There are Always Two Sides - Jaipur
Awakening this morning after the Full moon, my body knows it needs downtime.
A cleansing Breathwork is needed to release the tension.
We’ve done a lot of travelling and Forts and tourist things. I love to travel, however I know my body. Belle had discovered a cafe that she knew would be right up my alley. It’s called Farmacy, a healthy cafe designed by doctors. We pack your gear up and put luggage into storage which means I am adored with my cool backpack.
Into our TukTuk we jump, the day is already starting well our driver is a calm soul, no stress, no pushiness. Super chill. He knows exactly where to go, and offers to wait for us. We say we will be a few hours, yet he is happy. The patience over here is a whole new level.
This place is exactly what I needed. All health, quiet, amazing decor, and friendly staff. Time to chill out, get up to date on life. Emails, booking a trip with my sister and Allie. Life really is for living!
We order kebabs, which even the word doesn’t sit right with me. Yet these are delicious Burasi Beetroot Kebabs - crunchy, smokey patties made from kidney beans and beetroot accompanied with a mustard sauce. A Black Wheat Lacha Parantha, a semolina flour Indian bread flavoured with butter & exotic vegetables, paneer, cheese, vegetable baked in clay oven. And a Paneer Paratha, another bread stuffed with homemade cottage cheese & spices annnnnd a Pindi Chana, a North Indian chickpeas curry.
We book a new hotel, looks cute and out of the city. Which I highly recommend - Suryaa Villa. We thought walking in city would be fun, yet our bodies needed quiet. I’d been told about having a bubble, time to escape and I was craving this today.
Visiting monuments today became a little about checking them off the list, which isn’t ideal. Nothing a coffee cannot fix. As we walked through City Palace and museums, viewing weapons, clothing… 700Rp for this tour and to be fair at this stage, we’ve seen some breathtaking monuments and here we aren’t allowed to take photos.
I am sure Belle is relieved at this, I cannot understand why she doesn’t want photos with me today. Tourist V, backpack, and all!
The weather warms up and so does she, layers are removed, and as long as my backpack stays out of the shot, I’m allowed in. We become slightly more intrigued at Jantar Mantar which is all about astrology and cool photo ops for us.
More funny pictures, money exchanged and time to collect our bags.
Hawa Mahal is what I was excited to see, the pink city remains true. The roads are busy busy, so we pull over I jump out and get the shot.
We are taken to the Nahargarh Fort where we can see the city, Jal Mahal, all of Jaipur’s great monuments.
Death is synonymous with sadness, but Maharajas turned this sorrow into a 'Saga of the Past.' The most exquisite and graceful instance in this saga is Jaipur's famed 'Gatore ki Chhatriyan.' The Gatore compound follows Vedic architectural guidelines with Indo-Persian structural and arcuate building influences. Crematoriums are located north of the hamlet and slope southwards, according to Vedic norms. A body of water, particularly a river, provides an ideal setting for the memorials.
The courtyard has three sections:
The chhatri of Sawai Jai Singh II, the founder of Jaipur, stands in the courtyard's center and is made of Taj marble. Basically, we’ve seen the Taj now. ..
Sawai Ram Singh's memorial is located just behind the chhatri of Sawai Jai Singh. It mimics his chhatri and contains an exact depiction of the regal games of army scenes made of Italian marble.
Sawai Madho Singh, is the most intricate of all and is a one-of-a-kind blend of stone and marble work. Its layout is similar to that of the Taj Mahal to some extent.
We view the three white, red, and yellow marbles. Venture though the secret doors, and meditate as sunrise hits. A nice chill time and the energy in these places is next level. I feel it instantly in my heart, messages come through quickly and fast. The heart has been broken, yet you are home. Home within yourself. Mostly messages make sense after time, I mean this one is quite clear. Yet they aren’t always like this.
We meet a guy walking his three donkeys on the way, he guides us up the mountain. Quickly acknowledging my fitness levels at this point, heart is racing - deck chairs stairs got nothing on these ones.
We really do get lucky, India has a way of showing us the worst of the cities first, if we pass the test and stay calm, laugh and enjoy. We seem to be rewarded with magic afterwards. I will continue to believe this for the remainder of my trip… There are always two sides.
The views are astonishing. Truly these moments of contentment pop back in.
The traffic is a lot in this city, our driver is forceful and a weapon on the horn, we get to our destinations as quick as possibly viable.
Our new place is everything we’ve dreamed of. I highly recommend staying here at Surya Villas. The entrance feels calm, the pretty lights, and then as we walk in, we are shown around the property while we wait to check-in. It has a fire in the middle of the restaurant. I know. Amazing, as this is the coldest it’s ever been in Jaipur. So it’s not only us feeling the cold. We have a family-size room, and boiling hot water that doesn’t need to be switched on. Big mugs for our bring coffees. Again the small things I am so grateful for.
Our dinner is Laal mass to end of Rajasthan stay, paneer curry and breads. The owner asks if we like it hot, generally we’ve been saying medium. As who knows what level of hot is here. But I take the risk and it’s worth it. Warm curries, warm chai, warm showers ahead. Happiness.
These guys can do no wrong here right now. Belle has spotted a bakery sign so we walk to ‘check it out’ brownie heaven here. So desserts is sorted. Biscoff Brownie from O’Baque.
This night is the best… Hot showers, get into my comfiest clothes and brownie in bed.
Peace out from Nan.