My last vacation in the shortest month of the year which I thought would never get over. The month; not the vacation. I had major mountain plans in February 2020 but I gave myself a reality check as a Bombay girl and decided against Himachal and booked myself a train ticket for the early hours of morning. Do we call the time before daybreak morning? It was very early and I was running late for train station because my Uber guy took a wrong turn and refused to drive above 50 km per hour. He was the calmest man I had seen in the past two weeks because I was screaming from behind to speed up for my train would leave in 15 minutes but all he said was, “You can do whatever you want and say no matter what, this car is not running above the speed of 50”. Great start!
I reached just about five minutes before the train left after battling all the porters who were hounding me since they could see I was carrying too many bags, was alone and clearly super late. “Chalo theek hai aap 250 de dena” (No worries, you pay me INR 250). I had no time or patience so I shooed them away and ran with all my bags weighing precisely 15 kilos. I stayed at Zostel Jaipur which was stones throw away from Hawa Mahal which was my safe haven. For me, Jaipur means Hawa Mahal. I have always admired that place scrolling through my Instagram feed and travel vlogs, so the location was a perfect match.
I checked-in at Zostel and sat on my bunker for at least 45 minutes before stepping out, I had no idea what I wanted to do next so I decided to eat something and maybe that would help my brains cells in functioning. I have the worst eating habits when I am away from home and alone, so I went to Wind View Café opposite Hawa Mahal. Next stop…of course Hawa Mahal. I got a composite ticket to avoid hassles for the next couple of days and the queue outside the ticket windows. I was told not to enter Hawa Mahal because it’s not worth it but it is beautiful and it deserves every minute spent on exploring it’s almost thousand windows (jharokaa) and complicated yet beautiful Mughal and Rajasthani structure. It was basically built for the ladies of the royal family of Jaipur and the concubines so that they can view the processions and city life without being visible to the public eye. The 1799 monument built by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh has no stairs inside but ramps which I think is very efficient keeping in mind the wheelchairs. This extension of Jaipur City Palace has five floors with Hawa Mandir on fifth floor which was an inspiration for the name-Hawa Mahal. Don’t try to find the entrance in the front because it is towards the side. I was not in a hurry so I loitered around the corridors, ramps, courtyard and every nook and corner to my heart’s content before walking towards a pretty street that leads to Jantar Mantar.
You need a guide in Jantar Mantar, they will quote about INR 700-800 which is good for a group but I just shrugged to gesture that I have no entourage and 200 bucks it was. Oh and he added me to a group. It is basically a collection of astronomical instruments and a UNESCO world heritage site. If you are not interested in astronomy, you can skip it but if you like to be surprised then don’t miss it for anything. I don’t have a lot to add about it because the information given by the guide was complicated and I can’t remember it to save my life. The Jantar Mantar street was not a busy one with traffic suffocating the life out of it. Jaipur has very busy streets and some serious traffic for a non-metro city, one reason I never missed home. I sat outside one of the city palace gates at 6:30 pm because all the tourist attractions are close by that time. I just sat below a tree in the middle of this street outside the palace reading my map and figuring out action plan for next day.
I walked towards Bapu Bazaar just to get lost. I entered a wrong by-lane thanks to Google Maps and wandered towards one of the seven gates of this walled city. I had nothing to do when I spotted a theatre. Golcha Cinema is one the unique old school theatres that I had seen, being a cinephile this was exciting. I went inside to have a look but I met the manager and decided to get my tickets for Love Aaj Kal 2. The washroom is pretty creepy and makes some spooky noises but the inside of the audi was even more scary. It was empty, there were a total of six people including me and I was in the mood for some peace so I had insisted on a seat with nobody on either sides. Well there was nobody in the dress circle, lucky day! There were neon lights during the interval that added to the horror movie setup of this place. The second time I stepped into that washroom, it was isolated and dimly lit and I was only quick enough to zip up and dash out without bothering to buckle my belt, I was that spooked. It was an adventure compared to my comfy PVR experiences. Not something that could have made to my itinerary but there it was right in front of me and carpe diem for day one. You should not miss this hidden gem if you are Jaipur, give it a go.
I got to my room to find that it was no more empty with each bed taken and I was glad I didn't have to sleep alone. A bunch of girls from Jamshedpur chattering away while I lay in my bunker and for the first time in the day, I wanted people around me.
Stay tuned for the second edition of Jaipur!
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