Jaipur Haveli: Nana-ki

Indian Valentine's Day picture.



Architectural detail of the Nana-ki Haveli.



Krissy dancing with a young performer before dinner, in front of the puppet theater.



Our room.



Our bathroom.



Geo and Cecelia (Stephanie's mom) in the stairway.



Looking from the courtyard.



In the dining room.

Chokhi Dhani

Krissy, Geo and Stephanie at dinner.



Geo in a hut, one of the examples of Rajasthani homes replicated in the village.



K & G at the entrance to Chokhi Dhani.



Krissy and Kristin (wife of John, an exchange student from Duke) dancing with the performers.



K & G on our first camel ride :)



Isn't he cute?



Krissy and Stephanie riding an elephant!


First, you can look at Chokhi Dhani's website to get a better idea about where we went. We only had about 3 hours there, from 8 until 11 pm. That was enough time for a camel ride, and elephant ride, a magic show, shopping, and dancing. Also, dinner was included in the admission price, so we got to have a proper Rajasthani meal. This place was the most-mentioned attraction in all of Rajasthan according to most of our friends, both Indian and foreign. It was well-worth the price of admission (250 rupees, about $6 US).

Chokhi Dhani means "special village" and it was certainly a treat. We found that most of the people there with us were Indian, and very few signs were in English. It was a delightful evening, sharing the experience with our friends Stephanie, John, and Kristin.

Jaipur-The Pink City

A glimpse of the busy Pink City.



A commonly seen type of painting used to decorate palaces. This one is in the Madhavendra Bhawan, the palace where the king kept his 9 wives.



Looking down into the neighborhood from Nahargarh (Tiger Fort).



Inside the Jaipur City Palace, see http://www.royalfamilyjaipur.com for more info.



The current maharaja still lives here in this part of the palace. Look up to see the Nahargarh fort.



K & G at the top of the Jantar Mantar, a fascinating astrological observatory that Jai Singh built for his own use, starting in 1728.


Now that we were officially in Rajasthan, it was going to mean nothing but palaces and forts. Rajasthan actually means "land of the kings." This should be fun! The first city we were going to visit was Jaipur, named after its founder, the great warrior-astronomer Jai Singh II (ruled from 1688-1744). He came to the throne at the age of 11. His name means "victory". That's enough background! The reason the city is known as the Pink City is because in 1876 the current maharaja had the whole "old" city painted pink to welcome the Prince of Wales (aka King Edward VII). Pink was traditionally the color of hospitality, says Lonely Planet. Today the pink is maintained by tradition and also perhaps by the law.

Home Sweet Haveli

Krissy dancing with a young boy in traditional Rajasthani style.



Geo checking out of the haveli on a rainy morning!



Mahesh, our driver, fixing our bags on top of the van, in the busy street of the village we stayed in.



Looking in our room. It was large, but simple.



Our private patio, with stairs leading up to another private balcony that looked out over the village. Wow!



View from the top of the traditional mansion into the interior courtyard.


Haveli: Traditional mansion with interior courtyards. This is the definition from Lonely Planet. Our travel agent, based in Delhi, was able to recommend a number of lovely havelis for us to stay in each night. They operate as hotels, but they often have a limited number of rooms, maybe 10-20. Dinner is often available. Breakfast is always included. We spent an average of $50 US per night for the two of us (I think). Each one was lovely and individual. Fortunately for me, all of them were written up in Lonely Planet. (I know the "Rajasthan, Delhi and Agra" edition of LP as well as I know Rick Steve's "Best of Eastern Europe" now.)

My plan is to show you each haveli as I write up the area we stayed in, then you shouldn't get too overwhelmed with information at one time.

The first place we stayed was about 100 km away from Agra, in a place that we would have never found on our own. Honestly. Our driver Mahesh found it quite easily though. Good thing, as it was in the middle of absolutely nowhere. I'm pretty sure the locals in this village must be used to the tourist vehicles that drive down the dirt roads, but this was stretching my imagination. I wasn't sure where we were going, but it was like heaven when we got there. The place was quaint. Dinner was provided. Entertainment was provided. Everything you could want was provided. An overnight thunderstorm was provided, which meant we didn't get out for our early morning walk as we had planned. Oh well.

Enjoy a glimpse at a proper haveli, heaven in the middle of nowhere for the weary traveller.

Taj Mahal

An example of the marble screens that make up the Taj Mahal.



Closeup of the inlaid marble and semi-precious stones that are knowns as "pietra dura."



A view of the Taj Mahal from the Red Fort, another monument in Agra.



Inside the Oberoi Amar Vilas resort. This was our first sighting of the Taj and it did give me goosebumps.



It was an overcast day, but this picture is still stunning.



This would be a fine picture except for the little blurry spot. Who knows where that came from, but there is nothing I can do it about it now :(


Well, we finally have seen the famous Taj Mahal. Even now, I can't say that I've got all the facts straight, so to supplement the commentary, I will add facts and figures from the Lonely Planet.

First, we took the train from Delhi to Agra. That was an adventure in itself. The train departed at 6 am and that meant we had to get up at 4 am. Ouch. The train station was busy even at 5 am, but we were supervised by our Delhi driver. He waited for us to get on the train, which was nice. We were served non-stop on the 2 hour and 15 minute train ride. First, a newspaper. Then some bottled water. Then tea. After that, breakfast. Then more tea. In between all the services were the collection of the used bits too. So I don't think we would have slept, even if we wanted to. The train moved quickly and most of the pictures I got were blurry.

Our arrival in Agra was smooth. We were met by our driver Mahesh, who would be our driver for the next 10 days. He took us straight to the area around the Taj Mahal. This area is also a non-polluting zone, so we decided to be dropped off at the Oberoi hotel called Amar Vilas. This is a fantastic place, if you can afford it. We used the toilets, took a look around, and used their electric golf carts to get us as close as a vehicle can get to the Taj. We walked through a street of vendors trying to sell us batteries, memory sticks, and postcards. Then we arrived at the entry ticket gate.

Feel like guessing how much it would cost you to see the world-famous Taj Mahal with your very own eyes? I hope you enjoy the pictures, because they cost us a small fortune. If we were Indians, we would get in for 20 rupees. That's about 50 cents, US. Our tourist price per person was only 750 rupees. That's more like $20 US. Wow!

Now for the history lesson: construction of the Taj began in 1631 and was finished in 1653. It was built for the Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial for his second wife, who died in childbirth of their 14th child. It's really just a very large mausoleum. Very large and very impressive...

The day we were there was overcast and cool. We arrived early enough in the morning because of our handy train. This was probably the best way for us to go, as it wasn't very crowded when we were there. We were told over 20,000 people visit the Taj Mahal every day. What a thrill.

Just so you know, the Taj is closed on Fridays. In case you were planning to visit yourselves!