The tour’s theme is designed to give you a traditional perspective on morning life in Jaipur as well as a taste of Jaipur’s street food.
We started off our 3 hour morning cycle tour by leaving the hotel at 05h30 with a tuk-tuk to explore the ancient architecture and culture of Jaipur on a bicycle. So strange the almost silence… The silence before the city is jam-packed with tuk-tuk’s, vehicles and people.
As we begin our historic mystic cycle tour some streets are dark, others already are preparing for the new day. Our official starting point was from Pakota, the walled city – all filled with pink terracotta buildings and walls. We made a brief stop for a photo opportunity and feeding the birds at the Albert Hall museum. It is believed to start your day of good, and we have done so by feeding a few cows on the side of the road before we reached our morning tea spot.
We stopped at a group of people busy with their morning prayers, singing and dancing and joined in on the side of the road. We went to The Govind Dev Ji Temple where devotees were participating in their morning prayers dedicated to the Indian Godhead Lord Krishna. The devotees were busy preparing for the traditional Aarti as well as ringing bells and singing with lighted wicks.
One of the highlights for me was seeing the lifestyle of a Jaipurite. We took part in laughing yoga with the locals in the park followed by visiting the biggest vegetable and flower market in Jaipur. The colours and variety is as magnificent as the hustle and bustle amongst the traders and the shoppers. The ladies in their beautifully bright attire are walking around, carrying big and heavy bags of vegetables on their heads and numerous men with flower bags.
I do believe I am an adventurous person in general but not when it comes to street food. I do not eat street food easily – I will only do so when it is highly recommended by a reliable source. On this day, I was trying street food! We have tried a variety of Indian “delicacies” from acclaimed food joints which fueled us with the much needed energy for our activities and busy morning.
We started with a warm cup of traditional Indian tea, also known as Chai made by the Sahoo Chai Wala who’s family has been preparing this delicious tea for the last 3 generations. The tea is prepared on a traditional charcoal stove made from slow boiling milk and a secret recipe which makes it very filling (and delicious). During the morning many people gather at the tea spots for a tea and morning chat before they start their day.
As we exited the hidden tunnel, we were approaching Jagannath Pakori Wala for freshly fried potato fritters which are deep fried in oil on a charcoal stove. Wow! Soft on the inside and crispy on the outside with such an amazing taste. For dessert we had Jalebi from Samrat Kachori Wala, it is a spiral shaped sweet dish which is incredibly sweet, juicy and crispy all at the same time. The Jalebi was fried in hot ghee and then soaked in sugar syrup. It was still warm when we got it. Our food experience was rounded off with a kerned yoghurt drink, also known as a Lassi from the famous Lassi wala which was also our last stop of the tour.
Our bicycle tour was rounded off with a souvenir from Le Tour De India as a keepsake of our adventurous morning on bicycles in Jaipur.
I really loved and enjoyed this trip as it gave us such a great experience of Jaipur before it gets really busy as well as a glimpse of the daily lives of the local community of Jaipur.
Travel Love
Chrisyy