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Jaipur

Jaipur in August 2025: the Panna Meena ka Kund stepwell, a hillside temple in Amer, and a roadside thali stop on the long drive out of Rajasthan.

Jaipur in August 2025, monsoon-green hills and all. We based ourselves near Amer, climbed down a stepwell, climbed up to a temple, and then let the road out of Rajasthan feed us.

Amer and the stepwell

Panna Meena ka Kund is the stepwell every photographer in Jaipur knows, a criss-cross of staircases dropping down to green water, with chhatri pavilions around the rim. We queued politely for our turn on the steps.

Inga and Dileep standing on the stone steps of Panna Meena ka Kund stepwell in Amer, zigzag staircases and green water behind them
Panna Meena ka Kund. The steps are a geometry lesson you can stand on.
The full sweep of Panna Meena ka Kund stepwell, zigzag staircases descending on every side to green water, a domed pavilion on the rim
The same stepwell in full: the monsoon had topped the water up nicely.
An old stone temple with a carved shikhara tower and dome pavilions on a green hillside in Amer near Jaipur
A stone temple round the corner from the stepwell, with the monsoon doing wonders for the hillside.

Amber Fort and the Pink City

The fort above Amer filled a day on its own: the painted Ganesh Pol gate, domed pavilions with the ramparts still marching across the hills behind, and a musician working the walls with a bowed string and a very good ear for an audience.

The Ganesh Pol gateway at Amber Fort, its facade covered in painted arches, floral frescoes and latticed marble balconies
Ganesh Pol, the fort's show-off gate. Every surface got a painter.
Domed pavilions above a weathered courtyard wall at Amber Fort, monsoon-green hills and old ramparts on the ridgeline behind
August 2025 monsoon greens behind the fort, with the old walls still patrolling the ridge.
A musician in white with a bright turban playing a bowed string instrument while seated against an orange wall at Amber Fort
One man, one bowed string, one very orange wall.

Down in the city the Hawa Mahal did its thing, and Jal Mahal sat out in its lake, serenely ignoring the crowds on the shore.

Inga in sunglasses in front of the pink honeycomb facade of Hawa Mahal in Jaipur, a green and yellow auto rickshaw at the kerb behind her
Hawa Mahal and the obligatory rickshaw. The Pink City delivers on the name.
Inga in a black elephant t-shirt in front of Jal Mahal, the sandstone palace sitting in the middle of Man Sagar Lake
Jal Mahal, the palace that lives in a lake. Dress code: elephant t-shirt.

The road out

Leaving Jaipur we pulled into a highway food stop about a hundred kilometres out, the kind of place that paints its whole facade with turbaned welcomes, camels and coffee cups. Padharo Sa, the walls say: welcome, do come in. So we did.

A restaurant facade near Jaipur covered in painted Rajasthani murals of turbaned figures, camels, elephants and the words Padharo Sa
The most cheerful car park wall in Rajasthan. Padharo Sa means you are welcome here.
A steel thali tray with bowls of curry, dal, cauliflower sabzi, rice, naan, salad and a cup of chai behind it
The thali that answered every question we had about lunch. Chai in the back, obviously.

From Jaipur the road network fans out across the Golden Triangle: Agra and Delhi are both an easy day away.