Of Palaces, sun and good food

Hi my lovelies,

Sorry about the big break! Has been a few hectic crazy days.

Me and Dan finally FINALLY managed to get ourselves a little break. We went to Jaipur for the Valentines weekend. After that, I went to Bhopal for a gender integration workshop! And I got back home just last night. Today though, we're only going to talk about Jaipur! <3

Such amazing 2 days! We went by road, which took us roughly 5 hours including the lunch stopover. The road all the way is great and the journey was awesome. At least for my chubby co-traveller who nodded off as soon as we started and got up only for the lunch and slept back again. And not just sleeping, snoring! So much so, that when we were stuck at the toll for few minutes and half a window was open, neighbouring cars were peeping in and giggling about the noises they could hear from our car. Gosh. 

We stayed at Umaid Haveli, which is in the outskirts of Jaipur (in Kukas). So not exactly in the city, but close enough to go sightseeing and yet enjoy the serenity, calmness and un-spoilt beauty of Rajasthan. The hotel was lovely, the interiors were covered in beautiful meenakari paintings, our room was amazing and so was the weather. For someone like me who feels extra cold and am as my Mother-in-law calls me 'a dying duck' (hehe), this weather was absolute heaven. For someone like my husband who sweats all 12 months, it was quite normal. so basically, we had to sleep with the fan on while I slept with my socks on. And at times I would be woken up by this strong man sweat smell (don't know what else to call it, lol) and had to increase the speed of the fan so it would be cool enough for my man! (oh that ryhmes)

The infinity pool at the 7th floor

The entrance to Umaid Haveli

Saw almost 30 of them going back to their village (Yes there is an Elephant Village where all these elephants stay, open for tourists)

So, anyway, we just relaxed on Friday, explored the hotel. They have this awesome infinity pool and a terrace area on the 7th floor which is super cool if you just want to chill and unwind. An interesting thing that you could see from this terrace was the testing faculty of the Hero group (motorbikes). So we could see this huge racing track on which occasionally they would have a superbike racing through. So while I enjoyed the sun and the view, my darling husband, the apple of my eye, enjoyed the Hero Group racing track. Just men things I guess.

The dining hall

The terrace restaurant

Next day we went and saw the Amer Fort (It's actually a palace). It was breathtaking. The architecture, the design and the strategy with which this whole Palace was built is amazing. It had a steam and sauna section! Beat that! The King had 12 wives so there was an apartment each for each of those 12 wives, built in such a way that one wife could not see what was happening in the other wife's apartment. There was a passage from the king's apartment on the first floor to all of these 12 apartments, built in such a way that nobody could know in which apartment the king was. Probably to maintain peace and cordial relations between all these women. You see the brain behind this! So many other awesome things about this Fort. So anyone going to Jaipur, don't miss the Amer Fort and make sure you take a guide along (ask your hotel guys to get you a government guide, they have so much more knowledge than the other guides!). We also saw the City Palace where the Royal family currently resides. So cool. Wonder what it'd be like to be 'royal'!

Look at all that work! 

(Also, just FYI, the current Maharaja of Jaipur is Padmanabh Singh, the teenage grandson of the erstwhile Jaipur ruler, the late Brigadier Sawai Bhawani Singh. He is 16 I guess and studying in the UK (obviously) coz Indian schools are too mainstream (hehe!). And again, obviously, is an excellent Polo player. What is with the royal people and Polo? Why can't they play Soccer or Tennis and still be Royal.)

The famous Sheesh Mahal or the 'Glass Palace', all that you see on top and on the walls are glass pieces! 

Just a nice door!

At the City Palace

For all shopping lovers, Jaipur is heaven. You get awesome stuff. My recommendation for good shopping though is the Government run huge store in Amer Village (which is where the Fort gets its name from, I always thought it was the other way round!), everything under one roof, jewellery, clothes, shoes, blankets, you name it. The reason I would prefer this store to the other Jaipur markets is that first of all, it is all done locally and Amer village is the village from where the Meenakari work originated. As a result, all that you get here is original and tax-free! Yay. 

How can we talk about Jaipur and not mention the food! Guys, the food is to-die-for. No kidding, it really is. Avoid the hotel food and instead go hogging on the street food and other places that serve authentic Rajasthani cuisine. You could try the Pink City restaurant for cheap authentic and delish Rajasthani food and if you want to go all fancy and get a taste of how it would be to dine in a palace, you should definitely head to the '1135 AD' restaurant, Amer Fort's very own palatial restaurant. 

A Rajasthani thali

We got back Sunday evening, since I had to get up at 3 am the next morning and head to Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, for a workshop (quick thing on that in my next blog). 

Such awesome 2 days. We realised that it is really essential for couples to go for these tiny weekend getaways. You don't have to always go to someplace fancy, just a good hotel/resort anywhere, away from the city where you live in. It is so nice to not worry about what to cook, what to get, doing the laundry etc, and just pamper yourself and re-bond with your partner. You deserve this! And your best friend for planning these little trips will be sites like Make my trip! I am always on the lookout for their offers and we got an extremely good deal for Umaid Haveli. 

We're back to the grind now but we've decided to continue taking these little trips to rekindle what we have every now and then :) 

Bye for now you guys. 

Hugs from me! 

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What I wore:
At the City Palace - Top from Chumbak (Mall of India store), Earrings from Accessorize, the blue Jeggings are from H&M and are the most comfy thing ever, aztic design shoes from 20Dresses.
At the hotel (the above pic) - A beautiful super light summer maxi dress from Chatu Chak market, Bangkok, (It was super cheap!), earrings from Claires I think! 
              
Also, a big hug to my husband for being such a sport and not throwing me out of the house for bringing out secrets about snores and sweats in public :D

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