JAIPUR 2023 - A travel guide to the pink city 4k

Beautiful Jaipur. Now Jaipur of course makes up the golden triangle alongside Delhi and Agra and it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the whole country but it's for good reason it's a bustling city with so much history and I've decided to start my day at Bapu Bazaar which is a very popular and colourful shopping destination. It's a very popular shopping spot of course. Lots of shawls, shoes, different types of materials and also a lot of very savvy salesmen. No thank you. But if you are looking to get some clothes and this is definitely the spot in Jaipur. I'm getting some recommendations for where to eat in proper local places. What are you suggesting then? This one is an Indian ice cream. Oh coffee, I know coffee. But this one is really famous. This is for your pleasure. See this is the best way to get recommendations back in locals. One of the best things about Jaipur is it's actually very walkable as long as you don't mind being constantly asked if you'd like to get in a tuk-tuk. There are actually a number of different gates leading into the walled city and I'm passing by a few of them and I'm doing a bit of a square taking in a few of the bazaars before I get towards one of the most famous spots in the city which is the Howa Mahal. So behind me is probably one of the most famous sites in the whole of Jaipur. This is the Howa Mahal which is on the edge of the city palace. It was finished in 1799 and the honeycomb style was designed so the ladies of the palace could actually observe the street life below without being seen and what's quite funny now is because it's become so popular as a place to take photos for Instagram all of the cafes and rooftops opposite me are absolutely chock-a-block with people in nice outfits taking photos even carrying reflectors and lights around with them. So the two cafes opposite the Howa Mahal charge a cover charge of about 500 per person which is obviously quite a lot just to get this view but there are a few shops on a lower level where you can pay a hundred to come and look at it and it is worth it to be honest being able to see it from this angle is absolutely magnificent and it's great to be able to see the people behind the facade and perhaps imagine what it was like back in the day with all of the regal ladies looking out from there. The sun is just starting to go down so I've got a tuk-tuk to one of the most famous sites in the city this is the Jal Mahal built in 1699 in Rajput style and it's in the middle of the Mansegar lake and it does look like it's floating on the lake which is so beautiful. Oh all the birds! It's not actually possible to go and look around the palace now but you can actually go boating on the lake and it's a lovely place to just come and walk as the sun sets. So I decided to treat myself to a lovely kulfi, Indian ice cream. I thought I was going coconut flavour but this just tastes like sugarcane jaggery but I'm not complaining very sweet but really delicious. It is evening time here in Jaipur and I just wanted to show you my absolutely beautiful accommodation for the few days that I'm staying in the city. So this is Umaid Vilas which is a hidden gem. It is directly opposite the city palace and it's an absolutely stunning luxury heritage property. It's over 100 years old and it was the family residence of the royal family of Karan Saar. I've just woken up after a wonderful sleep at Umaid Vilas and they have prepared a gorgeous breakfast for me. I am always a big sucker for a breakfast in a nice location especially when it looks so pretty like this and they've prepared some kachori, fruits, cakes, eggs, all sorts and I can see the pink walls outside of Jaipur and I thought I would coordinate specially and I'm so happy to be back in the city. It is a very beautiful place to explore and I'm very pleased that I've got a few days to do so. Just in case I needed another reason to stay here, look at this beautiful view from their roof terrace. So directly in front of me is the minaret which actually acts as a very good marker point so if you're walking around Jaipur you know which way to head to get home. You've got the city palace directly and opposite to the right and then Nahargarh fort over there as well. It really just is the most magnificent view. Can I get two of the kachori? One dal, one onion. We'll come here. Okay so I've gone for two kachoris which is a very typical street food in Jaipur or in Rajasthan and I've got an onion one and a dal one. Thank you very much. Thank you, what a gent. So two different types, one with dal, one with onion and they are deep fried. Which one should I start with? Wow, so many flavours going on there. Really good, really good. This one has got loads of fennel seeds in the inside. This one's actually quite sweet, it's almost got a bit of a tamarind taste to it and the outside is very much like a pastry. It's got a bit of a Cornish pasty feel for it. I've just got a tuk-tuk slightly out of the city to come and visit the Amir Stepwell which you've possibly seen on Instagram and I can see why it's so popular for Instagram. It is quite an unusual location but actually these stepwells are fairly common especially across western India and they were used back in the day of course as a source of water in a place like Rajasthan which has quite fluctuating levels of water, it was really necessary. It's also used for irrigation as well and now it's just a popular tourist spot. There's people all over taking photos although unfortunately now you're not actually allowed to go down the steps presumably for safety reasons so walking around the top has to suffice. So this area is of course famous for the incredible Amber Fort which you can see basically from all over Jaipur. It was built in 967 and I've just come from the stepwell and I believe you can actually walk up on the walls all the way up to the top. It does look like quite a long walk and I haven't seen anyone else doing it today but I'm going to give it a try and I've just come up on top of the stairs and there's all of these cow dung patties which are used for fuel and I actually made one of these before in Bihar. You mix the cow dung usually with straw things like that and they're drying out in the sun ready to be used for fuel. For somebody that's very active I actively hate going upstairs and there's a lot to get to that viewpoint but I'm pretty sure it's going to be worth it because already from here we're getting amazing views of the city down below. So I've arrived at the top of the very steep and sweaty trail but just my luck you can't actually get into this area of the fort which is probably why there weren't a lot of people walking up here but you know what it is an absolutely amazing view from up here so it definitely was still worth it. It's probably time for me to head down now because tomorrow I'm headed to Udaipur and I've still got a whole bunch of India travel videos yet to come so do make sure to subscribe.