After visiting the desert, I decided I would make my way back to Calcutta by train: Jaislamer-Jaipur-Agra-Varanasi-Bodhgaya-Calcutta. I arrived in Jaipur from Jaisalmer at five in the morning, had a nap, and then hired a car and driver for the day to take me to Abanheri, about 95 km from Jaipur, so that I could see the stepwell there. The first stop was a long one, at the train station to get my tickets booked for my chosen route. As a travel incentive for foreigners, at Indian Railway stations we get to use the same ticket window as seniors and freedom fighters. This is meant to be the faster line. However, on this day It took quite a while for my tickets to be processed, because the ticket agent made a mistake and had to re-issue all of the tickets. This delay caused one of the old men waiting in line to get cross with me. This certainly was not the kind of behaviour Ben Kingsley had lead me to expect.
The scenery out the car window alternated between lush green fields and fields of dirt.
Rajasthan is a bit like the Carrara of India; in that it is home to many stone carvers, who can be seen throughout the city of Jaipur and in the surrounding towns.
The next day, back in Jaipur, I visited the City Palace, home to these huge silver vessels.
One of the rooms inside the City Palace that is open to the public.
Looking out from the Palace of the Winds in Jaipur. The small openings were designed so that the women of the palace could look out but not be seen.
2 comments:
Burke- I love these photos and find them so inspiring to my own work (landscape design). I have a blog -- www.greayer.com/studiog where I have done a post about the inspirational Jaipur well. Thanks
Nice pictures! Hope to visit the Jaipur soon...
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