future for a fee. Sherbet or Chass stalls. Joy rides. Stalls selling pickles, mojdi's, leather purses, quilts or rajais. A malish/massage stall. My husband was skeptical of trying it for Rs.15 hoping the guy doesnt break any bones or sprain his neck in the bargain. He came away saying it felt good but was a lil rough to handle. We tried a camel ride too. It was fun ;)

The dinner at the end. Thats my plate, dont like wasting food. I had my fill of appetizers so was stopping them from serving me anything else. But no luck. They are hell-bent on stuffing you till you are ready to burst :D, thats hospitality for them. They will serve you loads & loads of ghee, jaggery, roti's, jalebi's,....  The servers are camera friendly & know how to operate all types of cameras, so give them you camera, let them deck the guys with you in the traditional pagdi and smile for a picture :).

Check the next day's post. We roamed around the city and its famous palaces, museums, forts.

Next is Albert Museum and Birla temple.