ELEPHANTS & JEEPS & A FORT … OH MY!!
Amber Fort – Jaipur India
JAIPUR, INDIA
Often I research specific itinerary stops before leaving on a tour but for the India Golden Triangle trip, other than knowing generally what cities we were visiting AND that we would see my bucket list Taj, I truly came in pretty blind. (Ok, true confession, I came into the India trip unbelievably ignorant…actually, delightfully dumb which can translate to some pretty amazingly fun eye popping “Is this for real?!” “WOW, Had no idea we were going to do that!” moments. And that’s exactly what happened at Amber Fort. It was an absolutely glorious morning that took my breath away… an unforgettable top 10 day of my life!
High on the hills around Jaipur, a wall meanders along the ridges. It is, we learned, the 3rd largest in the world behind the Great Wall & another India Wall about 200 miles to the southwest of Jaipur. I caught a glimpses of this wall on the drive in from Delhi & now it became more prevalent as we drove 6 miles north of the city where the wall traveled along two mountainsides which cradle the small town of Amer in the valley below. This is where on that early January morning, elephants & jeeps delivered us to & from magical captivating Amber Fort, India’s “Shangri-La” of sorts.
City of Amer
Amber Fort, that humongous sandstone fortress we came to see, loomed large, pretty much swallowing the top of an entire blue green ridge & burying foothills beneath steep walled paths that switchback right then left, up and up till reaching the dramatic gated arch entrance & adjoining soaring towers. My first look at the fort was thrilling, amazing… but at this point I had no idea that it was going to get better…lots, lots better. Oh, what a day we were going to have!
Maota Lake 
Garden Gazebo 
Garden Base 
Pathway 
Amber Fort
I don’t recall the moment it actually dawned on me just how we would be actually getting to the cool fortress on the hill, but suffice it to say, there was a definite “NO WAY!” moment when Natalie exclaimed, “Holy krap, an ELEPHANT is taking us up there??!!”
Our group was the first to arrive that morning at the massive Amber Fort, home of the Maharajah of 1070. From our vantage point in the beautiful garden staging area, we could watch all the elephants in their colorful fabric headscarves & saddles, some with bright chalk trunk art, file out from behind the tall sandstone wall labeled “Elephant Owners Development Society“. It was quite a site to behold, white shirted & turban topped handlers many of who were smiling, rubbing their animals behind the ears, chattering with one another. It was the start of their work day & there was that good morning first run of the day energy happening. We mounted our noble pachyderm steed (ha ha, that was totally fun to say) & began the ascent up the walled cobblestone pathway…
…Passing small rectangular mud brick dwellings & the large lake that rests at the base of the hillside… This wild ride was pretty surreal, a scene straight out of an Indiana Jones movie & I had to pinch myself to confirm it was really happening! Not gonna lie.. it was magical atop a lumbering elephant, this powerful creature effortlessly climbing the (long and slow… beautifully elegant experience actually) steep incline of switchbacks & passing through smaller arches providing ample time to take in the amazing view of the valley below AND time for Dave to get a tad tingly in his legs due to Natalie’s shifted weight sliding down on top of him in the saddle the entire climb!
Gravity was NOT our friend… poor Dave, as usual, took the *ss end to ensure I had a better ride. Really just getting a good start at this point in the journey.
Once we reached the top of the mountainside and passed through the gateway, it opened up into a beautiful massive courtyard surrounded by 2 story verandas, dotted by green shade trees and dramatically anchored by an elegant grand palace staircase leading skyward. The space was SO large, there were a dozen elephants coming & going, as well as people, monkeys running here & there & merchants selling wares. We were greeted by horns, drums & the mystical eerie sound of a chikara (single string Indian musical instrument)…. several videos are attached. Please forgive my rather poor video skills. ugh!!
Once we said goodbye to our guide & four legged large eared friend, we took a few minutes for Dave to get circulation returned to his legs …haha! The atmosphere was electric as we made our way past the exotic musicians and monkeys to the palace’s grand staircase & climbed the 50+ steps to the 2nd level with its magnificent balcony overlook (Wow, an incredible panoramic view!)
This 2nd floor was the public space where the Maharajah held court, received guests & carried out the business of his reign.
The magnificent amber open hall with its column after column after column was stunning and there within the shaded structure a woman in an orange and red sari was sweeping with a long reed broom. I captured one of my most treasured photos that day. So grateful for that moment!
Across the courtyard, was the ornate elaborate entrance to the royal family’s private chambers which led to further spaces of mind boggling opulence & brilliance…
There were 2 more floors to the palace with a beautiful garden,
A brilliantly tiled mirror palace room (the famous sheesh mahal),
Smooth connecting tunnels that seemed to go on forever (built for escape in the case of invasion)…
Exotic balcony chambers of arched windows with views of the valley below… walls with death defying sheer drop offs revealing a panorama of town Amer & the switchbacks, colorful ornate tiled & inlay stone rooms, murals and unique shaped “I Dream of Jeanie” doorways & window. Nearly every angle, every frame of the my lens captured something... Art was everywhere. It was magnificent. It was captivating.
The fort exit is on same level as the elephant entrance, but on the backside, opposite the front arched gate. I was unprepared for what greeted us there…dozens of jeeps, parked haphazardly, like a messy used car lot, bumper to bumper, nose to nose, every which way, right next to each other, horns blaring, none of them moving, and some random voices yelling something in Hindi . We were “ushered” (aka ordered) by our guide to get into a jeep as we learned this was our way down the mountain. I began to giggle .. I had no idea how this crazy traffic jam would end up, but I was totally in for finding out! Then, there it was our driver yelling in Hindi, gesturing, a grind of a gear, a nod, (he’s done this before, COOL) & we were off, racing, fairly fast!
Pretty crazy, a great time & quite the WILD RIDE!
A bit of an explanation is needed for the final video…early in the day there were guys taking photos of folks on the elephants & they had been peddling these throughout the day. The wild ride off the mountain marked THE very last opportunity to make a sale… so, these guys were in the throws of final negotiations, putting it all on the line to send that tourist home with those souvenir pictures. Fortunately, the jeep in front of ours had the MOST dedicated hawker of the day cuz he was hanging on the back by the skin of his toes the whole way down, SO entertaining!!
TRIPPIN WITH NATALIE 
Remind me of the your company you like again? What an adventure! So amazing!
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Gate 1. Reasonable & we have always had a great trip. We’ve traveled with them 5 times now.
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