Road Trip Day 2 - Shopping in Jaipur!

All we did on Day 2 was shop! We shopped till we dropped! Well not literally but almost.

It was raining in the morning and we thought "Sigh! There go our shopping plans." But the weather gods were good to us and the rain stopped by the time we finished sight seeing.

We started by visiting Hawa Mahal. During our earlier trip to Jaipur about 20 years ago, this was one of the places we had been to and so we wanted to revisit the place. Took some pictures and saw Jantar Mantar and other city sights from Hawa Mahal.

Just outside Hawa Mahal is Johari Bazaar and near by are Choti Chaupad and Bapu Bazaar. This area is one of the main tourist hubs and shopping area (Insider info, courtesy, a friend's mom who stays in Jaipur) :)

We started window shopping and progressed to full fledged shopping very soon. The 2 members of the group who generally dislike shopping - N and my dad cooperated very well! They stayed with us throughout the day and even helped us shop. 

The shops and clothes were a riot of colors. Johari bazaar was in general overpriced than Bapu bazaar. So if you plan to shop, visit Bapu bazaar first. The rates are cheaper and closer to the actual price compared to Johari bazaar, reason being Johari bazaar is closer to the tourist attractions and attracts more foreign tourists. 

We picked some bedsheets, bed spreads, rajais (comforters), skirts, suits, bandhej sarees and some kurtas. Looking at the loot at the end of the day was immensely satisfying! I know material pleasures but ask a shop-a-holic and you will know how it feels ;)

We did have a good lunch at Lakshmi Mishthan Bhandar in Johari bazaar. Also enjoyed some local stuff like mirchi vada and daal ke pakode.

Tomorrow we leave Jaipur for Jodhpur via Ajmer. We plan to stop at Ajmer Sharif and seek blessings. 

I am excited about visiting Jodhpur, especially seeing Mehrangarh fort and my school. 

Cheers to holiday shopping and the little pleasures of life!!!

Had to do a collage of pics rather than my regular lots-of-pictures-post because of a borrowed, low speed internet connection. But something is better than nothing!! :)