See Jaipur Through The Eyes Of This 19 Year Old Blogger
As a 19-year old who is living the hectic undergrad life in IIM Rohtak, end semester holidays have always brought with themselves a cheer for a long breath of relief as well as the idea of the comfort of going back home.
For some of us though, this two-week long holiday is an opportunity to travel the world, to cross-out items from bucket lists and to find ourselves. And this wish list becomes easier to access when you have batchmates who come from every nook and corner of the country.
I’m from Jaipur, born and brought up, till I left for college. My city has always been very dear to me, as it is the case with all of us.
As it turns out, Jaipur has always been on the bucket lists of a lot of people. So, when one of my college friends told me that she would visit Jaipur, I couldn’t be happier and hence offered her to come and stay with me at my place, while I could satisfy my inner Rajasthani, very true to the words “Padharo Mhaare Des”.
Here is a three-day blog of all the places we visited, which can help you plan your schedule on your next visit to Jaipur!
Day #1:
On the 26th of January, we left college at around 11 a.m. Almost travelling for 3 hours in the car, we stopped for lunch and further travelling for 2 hours, reached Jaipur around 4:30 p.m.
After freshing up and having tea at my place, my friend and I went to the twin malls of Jaipur, Gaurav Tower and World Trade Park. GT or Gaurav Tower is as old as 1995, which was started as a single building, now is cluster of 4 ginormous buildings, having an entire area in Jaipur named after them.
This entire area is a compact marketplace, where you can find anything and everything. There are little kiosks for clothes, accessories, make up and even food. Loads and loads of food. We roamed around the entire place and had waffles, gol gappe, garlic bread, fries and burgers.
The following are the places and things you should look out for:
- Cheese ‘n’ Fries – Melted Cheese Fries
- Chaat Kiosks in front of McDonald’s
- Oldest McDonald’s in Jaipur
- Belgian Waffle near Westside
- Jewellery in GT Bazaar
- Phone Accessories in GT Bazaar
- Sunrise Bakery Paneer Kulchas
The malls also have a lot of renowned outlets like KFC, Domino’s, Sethi’s Kebabs and Curries, Kebabs and Curries Co., Pizza Hut, Burger King and Keventers.
Also Read: List of Best 11 Shopping Places and Hubs on Your Tour to Jaipur
Day #2
On the morning of 27th, we left home around 10:30 am after having “Pyaaz Patti and Bajre Ki Roti” for breakfast. It is a traditional Marwari dish prepared with green onions in curry and Millet bread, served with green chillies. We were visiting the prestigious annual Jaipur Literature Festival or JLF. The fest takes place every year at The Diggi Palace Hotel in C-Scheme.
The fest, started in 2006, is the world’s largest free literary festival.
The festival is a literary saga, which so happens to be born in the culturally rich city of Jaipur. Boasting of prominent personalities every year, JLF has hosted Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Atwood, Gulzar, Javed Akhtar, Rishi Kapoor, Shashi Tharoor, His Holiness Dalai Lama and countless others while also giving opportunities to younger artists and entrepreneurs all over the world to showcase and promote their talents.
At Diggi Palace, we were joined by 3 more of our college friends who are all from Jaipur.
After attending a session by the UN and doing shopping from local handicrafts sellers in JLF (I bought the Lavender and Bergamot sleep essential oil from BE YOU, a Faridabad based start-up, which is truly amazing @beyouofficialinsta), we went to Tapri Central, a local café, to have lunch. Tapri is a great place if you want to have good Indian snacks, at affordable prices. The following things are to watch out for when you visit Tapri:
- Take the outdoor setting if it’s not too hot.
Food Items you must try in Tapri:
- Tadka Maggi
- Nutella Pancakes
- Cheese Corn Shots
- Masala Shots
- Dal Pakwaan
- Masala Cheese Garlic Bread
- Masala Chai
- Vada Pav
- Ram Bharose
After having a heart-filling lunch, we moved to our second tourist destination for the day: Hawa Mahal.
We travelled through E-Rickshaw, which is extremely cheap and according to me, is the best mode of transport since you can see the city in all its glory.
Pro Tip: Don’t forget to carry your student IDs as the govt charges for students are 10 times less than those of normal tickets.
Hawa Mahal is situated in Badi Chaupad, in the old Pink City.
Fun Fact: The entirety of the old Pink City was painted pink in 1876, when the Prince of Wales and Queen Victoria visited India on a tour. The then king, Maharaja Ram Singh of Jaipur painted the whole city pink as pink is the colour of hospitality and welcome.
Hawa Mahal is the monument that they print on brochures and pamphlets denoting anything related to Jaipur. It is comparatively smaller than the City Palace, with which Hawa Mahal shares a courtyard.
Hawa Mahal was the Royal Family’s abode during unbearable summers, designed in a manner to ensure highest cross ventilation as well the placing of the small windows or jharokhas, which served as windows for the women to watch processions and festivals while still abiding by the ‘purdah’ pratha.
The restored site is a sight for sore eyes, as it is almost impossible to miss out on the vibrant, colourful windows and 19th century sandalwood doors.
Author Bio:
Riya Agarwal is a amateur teenager writer who falls in love with stories more than she does with humans.
She is a messy teenager records her experience on Instagram on her account @musingsmaker.
