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Namaste!
After a very nice breakfast, we took lots os photos of the hotel grounds. The place is magnificent. We then loaded up onto the bus and headed out to the Biological Park/Elephant Village.
Fifty-one houses have been built in the village of Kunda to house the mahouts - keepers - and their elephants. The state government has allotted the land for the village, close to the historical Amer Fort in the state capital, Jaipur.
Every year 1.4 million tourists visit the fort and for many, an elephant ride is the highlight of the visit. Rajasthan Tourism Minister Bina Kak, said the village would be developed as a tourist spot, and animal lovers and researchers would be able to come here to study the pachyderm.
Amer fort has 113 elephants which are used to ferry tourists around. The elephant ride is much in demand by both foreign and Indian tourists. Tourists feel like royalty when riding an elephant, says Shyam Gupta, vice-president of Elephant Owners' Association.
An elephant makes four rounds a day and earns 900 rupees ($20). From this, 200 rupees ($4.30) goes towards the welfare of the animal, Mr Gupta says.
The village has a man-made pond to provide water for the animals and a veterinary clinic.
We took lots of photos including selfies. The hawkers were terrible though. You could not enjoy the ride as the followed all the tourists to the end of the ride trying to sell their wares. And yes, I purchased stuff from them too.
It was a pretty cool thing. I never rode an elephant.
It is 99 degrees and I am frying. We got to the bus and everyone flipped the vents for the air conditioning to blow directly on them.
Next stop, "The Amber Fort."
We made a brief photo stop at Palace of Winds. Hawa Mahal ("Palace of Winds" or "Palace of the Breeze"), is a palace in Jaipur, India, so named because it was essentially a high screen wall built so the women of the royal household could observe street festivities while unseen from the outside. Constructed of red and pink sandstone, the palace sits on the edge of the City Palace, and extends to the zenana, or women's chambers.
To ascend the long winding cobblestone road up to the Amber Fort, we loaded into Jeeps and were driven very close to the Fort's entrance.
Amer Fort was built by Raja Man Singh I. Amer Fort is known for its artistic style of Hindu elements. With its large ramparts, series of gates and cobbled paths, the fort overlooks the Maota Lake, at its forefront.
The aesthetic ambiance of the palace is seen within its walls on a four level layout plan (each with a courtyard) in a well turned out opulent palace complex built with red sandstone and marble consisting of the Diwan-e-Aam or the "Hall of Public Audience", the Diwan-e-Khas or the "Hall of Private Audience", the Sheesh Mahal (mirror palace) or Jai Mandir, and the Sukh Niwas where a cool climate is artificially created by winds that blow over the water cascade within the palace. Hence, the Amer Fort is also popularly known as the
The palace was lived in by the Rajput Maharajas and their families. At the entrance to the palace near the fort's Ganesh Gate, there is also a temple dedicated to Sila Devi, a goddess of the Chaitanya cult which was given to Raja Man Singh when he had defeated the Raja of Jessore, Bengal in 1604. (Jessore is now in Bangladesh).
This palace along with Jaigarh Fort, located immediately above on the Cheel ka Teela (Hill of Eagles) of the same Aravalli range of hills, is considered as one complex, as the two are well connected by a subterranean passage. This passage was meant as an escape route in times of war for the royal family members and others in the Amer Fort to shift to the more redoubtable Jaigarh Fort.
Annual tourist visitation to the Amer Palace in Amer town was reported by the Superintendent of Department of Archaeology and Museums to the Amer Palace as 5000 visitors a day, and 1.4 million visitors were reported during 2007.
The Sheesh Mahal (The Palace of Mirrors) is located within the Shah Burj block in northern-western corner of Lahore Fort. It was constructed under the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in 1631-32. The ornate white marble pavilion is inlaid with pietra dura and complex mirror-work of the finest quality. The hall was reserved for personal use by the imperial family and close aides. It is among the 21 monuments that were built by successive Mughal emperors inside Lahore Fort, and forms the jewel in the Fort's crown. As part of the larger Lahore Fort Complex, it has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981.
We stopped to take a great group photo here.
We then headed out to a carpet store. They had beautiful, beautiful carpets for sale. Hope brought one. They also sold beautiful India clothing and fabrics.
We then experienced the highlight of the day. An actual ride in a pedal rickshaw. Since I was a big gurl, I had one to myself and the poor driver was a grey haired man. Most were little skinny guys. Everyone laughed and smiled the whole time the drivers darted in and out of traffic. It was sooooooooooo much fun. I can't imagine driving in this traffic or even riding a bike in it. We had plenty of stares. This was pretty exciting to actually be in the traffic.
Our bus met us on near a park area. After we pushed off we drove past the beautiful Palace Museum for a short photo shot.
This was an extremely busy day, but it was also a great day.
We were all ready to head to our hotel for a nice social dinner and a great night's sleep. The dinner buffet was really good and had so many choices to appeal to everyone.
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