India 05

Touch Wood

‘Deadly earthquake hit Pakistan and part of India and Afghanistan,’ screamed the front page headline of many of the Sunday papers.

It was barely three weeks before I was supposed to leave for India.

The news was followed by phone calls and sms-es from family members and friends asking if my trip was affected, whether there would be change of plan etc.

It is also a well known fact that the Kashmir areas of both Pakistan and India are always at loggerhead. Few days before I left for the trip, I told a friend that I was going to India – Golden Triangle and Kashmir – for a holiday.

‘OH! KASHMIR?’ her eyes ‘popped out’ and her jaw, half dropped. She continued, ‘I hope you will come back in one piece.’

I don’t want to sound superstitious, but I actually secretly touched a wooden table and said, ‘Oh, I hope so...no, I am sure I will. Yes, I WILL come back in one piece.’

The following evening after we arrived in New Delhi, I received a sms from a relative back home asking where exactly I was and if everything was ok. It went on to say that there had been a few bomb blasts in the market areas of Delhi.

At that time, we were at a souvenir shop some 250km away in Jaipur, oblivious of what was happening.

Going back in one piece?

Continuing my holiday with peace of mind?

The Summary

Summary of the trip

(Click on the photo to view larger version)

The Hotel, the Palace

Our first hotel in India, Manesar Heritage Palace Resort in Delhi, was formerly a palace. Each hotel ‘room’ is a small separate self-contain apartment-like unit complete with a spacious lounge area and a separate entrance. Nice and comfortable place indeed.

Did we get to ‘live like a king, eat like a king and being served like a king?’ You know the answer!

Entrance to the hotel ‘room’

Spacious lounge

One of the buildings

Front façade

On the Way to Jaipur

Birla Temple (above and below 2)

Albert Hall

Cultural Show

The cultural show took place at the hotel.

Can you do it?

Amber Fort, Jaipur

The fort is located on top of Amber Hill. One of the most distinct ‘features’ of the fort is the 'Hall of Mirrors'.

The walls and ceilings are ‘adorned’
with thousands of tiny mirrors

With the group members

Jal Mahal (Lake Palace)

At the Gemstone Polishing Factory & Showroom

Jantar Mantar, Jaipur

Jantar Mantar, the Astronomical Observatory Centre, is the largest of the five in India. The observatory consists of fourteen major geometric devices for measuring time, predicting eclipses, tracking stars in their orbits, ascertaining the declinations of planets, and determining the celestial altitudes, etc.

Different types of sundials, front and behind

The position of the shadow shows the time.
It was around 3.00pm at the time.

Spherical sundial

Vertical sundial

See the dark spot on the first ‘rib’ on the right?
It is supposed to tell the location of …(arh, forgotten!)

Maharaja’s City Palace, Jaipur

On display at the palace are two pure silver urns weighing 240kg each (see last photo).

We were told that the then Maharaja of Jaipur, Sawai Madho Singh, carried them to England when he went there for the coronation of Edward VIII. He used them to store water so he would not have to drink water abroad. Woa, imagine that!

The palace has several intricately
decorated balconies and corridors

A retainer with one of the urns

Hawa Mahal and the Bazaar area, Jaipur

Jaipur, also known as Pink City, is the capital of the Rajasthan state. The entire city was painted pink (a colour associated with hospitality) in 1876 (under Maharaja Ram Singh) to welcome the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII).

Hawa Mahal (or Palace of Winds) was built (in 1799) to allow the royal ladies to observe everyday life and processions in the street below without being seen. The 953 small windows allow the ladies to do so, and the breeze (hawa) which circulates through these windows gives the palace its name, and keeps it cool even in the hot month. The 5-storey building is constructed of red and pink sandstones.