Jaipur Day 1

Delhi Airport

We were only a little zombie after landing at Delhi Airport post-midnight. I couldn’t sleep, while poor Aarush struggled to rest on the chair, and Pamela wasn’t faring any better. We still had almost three hours to kill. There were two options to reach New Delhi Railway Station: taxi or metro. The Metro airport link used to operate 24 hours, but post-COVID, it stopped working round the clock. The first metro of the day starts at 04:45 IST. We opted for that, so around 04:15ish, we started to move towards Terminal 3.

It was a long walk, but as we didn’t have lots of luggage, we managed to push our trolleys for almost a kilometer to the metro station. Now, for reasons only known to officials, the metro station doesn’t open just 15 minutes before the first train 😢. There were many travelers, mostly international ones, with big suitcases. And please mind, all these have to go through an X-ray machine. I’m not sure what the Delhi Police is checking, as it’s just lots of jostling, putting your luggage, and collecting it on the other end. And also, we had to buy tickets from the counter, and there was a long queue, and after all that, run to the right platform to catch the metro.

There needs to be lots of changes if we want to improve India’s ranking on international tourism. Think of people reaching Delhi after a long flight and then getting into this chaos while the infrastructure is world-class but the mentality is still from a bygone era. And it does not serve anyone anything; it is just jitter and anxiety; you see everyone in serious tense and almost in arms to fight for their place.

NDLS (New Delhi Railway Station)

Anyway, we reached New Delhi Metro Station, and then again, a long walk towards Indian Railway. We had never been to Kumbh Mela ourselves, but we got lost, and there was another panic for 60 seconds or so; after that, we boarded the train and zonked out. There is along foot bridge that connects all the latform and the the info about train which are leaving or coming to a specific platform is not at all displayed properly.

The journey by Shatabdi from Delhi to Jaipur was not great; service & cleanliness of the Indian train have dropped in recent times, as per my observation. Pamela and Aarush were able to catch up on some sleep.

Jaipur

When we got out of Jaipur, we were exhausted; our rental car was waiting for pickup after paperwork and checking; we started driving towards Club Mahindra. We crossed the busy city traffic, and as soon as we reached near the walled part of the city, we made a mistake and were immediately stopped by traffic cops for violating a simple turn. Now, after negotiation and paying a bribe, we were let go with a warning.

After checking into Club Mahindra and resting for a while, we headed out for a late lunch towards the city. Now, we took a tuk-tuk (battery-operated Rickshaw), and it dropped us near Hawa Mahal.

After lunch, we were next to Hawa Mahal and found there were a few cafes on the 3rd story building opposite where you can take better photos of yourselves with Hawa Mahal as the background. They have minimum cover charges which can be used for some food over there. We spent some time drinking cold coffee and taking pictures.

There are some hidden stairs to some other buildings which we saw used by the local wedding photographer and their clients for some pre Bridal shoots. Look out for those if you want a better picture.

After that, we walked the market area, and we crossed Tripolia Gate and kept walking. In the end, Aarush was very upset with the same; he must have been very tired from being a sleepless night before, and Jaipur was hot and humid, and we walked a lot.

The best part of the day was still waiting… my college friend and her family were also visiting Jaipur at the same time. They started their sojourn a week before and were on the last leg before heading home.

They called and met us at our hotel as they were coming back from the Amer Fort site, and our hotel was on their way. So we managed to get into their rented Innova and headed to the city center again for some local street food.

Our first stop was “Shree Prajeet Chat Bhandar,” Chandpole Market. Having the first round of chat there, we headed to “Sharma Chat Corner”; wow, this place was an amazing find in Johri Bazar. We also tried some sweets and lassi along with chat in the same lane.

After saying goodbye to our friends, we heard back to the hotel in another tuk-tuk and called it a night.

Yes, not much sightseeing today, but soaked ourselves in the streets of Jaipur. It was a different experience to cherish.Finding charms in the Pink City Streets.