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Ravi Srinivasan

It was summer time in Boston. The schools were closed. The kids were bugging me to send them to summer camp or take them on vacation. For the kids, their dream vacation is either Disney World or at one of the Six Flags theme parks.

Every year I think of travelling to India to educate my kids about their Indian heritage. For some reason or other, the trip would get postponed. This year I wanted to kill two birds with one stone. I could avoid the costly summer camp by sending the kids to India, and also visit my parents which was long overdue. So off we went...

I booked the airlines ticket and sent them by Lufthansa as unaccompanied minors from Boston. The airline took good care of them and my parents picked them up at Madras. I joined them later, in early August.

I had a comfortable stay in Madras for a couple of weeks which helped me unwind from the hectic lifestyle in the USA. No early morning rush hour traffic, no impromptu work meetings, no project deadlines to worry about. And best of all no mowing the lawn.

We left for Delhi from Madras by an Indian Airlines flight. The Delhi Tourism staff were helpful and arranged for a taxi to take us to our hotel. We reached the hotel in Karol Bagh and I asked the hotel receptionist to give us a wake-up call early next morning.

It was 6 am when we set out for our much anticipated Golden Triangle tour. I had booked the hotel and tourist car at Delhi Tourism's booth in Madras for Rs 5,400, around US $150. Not a bad deal, I thought.

I quickly briefed the DTC driver, Gyan Singh, about our intended two-day whirlwind tour of Jaipur and Agra. We were off. The car was comfortable for a party of four, two adults and two kids, and the driver, I decided . The kids continued their morning sleep in the car and I stayed awake by chatting with Singhji. We entered Rajasthan. The monsoon season was tapering off in Rajasthan and the fields were lush green on either sides. The road from Delhi to Jaipur was a two way single lane road with no median strip.

"How far is Jaipur?" I asked the driver.

"Five and half to six hours," he replied. He spoke reasonably good English and asked us whether we are from Kerala. The distance from Delhi to Jaipur is 265 kilometres, about 165 miles, and we were traveling at an average speed of 65 kms. Around 40 miles per hour which is slow compared to US standards. But...

After two hours of driving, the kids woke up from their sleep. I had travelled with my kids in the US and Europe and as soon as the car reaches the highway they usually get hungry. "Is there a McDonalds here Dad?" my son asked. "No," I replied. I told him that we would stop for breakfast soon. I asked the driver to stop at the next good restaurant.

"Are we there yet?" my kids asked again. "And we are hungry!" Within half an hour, the car pulled into a Rajasthan State Tourism Development hotel which was situated midway between Delhi and Jaipur. Unlike a Burger King or McDonalds on the highway with a gas station and large sprawling car and truck parking area, the rest area had a nice big garden. The rest rooms were clean, had attendants, and were surprisingly well maintained. There was a gift shop and a restaurant. We ordered some sandwiches and beverages. When I enquired, the receptionist at the rest area informed us that Rajasthan Tourism Corporation operates hotels, each located midway between the cities of Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra.

The traffic was light; cars and trucks were plying in both directions. I was enchanted by the landscape with its green bushes, hills and fields. Most of all, I was quite pleased that we had a chauffeur-driven tourist car and I was not wrestling with the wheel. We saw some camel drawn carts and bullock carts pass by.

"Look, cows!" shouted my kids. A herd of cattle were moving in front of us blocking the entire road. I remember my kids going on a farm trip in school and came back excitedly reporting that they saw pigs, chicken, sheep, cows and horses. I had forgotten that cows are ubiquitous in India and are even seen on highways and at busy traffic intersections. By now, the kids had started writing their travel journal. Before we reached Jaipur, the kids had seen 15 different animals and birds from camels, elephants to peacocks and pheasants!

By 1 pm, we reached the Amber fort which was on top of a small mountain, 11 km far from Jaipur at Maota lake. The rain started to fall. Elephants and jeeps were available to take us to the fort. We skipped the elephant ride and took a jeep to the top of the mountain. The cobblestone road that climbed up the hill to the Amber Fort reminded me of a similar road that took us to the Neuschwanstein castle, in Bavaria, Germany, a replica of it is the famous Walt Disney Cinderella castle in Disney Land.

The exterior walls of the Amber fort were waterstained and looked like they hadn't seen paint for centuries. However, inside the fort, the intricate Rajasthani carvings and beautifully decorated and ornate windows and facade of the buildings was absolutely fascinating. Black-faced monkeys with baby monkeys clinging to their mother's stomachs were roaming freely inside the fort.

Overlooking a window from one of the palatial rooms inside the Amber fort we saw a small island situated in the middle of the moat which resembled a stage. The tour guide explained that was where beautiful maidens used to sing and dance for the merriment and pleasure of the Rajput kings who watched the proceedings from the fort..

We stepped into a room next to the large windows. The guide waited for more people to enter the room and closed all the doors. "This is the king's bedroom. The king and queen slept here," he said. The room was pitch dark and he lit two candles.

The light from the candles reflected on the ceiling mirrors. He started moving the candles gently. The ceiling was now filled with shiny specks of light. "Stars in the sky," he said pointing to the ceiling which was fully covered by intricate design work with inlaid mirrors. "When the wind blows, and the candlelight sways, the ceiling of this room will give an illusion of a starry night," he explained.

The symmetry of the inlaid convex mirrors and dome-shaped ceiling was a masterpiece of imagination and creativity. I amazed at the foresight of the Rajput rulers who created this spectacle more than 300 years ago. Hmm... nice way to live!

When we came out from the fort and the jeep driver took us to a handicrafts shop filled with all kinds of precious stones like rubies, amethysts, garnets and corals, art works, silk paintings, Rajasthani saris, colourful skirts with inlaid and embroidered mirror work and a plethora of other handicraft items. We couldn't escape buying some souvenirs.

We had spent nearly the entire afternoon at the Amber fort and Singh reminded us that if we didn't rush to Jaipur's City Palace, it would be closed for the day. We left for Jaipur, through winding hilly roads, and on the way, we stopped near a lake. There was an island in the middle of the lake and a small summer palace covered the entire island. The view was rather picturesque with green mountains in the background.

When we entered the Pink City of Jaipur through one of its seven main gates, we could not stop marvelling at its fabled pink buildings. The City Palace is now a museum and also has a full armory. The driver suggested we hire a guide.

We visited the large halls where the Rajput kings received foreign dignitaries and VIP guests. The palace walls were adorned by rifles, swords and daggers the treasures of a warrior kingdom. A great testimony to the Rajput's love for war and battle. The armory had loads of war paraphernalia.

Most interesting were two of the world's largest silver jugs -- located in the City Palace -- each weighing more than 345 kilograms. These jugs, we were told, were used by the king to carry the water of the Ganges for his consumption during his trip to London. The silk costumes of the Rajput royalty, their palanquins, tapestries and rolls and rolls of silk and woollen carpets were on display. The evident grandeur of Rajput royal lifestyle really hits you.

Adjacent to the City Palace was Jantar Mantar, a solar observatory similar to the one in Delhi. These buildings served as solar clocks and instruments to measure the spring and autumn vernal equinox, and winter and summer solstice. The rain started again and the heavy downpour flooded the roads. The traffic around the City Palace came to a standstill, with knee deep water on the roads. The drainage system was inadequate and people, cattle, camels, and vehicles wallowed in the water filling the roads.

We drove on to Hawa Mahal, another masterpiece of architecture. The exterior of the Hawa Mahal was rows and rows of symmetric windows with great artistic flourishes. The entire building was built in red stone. Inside was just a small building and a garden. The guide explained that in days gone by, sandstorms used to blow and the local king built the Hawa Mahal as a protective cover for the city.

Yet another story goes that the Hawa Mahal was built for Rajput princesses and royal maidens. They could sit behind the Hawa Mahal, shielded from the prying eyes of the public, and could yet be able view, from any one of the hundreds of windows, the festivities that took place on the streets below.

Suddenly we realised it was 5:30 pm. Not even half of our whirlwind tour was over . The evening was setting in and the driver was on our heels as we lingered in Jaipur still admiring its pink buildings. As we were driving away from Jaipur, we saw a flock of both male and female peacocks near the side of the road. I have never seen peacocks in their natural habitat and it was a remarkable sight! We stopped to drink tea or dum chai at one of the dhabas (Indian roadside eateries.)

We stayed that night at Mahuwa, 100 miles from Jaipur. Driving at night, we were told, is risky. Lorries and buses, our driver explained, don't bother to use their headlights at night. We saw that the lorries did not have proper reflectors and tail lights to warn the traffic behind them and some tractor trailers were running with no headlights and/or trailer tail lights.

Driving on the highways was risky too as "breakdown" lorries were blocking one side of the road without any hazard lights. The only indication we could see was a heap of small rocks surrounding these vehicles that indicate these vehicles are under repair. And, of course, there were no state trooper or highway patrol cars checking the speed or manning the highways. We heaved a sigh of relief when we reached the Rajasthan State Tourist Development hotel at Mahuwa by 9:30. We paid just Rs 500 and stayed the night.

Photos by Kevin J Vogeley and Jewella C Miranda. And courtesy Rajasthan Tourism.

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