Jaipur morning - Elephants and Amber Fort

Itinerary:

"Feb 15 - Jaipur. Start your day with an excursion to Amber Fort & Palace, located 12 kilometers from the center of the City. Arrive at the complex well before 9 a.m. so as to be able to partake in the elephant back ascent. The Fort was originally built by Raja Mansingh and is one of the finest examples of Rajput architecture. Enjoy the ascent to the palace on the back of a brightly caparisoned elephant. Visit the chambers and hallways of the Palace which are famous for their design and decorations."

Jaipur from the top of the Amber Fort (click on image to expand)

While we arrived at the Amber Fort before 9 AM, we did not arrive enough before 9 A.M. By the time we got there, the line for the elephant ride well across the courtyard.

What we wanted to do...

...and the line to do it.

To protect their health, each elephant is only permitted 4 trips to the top. Just as we got to the front of the line, the word went out that the rides were finished for the day. Shurveer told us to be patient, and so Sigrid occupied herself with elephant portraits near their stable, while I hung around at the front of the line.


It turned out there was one elephant left with one ride in her. Shurveer once again worked his magic, and we shared the last ride with a young boy who enjoyed it even more than we did:

Among the sites at the top of the fort, was a Bollywood movie set. The security guards kept waving off tourist cameras, but I don't think they were sincere. Did they seriously believe they could shoot a movie in the middle of popular tourist destination and no one would take pictures?

From the poster, the name of the movie is "Most Wanted". It is, of course a sequel to Salman Khan's mega hit "Wanted" about a do-rag sporting Mumbai gangsta. But you knew that.

I love musical comedies.