India Update

Day 19 Jaipur

We woke up earlyish again and met our chauffeurs for the day (the tuc tuc drivers). We had a really funny guy who could speak English really well which was a pleasant surprise. We first visited the Palace of the winds which is interestingly designed in that the windows are built so that those inside can watch everything happening outside but those outside cannot see in. We stopped to take a few photos an then headed to the Amber fort. It's a really large fort with a lovely location in the hills with a river flowing in front of it. It has walls which resemble the great wall of China which is pretty cool but it's all orangey so it looks very pretty. We took an elephant ride up to the fort which was amazing. The elephants are so big and beautiful. They have a lovely rhythm when they walk so it's almost therapeutic. It was a really nice way of reaching the fort. The views from the top were great and we stopped to have a drink and sit in the sun before heading down again. We then went to see the Jal Mahal which is like a palace built in the middle of a lake. Next our tuc tuc drivers took us to a textile factory. We saw all the men working hard, sewing and creating intricate designs that we wear everyday without a thought as to all the effort that goes into making our clothes. It was a real eye-opener. The factory we visited actually supplies Monsoon. The items they had for sale were incredibly beautiful - as you will see when the parcel arrives home! They would also tailor any clothes to order with a 2-3hour turn around and deliver them to your hotel for extremely cheap prices. They had massive clothes catalogues and said just choose something and we'll make it! I bought (or rather dad bought) a red silk dress for the cruise and some other things for peoples. It was amazing. We then visited a stone factory where we saw how they found precious and semi precious stones and polished them up to make jewellery. I got a string bracelet with a pearl on it for about £2. The tuc tuc guy then offered us the chance to drive the tuc tuc! I declined but Simon accepted so he had a go at it, was very funny.  We then went to a little market and browsed the shops. We had a quick change back at the hotel before going back out to watch a new Bollywood film at the cinema (may I add, without English subtitles!). It was ummm interesting... BYE.x