The Pink City Adventure

Hello everyone,

Today’s post is about a little weekend trip I took to the Pink City a.k.a Jaipur, courtesy the client I’m currently working with. Though it was part of work, the trip was pretty amazing, not least because all the expenses were paid by said clients. With 5 star treatment to boot!!!!

The trip was part of this client’s innovation week, so the main event at Jaipur was the presentation of some ideas we’d all been working on. However, for me, it was the city itself that was the main event. Rooted in history and culture, it had this pull that somehow drew me in.

We visited the Amer (or Amber) fort, which is in Amer, a little town around 11 kilometers from Jaipur. The place is a World Heritage Site built by the Meena dynasty and later ruled over by Raja Man Singh I. It is located atop a hill and looks over the Maota Lake.

Since it was a long climb up, we were offered an elephant ride to the actual fort entrance. That was a great experience, climbing the hill while sitting atop such a huge animal. It wasn’t my first elephant ride, but it was my first in a long time. I do, however, remember wishing that the mahouts had taken better care of their mounts. Many of the elephants had looked kind of sickly. Still, I suppose they did the best they could with what they had.

With wide ramparts and many gates, the fort itself was a sight to behold. The entry courtyard was an almost perfect square with sparse trees and wide sweeping steps which led into the fort. What really caught my eye there though, were the intrinsic paintings around the main entrance. We were told that these paintings were originally made with powdered gems mixed in the latex from certain plants. I couldn’t help but be amazed at the ingenuity of our ancestors.

There were other courtyards inside the fort as well, one of which was reserved for the women or I should say wives of the king. Apparently they would gather in this outdoor courtyard to chat and gossip over tea. Our guide told us that though these wives lived together, there would almost always be competition to gain the attentions of their king. As much as I don’t appreciate the polygamy that existed, the architecture of the fort made the visit worth it.

We walked back down and did a little shopping in the process. We also got the opportunity to see and purchase some handicrafts exclusive to Rajasthan.

The next big event (for me) on this visit was the hotel we stayed at- the Le Meridien in Jaipur. Being a five star hotel, it had a spa, a pool, banquet halls and all the usual amenities. However, what caught my eye the most about the hotel were the sprawling gardens and grounds. Those and the architecture of the building makes me pretty sure that the hotel is an old palace that was converted.

The service was pretty great too. We were treated like royalty; rose petals falling as we entered, flower garlands and a special Rajasthani folk singer to welcome us with his beautiful songs. It was awkward and amazing at the same time.

The best part though was the food. There was everything from traditional Rajasthani cuisine to western food to meet the needs of the foreigners that were also part of our group. And it was all delicious. Over the course of our three day stay, I remember particularly enjoying the salads and some hot crisp Jalebis that I couldn’t stop eating.

Another big event during the weekend was the day of athletic activities that were organized by the client. We were divided into teams (Red and Blue) and had to compete against each other on various games. The whole thing was organized on one of the lawns in the hotel and was really fun (and exhausting)!

Then, on the last day (Sunday) we went to Jantar Mantar, and also did some more shopping. Jantar Mantar is essentially a sundial that was used to calculate time in the old days. There were even dials to calculate the shifts in the zodiac. Again, the precision and knowledge of our ancestors did not fail to amaze me. Sadly, we couldn’t visit the Hava Mahal as we had no time before our flight back, but it was visible from the Jantar Mantar.

The nights were also pretty amazing with an open bar and dance after the innovation week related meetings that happened in the evenings. The DJ came on and we would all groove to Bollywood music with our drinks in hand. So I think it’s safe to say that we, both, worked and partied hard, making this trip a really memorable one.

That’s it for today… Until next time folks!