After a short 45 minute flight we arrived into Jaipur early on Sunday morning and took a pre-paid taxi to our hostel called Devi Niwas, just outside the city centre. We struck lucky as it is a lovely family-run guesthouse which is tucked away in a wealthy and quieter part of Jaipur about 1.5 miles outside the chaotic city centre. Our room is bright and airy and great value for 5 pounds a night. 
After a chapati breakfast we walked to the main road and negotiated a tuk-tuk to take us 11km north of the city to the Amber Fort, a UNESCO world heritage site. The red sandstone fort is out in the desert and situated about 300m up on the top of a hill and from a distance the fort looked extremely impressive. 
As we neared the fort we saw painted elephants pounding along the streets and ferrying tourists up the hill to the fort. We declined the experience as the animals are not always treated well and made our own way up by foot.
After a chapati breakfast we walked to the main road and negotiated a tuk-tuk to take us 11km north of the city to the Amber Fort, a UNESCO world heritage site. The red sandstone fort is out in the desert and situated about 300m up on the top of a hill and from a distance the fort looked extremely impressive. 
As we neared the fort we saw painted elephants pounding along the streets and ferrying tourists up the hill to the fort. We declined the experience as the animals are not always treated well and made our own way up by foot.The inside of the fort was less impressive than it's striking exterior and is a labyrinth of fairly bland stone passages and empty rooms. 
We wandered for a while, enjoying the views from the top and after encountering a few strange individuals along the way in some of the quieter areas of the fort we decided it was enough. Bi is finding the constant and exceptionally blatent staring from men (and sometimes women) a bit daunting and tiring. We stumbled upon a coffee shop where we savoured a rare cappuccino before deciding to get out of the searing heat and head back to Jaipur centre for a Thali and some Dosai for our lunch. At the end of our meal the waiter stood over us and demanded we leave a tip which we did not like so we walked out not leaving a penny on principle which left him rather annoyed. After lunch we queued outside the Raj Mandir Cinema (the biggest Hindi cinema in India) and bought 2 tickets for the evening to a major 'Bollywood' movie on current release called 'Delhi 6'. We could not help but peer into the McDonalds next door to check out the menu....and found the chicken tikka chapati meal deal quite amusing!
The following day, Monday, we took a rickshaw to the main old city gate and wandered through Jaipur towards the City Palace. Jaipur is aptly called the 'Pink City' as the whole of the old town is constructed of reddish-pink sandstone. The city streets are quite wide and uniform but of course have that distinct Indian feel to them with grubby little shops spilling out onto the stre
ets, cows wandering around, telephone and power lines dangling untidily and a mass of street children and beggars. It was fascinating stuff and very noisy and chaotic with parades and dances going on in the streets and the endless, and we mean endless, tooting of horns from all the traffic.
We made our way to the city palace and wandered the vast complex of courtyards, gardens and buildings. Our entrance fee came with a free audio guide which was helpful in explaining the history and meaning of the sights. We visited the Welcome Palace, Armoury, 
Hall of Public Audiences and the Pitam Niwas Chowk courtyard which was beautifully decorated with peacock bas reliefs.
As we walked back to the hotel we saw several holy processions making their way down the streets, singing, dancing and generally causing all kind of chaos! The traffic was backed up miles and it was fascinating to watch. We wandered back along the city streets past food vendors and spice sellers (with fantastically colourful tikka powder on offer)
and found a quieter street and took a rickshaw back to our hotel.
We wandered for a while, enjoying the views from the top and after encountering a few strange individuals along the way in some of the quieter areas of the fort we decided it was enough. Bi is finding the constant and exceptionally blatent staring from men (and sometimes women) a bit daunting and tiring. We stumbled upon a coffee shop where we savoured a rare cappuccino before deciding to get out of the searing heat and head back to Jaipur centre for a Thali and some Dosai for our lunch. At the end of our meal the waiter stood over us and demanded we leave a tip which we did not like so we walked out not leaving a penny on principle which left him rather annoyed. After lunch we queued outside the Raj Mandir Cinema (the biggest Hindi cinema in India) and bought 2 tickets for the evening to a major 'Bollywood' movie on current release called 'Delhi 6'. We could not help but peer into the McDonalds next door to check out the menu....and found the chicken tikka chapati meal deal quite amusing! We chilled out at our hotel for a couple of hours during the heat of the day and returned by rickshaw to the cinema (which is set up inside like a theatre with box seats and stalls) in the evening for our film. We had 'emerald' class seats (middle class seats in the stalls) and joined all the locals to watch the movie. It was great to see the local culture like this and it was a big affair for people. The cinema had a distinctly tacky 70's look and at the entrance they were selling samosas, cheese filled chapatis, ice-creams and popcorn which we sadly had to avoid due to our weak stomachs! A
lthough we could not understand the Hindu language we were able to get the gist of the film (they also intermittently burst into an English sentence which is quite strange) and it was actually quite good. Even more fascinating was the way everybody would whoop, cheer and clap at certain points and happily make mobile phone calls throughout the movie and speak as loudly as they felt like! Anything goes here and nobody really complains. It was a great evening and we returned to the guesthouse by tuk-tuk rather than rickshaw since it felt a little safer in the dark.
lthough we could not understand the Hindu language we were able to get the gist of the film (they also intermittently burst into an English sentence which is quite strange) and it was actually quite good. Even more fascinating was the way everybody would whoop, cheer and clap at certain points and happily make mobile phone calls throughout the movie and speak as loudly as they felt like! Anything goes here and nobody really complains. It was a great evening and we returned to the guesthouse by tuk-tuk rather than rickshaw since it felt a little safer in the dark.
The following day, Monday, we took a rickshaw to the main old city gate and wandered through Jaipur towards the City Palace. Jaipur is aptly called the 'Pink City' as the whole of the old town is constructed of reddish-pink sandstone. The city streets are quite wide and uniform but of course have that distinct Indian feel to them with grubby little shops spilling out onto the stre
ets, cows wandering around, telephone and power lines dangling untidily and a mass of street children and beggars. It was fascinating stuff and very noisy and chaotic with parades and dances going on in the streets and the endless, and we mean endless, tooting of horns from all the traffic. 
We made our way to the city palace and wandered the vast complex of courtyards, gardens and buildings. Our entrance fee came with a free audio guide which was helpful in explaining the history and meaning of the sights. We visited the Welcome Palace, Armoury, 
Hall of Public Audiences and the Pitam Niwas Chowk courtyard which was beautifully decorated with peacock bas reliefs. In the afternoon we visited Hawa Mahal, a remarkable, honey
combed, pink sandstone building built for the gentry women of Jaipur. From here we decided to do a spot of shopping. You have to be so careful which shops you enter because it is so difficult to get back out again. Ash bought himself some Indian serving dishes to add to his collection while Bi purchases a tablecloth. Bartering for the tablecloth was hilarious. We entered the shop and were seated like a king and queen and the owner then proceeded to grab out every type and colour of cloth he had whether we liked it or not. We selected the one we wanted and the price started at 2000 rupees. When we burst out laughing the price dropped to 1600.. ok ok..you take for 1600 and the assistant put the tablecloth in a bag as if we were total mugs and would take it at that price. We knew it was worth about 300 rupees so we named our price and less than 1000 rupees was refused we got up and walked out of the shop. The owner continued to count down and yelled out after us on the street eventually giving it to us for 300 rupees. We walked away happy with our purchase and thankful that our extended travels have made us a touch more savvy then the usual tourist. You can't blame them for having a go though. Jaipur is known for its high prices in expectation that you will barter hard.
combed, pink sandstone building built for the gentry women of Jaipur. From here we decided to do a spot of shopping. You have to be so careful which shops you enter because it is so difficult to get back out again. Ash bought himself some Indian serving dishes to add to his collection while Bi purchases a tablecloth. Bartering for the tablecloth was hilarious. We entered the shop and were seated like a king and queen and the owner then proceeded to grab out every type and colour of cloth he had whether we liked it or not. We selected the one we wanted and the price started at 2000 rupees. When we burst out laughing the price dropped to 1600.. ok ok..you take for 1600 and the assistant put the tablecloth in a bag as if we were total mugs and would take it at that price. We knew it was worth about 300 rupees so we named our price and less than 1000 rupees was refused we got up and walked out of the shop. The owner continued to count down and yelled out after us on the street eventually giving it to us for 300 rupees. We walked away happy with our purchase and thankful that our extended travels have made us a touch more savvy then the usual tourist. You can't blame them for having a go though. Jaipur is known for its high prices in expectation that you will barter hard. 
As we walked back to the hotel we saw several holy processions making their way down the streets, singing, dancing and generally causing all kind of chaos! The traffic was backed up miles and it was fascinating to watch. We wandered back along the city streets past food vendors and spice sellers (with fantastically colourful tikka powder on offer)
and found a quieter street and took a rickshaw back to our hotel. We relaxed at the hotel again in the afternoon having become hot, grubby and tired in the heat and dirt and fumes of the city. For dinner we headed to well recommended vegetarian restaurant where we received exceptionally snotty waiter service. Bi was ready to throw her bowl of channa dahl over the waiter! It was early to bed as we take a 5am train to Dehli tommorrow morning. The guesthouse owner tried to arrange a taxi to take us the 1.5 mile journey to the train station and when they quoted 300 rupees she slammed down the phone and then proceeded to take all their business cards, rip them up and throw them out.... good for her! It should cost 50 rupees but they operate on the basis that you are 'stuck' and can get away with ripping you off. We had to walk outside and arrange a tuk tuk to collect us and one of the men who had taken us by rickshaw a couple of times had a 'brother' (as they always do) that had a rickshaw so we arranged a 4.30am pick up.
