Despite its touristy status, Jaipur was high on my list of must-sees on my second visit to India.
Jaipur is famously known as India’s pink city due to its salmon-coloured architecture. Yet within 24 hours of arriving I’d learned my first major lesson about saving the green! $$$
I’d planned to scoot through Rajasthan and get the major cities out of the way before heading towards the luscious green states of Uttrakhand & Himachal Pradesh.
Arriving in Jaipur
After an exhausting 2 days at India’s annual Holi Festival in Delhi, I distinctly remember feeling a sense of relief when arriving in Jaipur and an Indian gentleman offered to help carry my backpack to his tuk-tuk. My mind was still fuzzy from two days of powder paints, too many beers, and partying purely with locals, I’d taken an early 5-hour train to Jaipur- and just wanted to get back into bed!
Little did I know that within seconds of arriving, I’d been caught by my first Indian scam…
How? Because Jaipur is a hotspot for tourists in Rajasthan. And these guys know the many tricks of the trade. Read on for how to avoid tourist scams and save money in Jaipur!
Jaipur- The Pink City of Rajasthan
Home to two million, Jaipur offers numerous opportunities to see ancient forts, cultural gems, and instagrammable spots (see below). Thus, from your first step onto the station, you will find a plethora of tuk-tuk drivers willing to show you around.
Unfortunately, I’d read online that the most convenient way to see this pretty city was to arrange a deal with a local tuk-tuk driver. From which this man seemed perfect. Varkhil spoke clear English, carried my bag, and presented me with a portfolio of positive reviews he and his uncle Khan had received during their “14-year tour service”. Impressed, I agreed to meet them to discuss a 3-day tour of Rajasthan including a visit to the City Palace, Amber Fort, Water Palace, an elephant sanctuary, and a local village ‘untouched by tourism’.
Red flags to spot early on… (that I didn’t):
- Avoid going with the first tuk-tuk driver you meet. Ask around and agree on a price before you get into any vehicle.
- When I asked for the tuk-tuk cost- Varkhil responded simply with “No money needed”…. We believe in good karma :). This is a good way for drivers to try and earn your trust early. And easily one thing can lead to another.
- He also informed me “Not to trust any hostel (who are the real scam artists)”… 🙂 Be skeptical of this kind of uninformed advice. As I learned during my stay at Backpackers HQ. They offered nothing but kindness and genuine advice.
- Generally, if be weary id it seems they are doing too much for a 20minute tuk-tuk ride!
So… Day 1 Itinerary: My Experience in Jaipur with a tuk-tuk driver.
The Elephant Sanctuary, Monkey Temple, a spice shop, and a meal at a ‘not-so-local’ Indian restaurant.
1st stop: Breakfast at a local Indian spot
One of my favourite Indian delicacies, Lassi is a sweet fresh yoghurt drink, and this one was fresh with hints of pineapple and mango flavours. Yum! And costing just 30rupees at a place named Lassiwala, Varkil was quickly gaining bonus points from me.
At this point, I was still toying with whether I could trust this guy and kept my wits about me. Next door, he took me to a very decent local food place for a typical paratha thali dish and I paid 140r for. Not bad, not bad!
2nd stop: Monkey Temple- Your camera’s entrance fee is more than yours!
While the official name is Galta Ji, many locals refer to the sacred site as Monkey Temple due to the thousands of independent monkeys that reside here. From arrival, you will discover its intriguing and peaceful scenery, with temples tucked atop the distant hills, making it feel similar to King Louis’s scene out of the Jungle Book.
While these little terrors are known to cause havoc in India, it was satisfying to find families of monkeys roaming freely together. Monkeys playing, monkeys eating, leaping and cruising the serene premises of the temple grounds.
Cost: Varkhil informed me that it was free to enter, but this would not be the first time my tour guide was feeding misinformation. Monkey Temple will actually cost you 100rs to enter, and by surprise it also cost me 150rs to bring my camera or smartphone inside. “This cost is very new Miss Sophia, in the last week even” Varkhil defended.
I visited in 2020, and after some research I see online that people have been paying for this attraction since 2017 at least. Total: 250rs
3rd: Visit to the Elephant Sanctuary– PRICEY, but a genuine interaction with these beautiful creatures!
I was hesitant arriving at the sanctuary and made it clear to my host that I was not going to commit to any part of animal interactivity without checking the conditions. Albeit, the atmosphere of the sanctuary, the character of the staff and the aura of the elephants took me by surprise and felt humbling, tranquil, and genuine.
I was delighted to be greeted two very giant and happy elephants!
The host explained that My Elephant Trip is an elephant sanctuary/charity accommodated by 11 rescued elephants. Unlike the less popular ‘Elephant village‘ which has horrendous reviews and conducts elephant rides, this place did not advertise or permit riding on the elephants at all, and I did not see any elephant rides taking place.
The cost is another story. As mentioned on many online forums a lot of the elephant attractions in Jaipur quite distinctly miss off the price on their websites. I ended up paying 4500rs for a 90 minute experience including:
- Meet and greet, hug and spiritual interaction the elephants
- Feed- loved watching eat elephant grab and shove 5 unpeeled bananas down their throats
- Bathe and paint
- And the best part: A walk WITH the elephants and not ON them!
Overall I’d say this experience was a positive one and much better than other experiences I’ve had with elephants in the past. Whether the price is accurate or not, (likely my guide earned a healthy commission), I felt satisfied that the majority of my donation went towards the sanctuary. This seemed the best place to help protect these creatures from those with more commercial interests.
Finishing day 1: Spice shop and meal at a (not so local) restaurant
To finish the day, my host pressed me to “only look” and “experience” some local spices at a spice shop. Despite insisting that I didn’t have enough space in my backpack, I was goaded with multiple cups of chai tea and information about all the benefits of these local spices. Result: shrugged and 500rs spent on a 100g bag of masala spice and 200g of Darjeeling tea. There was no doubt more commission was gained here. As I later learned this should have cost roughly 100rs.
Finally, Varkhil decided to take me to a “local spot” for some “real local food”- incorrect again…
I paid 500rs on a paneer curry, 2 parathas, and 2 cups of chai tea at Hotel Vaishnavi rooftop restaurant. Filled only with tourists and their respective ‘guides’. It did not feel local at all, and, to be honest, the food was pretty bland. Nevertheless, being only 4 days into India, I let myself off on forgetting how cheap good food can cost.
Overall, day 1 was full on, and I couldn’t kick the feeling that I had been cheated in some way or another. As I tallied my costs, I worked out my days outgoings to be roughly 7000rs or £75!! A massive spend for one day in India- that otherwise probably could have been halved without my ‘tour guide’.
Day 2- SOLO: Local experiences, Water palace, Pink city & Amber fort
*Counting my pennies* I was lucky enough to meet two other solo backpackers who gave me a reality check on cash spending in India. Naively, in the early days of my trip, I’d felt I got a decent price for all the activities of the day before, but I listened to their advice, met Varkhil, and paid him off with (500rs).
In effect, taking to the road on day 2, I avoided tuk-tuks completely reducing my costs to only 1000rs (£10) total for the day!
And as I usually discover, taking the local route gave me a much more unique and authentic experience to discover Jaipur. And despite what some blogs say, you can easily see Jaipur without a tuk-tuk!
Overall, the most helpful buses hitting the places we wanted to see included route numbers; #5, #11, and #3. Bus numbers are displayed on the front, but we found the best way was just to ask a conductor or listen for someone shouting the destination!
1st stop: Water Palace
We headed out taking an easy 20min walk from our hostel, Backpackers HQ– and arrived at the Water Palace. All along the way being hounded by tuk-tuk drivers shouting different amounts at us but ignoring their chants.
2nd stop: Amber Fort
From the water palace, you can then jump on a local bus to the Amber Fort. There little information around bus journeys in Jaipur, perhaps to lure tourists into getting tuk-tuks. Hence, your best bet is to ask around and find a helpful local who can point you in the right direction! We took the bus number 5 and within 20 minutes, arrived at this beauty!
A real beauty, according to some tours, the Amber fort receives more annual visitors than the Taj Mahal! Albeit, many blogs however suggest otherwise such as: Never Ending Footsteps- How not to spend a day in Jaipur. Even though I did not book a tour, it seems we had a pretty similar experience. 🙂
The fort, built in 1592 will cost you approximately 500rs to enter to see the entire setting. Be weary, seeing the entire fort will take you roughly two hours. I chose not to, feeling pretty satisfied with walking around the main grounds before the entrance of the fort. As per below we caught some lovely pics!
4th stop: Local markets, Albert Hall and cost friendly food and henna!
I find such a joy in exploring streets without anyone guiding you round. It feels raw, authentic and like you are getting a unique experience that could not be repeated. The best way to get a raw account of Jaipur is to wander the streets and ask locals when you need help!
Finishing day 2: Patrika Gate at sunset!
Finally, we headed a little out of the old town and took the bus number 3 to Jawahar Circle. Boasting the largest circle-shaped park in Asia, the Jawahar Circle is guarded by the beautiful hand-painted Patrika gate at its entrance.
All shades of this pink and gold stature lit-up as the sun began to set over Jaipur. With its articulately designed pillars, each arch contains paintings that uniquely represent significant stories of about the history of the Rajasthan state.
The beauty of the arches attracts visitors from around the world. All aiming to achieve the perfect shot, the best time to visit would be between 6.30-8.30am to avoid the crowds. As below you see how the majority of my shots looked before catching the perfect shot!
Not easy getting them to move! But when they did…
Finishing day 2 with locals: good food, quality henna and local markets.
We finished our day exploring the markets of Jaipur in the Ramchandra Chaukari district. Owing to its tourists status, you might feel overwhelmed by the number of shop owners shouting “come into my shop!”, “just a look mam- looking costs nothing” kind of comments. Drive a hard bargain if you wish to buy anything, but otherwise simply decline, and keep moving with confidence.
Amusingly, I then discovered the real cost of henna in India, after paying 400rs for one side of my hand in Delhi. In this quarter of Jaipur I got some brilliant henna costing just 200rs for both sides of my hands and arm!
Local food:
I recommend you grab a thali at BMB Sweetshop Restaurant, much more generous than the recommended CMB restaurant which offers a pricier and less local feast. The food at Bombay Mishthan Bhandar was spicy and tasty, and my meal totaled 240rs for a thali, lime soda and chai!
To summarise
So… unless of course, you wish to spend 10 times the amount you would exploring the city like a local. My experience on day two is how to see Jaipur solo and avoid tuk-tuks completely giving you a uniquely local and cost-friendly experience.