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On my First visit and a few Subsequent Visits to Jaipur, I did what good tourists do, and should do- I did the textbook tour of the city and a grand city it is… from fort to palace to haveli to shop.. and so on. Most people know the list, many have trodden the same paths, but frequent trip back have taught me that there is always something more, waiting to be discovered, or something new.

I asked a bunch of jaipurians (some by birth, several by choice ) Whether they thought Jaipur or Joypur

(to borrow from a friend who would not elaborate his reasons –each one has his own I guess) was a small town or abig city. Big city with small town  values was the closest summing up in their books .. but still a city that could surprise.

If you’ve been ,you’ve done the Amber fort but in the recent past, there is wonderful light-and –sound show-at 7pm in English 8pm in hindi. And if you are in the area, it would be a shame to not venture into sleepy Amber village past a silent, old step well and visit the Anokhi museum, a testament to the art of block prient.

Further behind the Amber hills is Dera Amber, which provides off-the-beaten-track activity-elephent, horse and camel safaris in the jungle-they also cater group in the keenness to get to Amber, the Kanak Brindavan gardens and Krishna Temple on the Delhi road often get bypassed. Just as the Sisodia Garden and the Galta Monkey temple do, on the Agra highway.

If it’s your first visit to jaipur, a visit to Hawa Mahal is mandatory but you can also seize the moment to stock up on your camel leather jootis and lac bangles in the adjoining shops. Also mandatory is a stop at LMB in johri Bazaar for a good, solid Rajasthani meal or the much-touted sweetmeats. If your tastes incline towards jaipuri churans and suparis,you should beat your way to J.D & Sons, where you could also stock up on your bandhni collection at Babu Bazaar.

Mind you, besides the old,famed,original and by appointment  to the Queen establishments that are a standard, the ‘where to do what’ is always a person-alised recommendation and not everyone agrees-it might initially seem odd that market streets seem devoted to rows and rows of one kind of goods only-hard-ware, silver, household ware, etc. But they  all have booming business because they’ve cultivated their preferred and preferring customers. Friends living in the same area each their favourite veg-etable stand or butcher.