Jaipur – The Pink City of India

My blog is actually turning out to be a traveler’s blog! In this blog, I am sharing my experience of sightseeing in Jaipur. Jaipur – the Pink City and the capital of Rajasthan is a lovely place. There are some beautiful forts in the city. I share details of a day spent in visiting some remarkable places. We saw the beautiful Amer Palace, Nahargarh fort, Jaigarh fort, Jal Mahal, Hawa Mahal, Kanak Ghati and Birla Mandir.

Our tour started with a visit to the mesmerizing Amber Fort (also known as Amer Palace). Its architecture is wonderful. The palace is made of marbles and some precious stones. There is also a small garden inside the palace. “Sheesh Mahal” or “Palace of mirror” is one of the most marvelous sights inside. Walls and ceilings of its halls are covered with mirrors and look gorgeous. The palace is so vast that we actually lost our way at one point and had to seek help of a volunteer! 

Amer Palace

Amer Palace

Small garden inside the palace

Ceiling of the "Sheesh Mahal"

Next, we visited the Nahargarh fort. The fort architecture is really attention-grabbing. View of the city from this fort is really spectacular. 

 

Nahargarh Fort

View of the city from Nahargarh Fort

Near to the Nahargarh fort, lies an isolated place where one of the songs of the famous movie - Rang De Basanti -  ‘Masti ki Paathshala’ was filmed. The place is not well kept and is really in bad shape. But we could take some good snaps there.  

Masti ki Paathshala .. :-)

 The Jaigarh fort, also known as the “Fort of Victory” gives a splendid view of the surrounding areas. The fort has a cannon called ‘Jaivana’, which is the world’s largest cannon on wheels. The fort also has 3 underground tanks. It is a dazzling place.

Jaivana at Jaigarh Fort

 The Kanak Vrindavan garden also known as Kanak Ghati is an alluring garden with lot of fountains and ponds. This garden is dedicated to Lord Krishna.

Kanak Ghati

Kanak Vrindavan

We also wanted to visit Jal Mahal which is located in the middle of the Mansagar lake but then, it was closed for tourist. We could only take some snaps from the bank of the lake.

Jal Mahal

The next palace we visited was the beautiful Hawa Mahal. It is built of red and pink sandstone and has small windows known as ‘Jharokhas’. Hawa Mahal is situated in the main market area of Jaipur.

Hawa Mahal

Our tour of Jaipur ended with the visit to the Birla Mandir.

Birla Mandir

Our tour of Jaipur was really memorable.

  

Kerala - God's Own Country

Till now, the most memorable trip I have had in my life is that of Kerala. Kerala – God’s Own Country is really a stunning place. Staying there for eight days, we visited four cities – Kochi, Alleppey, Thekkady and Munnar and in each city, I found something new and exhilarating. 

Our trip started with Kochi. In Kochi, we visited the famous Chinese Fishing Nets (Cheena vala), Jewish Synagogue, Dutch Palace (now a museum) and St. Francis Church. Handicraft and antics shops near the Jewish Synagogue are also worth watching.

Kochi

Chinese Fishing Nets

Jewish Synagogue

Snake boat in an antics shop

From Kochi, we went to Alleppey. Alleppey is really a very exquisite place. The Pozhiyoram Resort, where we stayed was like a cherry on the cake.  The resort has its own beach and was truly, a great place to stay in

Pozhiyoram beach resort (view from the beach)

In Alleppey, we visited Vijaya Park and Allappuzha beach. We enjoyed a lot at the beach and had a coffee at Indian Coffee House located nearby.

Allappuzha beach

Alleppey is mainly famous for its backwaters. Next day, we explored the backwater cruise. We took a ferryboat. It had almost 30-35 people on board, all foreigners, except two of us. The backwater trip was a breathtaking experience as river is surrounded with coconut trees and vast fields of rice which lends the region name – ‘rice bowl of Kerala’. 

Backwater trip

Rice fields

Locals can be seen travelling in small boats, and schools and resorts are also there on the banks of the river. It was really an incredible experience. On our way, we also came across a Buddha temple known as Karumadi. There were snake boats parked at the banks, used during the annual snake boat race. The view of the sunset was also awesome.

Locals travelling in small boats

Karumadi

Breathtaking view

Sunset view

Our next destination was Thekkady. Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary is the main tourist attraction there. It is a Tiger Reserve. Ferryboats carry tourists to view the sanctuary. We saw deers, nilgiri tahr, wild buffaloes and some birds from the ferryboat. 

Ferryboats for viewing the sanctuary

View from the ferryboat

Nilgiri Tahr

Beautiful view

Birds

There are special timings for trekking inside the sanctuary. For trekking, we had to cross the lake, which we did though river rafting. Trekking in the forest for two hours was a wonderful experience. We could see few deers and monkeys. 

River rafting

Trekking inside the Sanctuary

The last destination was Munnar. On our way to Munnar, we saw spice plantations.  Munnar is a beautiful hill station and a fabulous place. The hills are surrounded by tea gardens. 

Tea gardens

Stunning view of the tea garden

In Munnar, we visited the Mattupetty Dam, where we had a horse ride. At the Mattupetty river, we took a motor boat ride. It was thrilling. 

Mattupetty Dam

Mattupetty River

Other popular tourist destinations of Munnar are Chinar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kundala Dam, Echo point, Top station, Lockhart Gap,  Luckkom waterfall, Sandalwood forest, Tea and Coffee plantations.

Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary

Kundala Dam

View from the Top station

Lockhart Gap

Luckkom Waterfall

Sandalwood forest

After visiting Kerala I truly believe that it is GOD’S OWN COUNTRY.