Our first stop during our trip to India was Jaipur.
Jaipur is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan in Northern India. It was founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, after whom the city is named. The city today has a population of 3.1 million. Jaipur is also known as the Pink City of India.
We started our journey on 21st March, midnight, with Air Asia bound to Kolkata (RM 690, 3 hours of flight). From Kolkata, we boarded India's budget airline, IndiGo( Rs 13,726). All flight tickets are purchased before hand.
Our flight from Kolkata to Jaipur took about 1 hour and 30 minutes and it was a smooth flight. The sun rises very early in India. Around 6.15am and we managed to capture the sunrise during our Jaipur bound flight. The time different is 2 1/2 hours behind Malaysia.
On roaming:
Purchasing a local sim card is not easy in India. Some require a lot of documents for verification. Fret not, because internet is available at most hotel/hostels. Check with your network provider if your sim card is equip with roaming service before flying. It's more convenient that way.
On weather:
The temperature in Jaipur is around 33 degree Celsius in the day and could go down to 29 degree Celsius at night. The weather is not as hot as in Malaysia. Wear cotton clothing and something light. If you plan to go for backpacking, bring clothes with light materials where they could be washed and dry easily.
Our flight from Kolkata to Jaipur took about 1 hour and 30 minutes and it was a smooth flight. The sun rises very early in India. Around 6.15am and we managed to capture the sunrise during our Jaipur bound flight. The time different is 2 1/2 hours behind Malaysia.
On roaming:
Purchasing a local sim card is not easy in India. Some require a lot of documents for verification. Fret not, because internet is available at most hotel/hostels. Check with your network provider if your sim card is equip with roaming service before flying. It's more convenient that way.
On weather:
The temperature in Jaipur is around 33 degree Celsius in the day and could go down to 29 degree Celsius at night. The weather is not as hot as in Malaysia. Wear cotton clothing and something light. If you plan to go for backpacking, bring clothes with light materials where they could be washed and dry easily.
As we arrived earlier than expected, we called the hotel to inquire if we could check in and they said the room is available for us. We stayed at Laxmi Palace Hotel. The hotel is situated near to the City Palace and other local attractions. You can check out their rates here. The price is affordable and the room and shower are spacious. What I like about this hotel is the bed is big enough to fit 3 to 4 person (with my size). You should also try their food in the hotel. They serve breakfast from 7am to 11am, lunch from 2pm to 5pm and dinner from 7pm till 11pm.
A day that we were supposed to check out from our hotel, we asked the hotel reception if we could have a shower before we check out. Just reserve a room for us to clean up after our trip to Amber Fort. The thing about budget hotels in India is, most of them are flexible enough to cater to some of your needs, like ours. You can inquire from them should you have any specific request a day before your check-out or perhaps the day when you check-in into the hotel.
The total cost was around Rs 3,600 (Rm 220) including the hotel food we had for 3 nights. Although it is cheap, it would be nice if you could give some tips. The locals are mostly humble and helpful and they're happy if their effort are being appreciated. Like one of the hotel staff who had our needs fulfill throughout our stay (photo below). He helped us arrange tuk-tuk to bring us to our destinations, give us tips on being smart on the streets of Jaipur and we also had the chance of having a casual conversation with him. Oohhh, we gave him some tips too and I can see that he was happy and delighted.
He has been working with Laxmi Palace hotel for the past 7 years. He came all the way from Calcutta (24 hours of train ride) and only goes back to his home town once a year for a month. Interesting part is he only sleeps around 5 hours a day. His work schedule starts from 5am till 2 am with 2 hours of sleeps between 2pm to 4pm, and 2am to 5am. We had a pleasant stay in Laxmi Palace and recommend you to stay here and say hi to him if you do see him :-)
A day that we were supposed to check out from our hotel, we asked the hotel reception if we could have a shower before we check out. Just reserve a room for us to clean up after our trip to Amber Fort. The thing about budget hotels in India is, most of them are flexible enough to cater to some of your needs, like ours. You can inquire from them should you have any specific request a day before your check-out or perhaps the day when you check-in into the hotel.
The total cost was around Rs 3,600 (Rm 220) including the hotel food we had for 3 nights. Although it is cheap, it would be nice if you could give some tips. The locals are mostly humble and helpful and they're happy if their effort are being appreciated. Like one of the hotel staff who had our needs fulfill throughout our stay (photo below). He helped us arrange tuk-tuk to bring us to our destinations, give us tips on being smart on the streets of Jaipur and we also had the chance of having a casual conversation with him. Oohhh, we gave him some tips too and I can see that he was happy and delighted.
He has been working with Laxmi Palace hotel for the past 7 years. He came all the way from Calcutta (24 hours of train ride) and only goes back to his home town once a year for a month. Interesting part is he only sleeps around 5 hours a day. His work schedule starts from 5am till 2 am with 2 hours of sleeps between 2pm to 4pm, and 2am to 5am. We had a pleasant stay in Laxmi Palace and recommend you to stay here and say hi to him if you do see him :-)
