by Debbie Ross
Womens Travel Network founder
Day 04 India Tour – drive from Agra to Jaipur
This morning, we set off for a full day’s drive to Jaipur. Today we had our first taste of India’s fantastic roads. Along the way we were entertained by the brightly coloured trucks, cows, camels and vehicles of all types sharing the road. Our first stop, the UNESCO World Heritage site of Fatehpur Sikri, briefly the capital of the Mughal Empire. This is the site of one of the largest mosques in India within a marvellous complex of monuments and temples, carved entirely from red sandstone. Jaipur is famous for its profusion of palaces, forts, and its walled city: a medieval labyrinth of bazaars and ancient private mansions.
We say our goodbyes to our fabulous guide Haji and continue our drive to Jaipu. It’s midday and time for lunch. There aren’t too many places to stop along the way but Shiv has found a hidden gem for out lunch break. The Bagh Hotel in the town of Bhartpur. This area is known for it’s bird life. Visitors come form all over the world to take walking tours. Visitors come form all over the worls to visit the national park, home to thousands of species of birds.
The restuaraunt at the hotel is a charming buildining and lunch is delectable.
e bord the bus to continue our journey to jaipu, which takes about 4 hours. The trip is well planned with a convenient break along ghe way. It feels great to stretch our legs and the hotel staffare waiting with refreshing chai masala. The gardens at this hotel are spectacular.
Back onto the bus for the last hou of our drive. Holi frestival is tomorrow so the roads are filled with people travelling home to celebreat the festivities with their families. This makes for avery interesting drive. There are busses so full the poeple sit on top. Unbelievable! Motorcylces have families of 4 and 5 on one bike. Many woemn are out with their husbands which makes the scenery quite colourful with their saris in vibrant yellos, oranges and purples. The Rajasthan area is known for colour. Coews, camels, donkeys share the roads with the buses, trucks, cars and bikes. The ladies are having a great time snapping photos of this incredible spectacle.
The streets on the outskirst of Jaipur are lined with gypsy tents. You can see the people living inthis area have quite a struggle with life.
One more stop before headig to the hotel, a textile shop where they do block printing on fabrics, weave camel hair rugs and make custom tailored clothing. We are given a block printing and rug making demo. Some of the ladies test their skills. The ladies are loving the shopping. We also stopped here to pickup our outfits for tomorrows Holi festivities.. Rowena bought one of their lovely hand made carpets.
The Holi festival began at 630pm. When we left the textile shop we could see the smoke rising from the burning brush placed in the streets. Their are many people out purchasing the bright coloured paints for tomorrows celebrations. There is a stageset up and the locals are listening to music, dancing and celebrating.
Our hotel is the Hilton, Jaipur located in the heart of the city and near the most popular attractions.