Touring Amber Fort & Nahargarh Fort in Jaipur

Amber Fort is located 11 km North of central Jaipur, so I took a local bus #5 from Hawa Mahal. This massive fort-palace complex built in hybrid Hindu-Muslim style and was the royal palace of the Kachwahas from c. 1600-1727. The fort is named after the town of Amber, in turn named after the goddess Amba.

I toured the site with three Japanese young men and we took photos for one another. The main sights within the fort include the Sheesh Mahal, adorned with thousands on thousands of mirror tiles on the walls and ceiling. The fort/palace grounds are sprawling. It's a bit of a walk up from the town, so some tourists hitch an elephant ride to the top. I did my elephant ride in Nepal, so skipped it this time.

Since there is no bus to Nahargarh Fort, I tried to find alternative transportation to get there from the Amber fort. However the tourist police told me that it is about 19 km from Amber Fort, which would cost me a fortune to take tuktuk.

As a hard-core budget backpacker, I am determined to always use the cheapest possible transportation when the time and riding conditions are tolerable. So I took a bus back to city center and planned to 4 km upto Nahargarh Fort. When back in city center, I run into a Taiwanese fellow and had a soda (the only affordable item for me) in the famous and expensive restaurant in the LMB Hotel, while my new friend ordered a humble vege lunch. We shared travel experience and exchanged my extra Indian Rubbes with his US dollars. He taught me how to select masala tea and I couched him some career options on our way to Nahargarh Fort. The economic downturn has led many people to lose their jobs. The telnet outflow issue is very severe in Taiwan, because the average salary there is even lower than Indonesia now. My new friend has been working in Singapore for 5 years.  Some young people started their own e-business. Maybe people can get inspired by Stephen Ritz, a teacher growing green/jobs in the South Bronx, New York, to create food/jobs in their cities. http://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_ritz_a_teacher_growing_green_in_the_south_bronx.html

Nahargarh Fort has excellent views over Man Sagar lake and the vast sprawl of Jaipur. The fort also houses the (relatively) compact Madhavendra Bhawan palace. Portions of the movie Rang De Basanti were shot at this fort.