Today I started the day by visiting the Jal Mahal, or “Water Palace”, in the middle of the artificial Man Sagar lake, built to combat water scarcity.
The Palace was built around 1750 by Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh I as a place of rest and leisure. It has five floors, four of which are submerged when the lake is full. It was built using red sandstone and lime mortar, used to prevent water seepage.
Next I took a bus to the Amber Palace, which is a magnificent palace-fortress in Jaipur and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s surrounded by 12 km of walls and protected by 3 forts, the Amber Fort, the Jaigarh Fort and the Nahargarh Fort. It has a mix of Hindu and Mughal architecture and was built from pink and yellow sandstone and white marble. It’s located on a hill overlooking Lake Maota.
I spent most of the day in the Palace and visiting the forts, one of them even had access through a tunnel. On the way out of the Palace, with the afternoon already half over, I snacked at the street stalls.
I went back on a bus packed with people to the centre of Jaipur and stopped by Tal Katora lake before ending the day around the City Palace area.