Jaipur City

Sham picked us up after breakfast and we headed up to the Amber Fort. You drive up through a mountain pass to get to it and as your round the bend you see it, magnificent in the morning sun. High above the bone dry valley a parade of elephants makes it way up the front of the fort, carrying tourists to the main building. Unfortunately we were to late to get a ride on an eleflump (they finish at 9am) and we had to take the back road up in the car. Inside we found the remains of a once splendid fort - now rather gone to rack and ruin. It was teaming with tourists and apart from the main entry gate and a few pavilions it looked pretty shabby - still an awesome sight though. We looked around the various rooms but many had gone past there best and the pressure of so many bloody white people was getting to us so we beat a retreat and headed to the main town.

Next stop was the City Palace. You enter the main gate, painted beautiful colours and into the centre of the walled city. We buy a ticket come postcard from the main desk and Sham went off to park the car. Through another splendid gate and into the first courtyard. Here a central building houses (the old Welcome Palace) the textile museum - hundreds of brilliant costumes and fabrics, worn by the Maharajahs and Maharanis are displayed in cases. Everything from elaborate wedding outfits to the Maharajah's billiards costume and polo outfits.

In the Maharani's Palace was the weapons museum - an amazing collection of guns (shot, flint lock and camel mounted) knifes (daggers, huge 25kg scimitars and ladies knifes with ivory and jade handles), shields made of rhino and crocodile skin and a very cool night polo ball ( ladies could not been seen during the day so played polo at night, the ball was an iron filigree cage, in which a gyroscopic mount sat with a candle on it, when lit the ladies could bat it around in the dark, play their game and keep their modesty - very clever). A guide took as around, pointing out all the artifacts, metal back scratches for the men, ivory for the more delicate ladies and swords so flexible you could hide them in your belt.

Another magnificent gateway and we moved though to the main palace square, straight in front was an elaborate pillared hall were the Maharajah entertained his guests. Inside sat two huge silver vessels, the biggest ever items made of a single piece of silver and use to carry Ganges water to the UK for the Maharajah who didn't trust our water supply! Look up and you see a yellow building atop the red. This is the reigning Maharajah's palace, the Maharajah, Maharani and Maharajah junior all live in here. We looked through the transport museum, housed in the old stables. Old fashioned cars and elephant carriages filled the old stables. There was also an art gallery, filled with not only pictures but 17th carpets and books written in Sanskrit, Arabic in Hindi.

I had a brief look around the observatory next door but Keith wasn't feeling too well so after a short stop for a shop we headed to the Palace of the Winds, which is more of a photo opp than a visitor attraction. Although the shop keepers took advantage of my being on the pavement and tried to flog me everything from pots to saris. We headed back to the hotel for lunch were we received the most mediocre room service imaginable. I went to the pool and Keith took a nap. He felt no better later so we stayed in the room and watched DVDs and after such a poor lunch stuck to apples for dinner.