Get it INDIA

[Jacques Vert]

Mehtab Bagh

There is a garden on the other side of the river from where you get some special views of the Taj in the evening...














One for @drron

 

[Jacques Vert]

Mehtab Bagh 2

The garden is a popular meeting place and also used by advertising agencies:

 

[Gem56]

Indian mattress run? When I first heard the expression, this is exactly what I visualised!

 

[Jacques Vert]

Fatehpur Sikri

Heading west from Agra towards Jaipur, first we come to Fatehpur Sikri.

From Wikipedia:

Fatehpur Sikri is a town in the Agra District of Uttar Pradesh, India. The city itself was founded as the capital of Mughal Empire in 1571 by Emperor Akbar, serving this role from 1571 to 1585, when Akbar abandoned it due to a campaign in Punjab and was later completely abandoned in 1610. The reason for its abandonment is usually given as the failure of the water supply though Akbar's loss of interest may also have been the reason since it was built solely on his whim.

The name of the city is derived from the village called Sikri which occupied the spot before. An Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) excavation from 1999-2000 indicated that there was a habitation, temples and commercial centres here before Akbar built his capital.

The khanqah of Sheikh Salim existed earlier at this place. Akbar's son Jahangir was born at the village of Sikri in 1569 and that year Akbar began construction of a religious compound to commemorate the Sheikh who had predicted the birth. After Jahangir's second birthday, he began the construction of a walled city and imperial palace here. The city came to be known as Fatehpur Sikri, the "City of Victory", after Akbar's victorious Gujarat campaign in 1573.

After occupying Agra in 1803, the English established an administrative center here and it remained so until 1850. In 1815, the Marquess of Hastings ordered repairment of monuments at Sikri.









The cap on top of the column in the following photo is carved from one (rather large) piece of timber...

 

[Jacques Vert]

Abhaneri

Chand Baori, Abhaneri is one of the oldest, deepest and largest baoris (stepwells) in Rajasthan. The oldest parts of the structure date back to the 8th century, and significant additions were made in the 18th century. The stepwell consists of stairs descending into the earth with a subterranean palace on one side. The flight of stairs and the palace are arranged in a square pattern with the well lying at the bottom. The flight of steps descend thirteen stories.

 

[Jacques Vert]

West to Jaipur


As you do...




Arriving in Jaipur...







So with a driving time of 4+ hours, and visits to Fatehpur Sikri and Abhaneri, we arrive at our digs (Samode Haveli) in time for Sundowners on the rooftop terrace; a couple of @drron's to start...







A tough gig; but someone's got to do it:

 

[Jacques Vert]

Samode Haveli

www.samode.com.

What an interesting hotel; again with thanks to wikipedia:

Samode Palace, Samode Haveli and Samode Bagh (Garden) are heritage monuments and structures built by the noble feudatory with the hereditary title of 'Maha Rawal' or 'Maha Saheb’ of the Amber and Jaipur principality in Rajasthan, India. All three have rich history of several hundred years and display a fusion of Mughal and Rajasthani art and architecture. They are now part of the Heritage group of hotels under the flagship name of "Samode" that are run by the hereditary owners of these structures. The Samode Palace is located 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Jaipur city, the Samode Haveli is close to Jaipur (centrally located within city limits, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) away from the city railway station) and the Samode Bagh or Garden, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the palace which is also run as a luxury hotel.

Our digs were at the Samode Haveli...

 

[RooFlyer]

Abhaneri

Pretty annoyed not to have visited here on my visit to the Golden triangle. Looks like we would have driven right past it.

Overall, were Magan's hotels OK/good/excellent and cheap/medium/expensive (for what you got)

 

[Jacques Vert]

Pretty annoyed not to have visited here on my visit to the Golden triangle. Looks like we would have driven right past it.

Overall, were Magan's hotels OK/good/excellent and cheap/medium/expensive (for what you got)

Magan asked whether we wanted 4/5 star hotels or 3 star. Is the Pope Catholic?

If you can't afford 5 star in India, then where can you?

Apart from The Claridges in Delhi (where +1 & I would not wish to stay again), our hotels were mostly excellent.

One where we just stayed overnight to break up a long drive (Rohet) was acceptable 4 star (not much else around).

We also stayed at the Holiday Inn in Jaipur later in the trip (arriving late and leaving early to catch a flight). It was fairly typical of a better HI.

I have no idea of prices as we paid an all in fee; how much was for hotels, how much was for the car and driver, how much was for guides? Can't say.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Amber Fort

One of the main attractions in Jaipur is the Amber Fort. It was built in the 16th century by Raja Man Singh.





One of the features of the Amber Fort is the use of elephants to take tourists up to the fort. I found myself in two minds about this. Some would say that the use of elephants is cruel and should not be allowed. OTOH, I wonder what would become of the elephants and their keepers/drivers if this "system" was discontinued?







Once you reach the fort, there are some great views of the surrounding area...

 

[Jacques Vert]

Within the Amber Fort

 

[Jacques Vert]

Jal Mahal

Jal Mahal is also known as the Floating Palace.

As it happened, we were to drive past here a few times during the day and evening so here's a selection from various times of the day; perhaps +1 was inspired by Claude....

 

[Jacques Vert]

Hawa Palace (Palace of Winds)

 

[Cossie]

Jal Mahal

Jal Mahal is also known as the Floating Palace.

As it happened, we were to drive past here a few times during the day and evening so here's a selection from various times of the day; perhaps +1 was inspired by Claude....

Did you venture over for visit? We had a lovely afternoon tea there.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Jantar Mantar (The Royal Observatory)

Adjacent to the Jaipur City Palace and not far from Hawa Mahal and Jal Mahal is the World Heritage listed Jantar Mantar, the Royal Observatory built by the local ruler and noted astronomer Sawai Jai Singh II. Completed in 1734, it contains 20 fixed instruments including the World's largest stone sundial.

More info here: The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur

A fascinating place, well worth a visit:

 

[Jacques Vert]

Did you venture over for visit? We had a lovely afternoon tea there.

Unfortunately not, but will keep that in mind if we pass this way again.

 

[Jacques Vert]

City Palace, Jaipur

After the Observatory, it was a visit to the adjacent City Palace:

 

[Jacques Vert]

Sunset over Jaipur

 

[Jacques Vert]

Back at the Samode Haveli and the band is in full swing:

 

[amaroo]

Superb TR. We've been looking at an Indian trip. Looks like you picked a good time to go with minimal smog and the plenty of water in Taj lake. Would you say this time of year is the best time to visit?