The next day we went sightseeing in Jaipur. Our driver had booked a guide to show us around the city while he drove us to the sights. The first sight was the Amber Fort. To get up the hill, Me,Mama, and Milan rode on an elephant, (my favourite animal) while Papa and the Guide walked. The elephant had a sort of platform on its back with bars surrounding it so we couldn’t fall off. The ride was great but the riders had small clubs for guiding them, with a spike on the end and they were poking the elephants with them which I thought was really cruel. Once we got off and went into a Hindu temple where people were praying in. then we walked into a garden and we then saw a building with mirrors on it, called the Jai Mandir (hall of victory). Also known as the winter palace. the guide explained to us how with big velvet curtains and oil lamps, it was kept warm inside. The most memorable part was where the king played hide and seek with his wives. The rules were slightly different at the time, 1 hides i.e. the king and 12 seek i.e. his wives! After lunch we headed back into the old town also known as the Pink City, (originally painted pink to welcome the Prince of Wales in 1876) the main sights we saw were the city palace and the early 18th century observatory called Jantar Mantar. The small sun dials have a 20 second time accuracy, but Jai Singh II the founder of the city and great warrior & astronomer wanted it to be more accurate so a larger one was constructed with a 2 second time accuracy. After we got back to the hotel we watched a puppet show before dinner and ended the day filled with many facts, figures and dates!

Nilay