I am going to have to condense this a bit otherwise I will never catch up. This blogging lark can certainly take up some time, but I trust you are all enjoying it – and thanks for all the comments. Keep them coming. I have tried to link the blog to my Facebook page, but we will see how successful that is.

So, where were we? Oh yes, off to Jaipur, via Fatehpur Sikri.

8th Jan, 2016

We got to Jaipur after dark on 7th Jan and checked into the Royal Heritage Haveli (another name for a mansion). It is, in fact, a converted hunting lodge of the Maharaj of Jaipur and is absolutely delightful. We were met by his niece and her husband and also their daughter who is helping with the running of the hotel. It was much more like a homestay than a hotel, only 14 rooms and great food and lovely staff. A flavour herewith…

Our first visit this morning (8th Jan) was to the Amber Fort, just north of Jaipur, which was the capital until 1728. It is truly stunning and you will be delighted to read that we had the joy of an elephant ride up to the entrance.Not the most comfortable mode of transport, but certainly atmospheric. Our sturdy pachyderm, Shanti, had the Indian equivalent of Lewis Hamilton behind the ears and set off at some pace, overtaking two or three slower beasts until she came to a complete stop – and proceeded to create a new roundabout in the roadway.

More photos that hopefully are worth a thousand words!

From Amber we did a little trip to a well that I am pretty sure featured in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, though I do not remember the goats! We also viewed the Lake Palace from the roadside. It is currently empty, but plans are afoot to turn it into a restaurant.

9th Jan, 2016

Today we ventured into Jaipur itself. Known as the Pink City, it got its name because the walls were painted the distinctive pink to mark the visit of Prince Albert in 1876 and it has remained the same ever since. It is quite a new city, established by Jai Singh II in 1727 on a grid system over 7 square kilometres of which the Palace and Observatory take up 2 sq km.

First stop was a quick photo shoot at the Palace of the Winds, built so that the ladies of the court could watch the festivals without themselves being seen.

Next was one of the most extraordinary places we reckon we have ever been to, the Jantar Matar or Jai Singh’s astronomical and astrological observatory, built between 1728 and 1734. We thought that it would consist of a few dusty rooms with the odd telescope and an astroblade. Oh no – this covered 1 sq km and was made up of 18 structures that could measure the time, follow the moon and plot the stars and astrological signs. Possibly most spectacular of all is the 27-metre high Samrat Yantra, which is a sundial that can calculate the time to within 2 seconds. Astrology is very important to Indians especially to establish auspicious days for weddings, festivals etc. The whole site looks more like a modern sculpture park.

The photos, I regret, do not really do it justice, but here you go…

We then proceeded into the City Palace, where the current Maharaja (aged 16) lives, but of which a substantial part is open to the public. Lots of magnificent rooms and buildings, but possibly of most note were the 7ft 2in Maharaja’s pyjamas (it rolls off the tongue so well, doesn’t it!) and two silver urns that feature in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest crafted silver objects in the world each more than 1.5 metres high with a capacity of 8182 litres. One of the Maharaja’s, Madho Singh II was so worried that the water in London would not be up to scratch when he visited for the coronation of Edward VII in 1901 that he filled up the two urns with water from the Ganges and took them with him to London.

Enjoy the photos…

Final stop was the bazaar!!

More tomorrow!!