Charming!

Today began at a very decent 8.00am with breakfast and birthday wishes for Paul, a member of our tour group who turned 50 today :)

On our agenda first up was a trip through Jaipur to the Amber Fort (what's an Amber Fort doing in a Pink City?!). The drive through the city was familiar in terms of the street activity although with it's own unique twist. Cars, motorbikes, pedestrians, camel-pulled carts, cycle rickshaws, tik-tuks, cycles all gently jostled their way into the new day. I've noticed that the country I've seen so far doesn't really gear up for the new day until well past 8 . . . . maybe 9 or even later. Some street vendors were setting up, some shops were opening, some street people were still sleeping, one man fed his chooks on his balcony. A slow and gentle start to the day.

The city itself was easy to see why it is called the Pink City. Whole streets of beautiful, ornate buildings of reddish, pinky plaster with white decoration. Quite stunning, and another real contrast to the street life they stood over.

Arriving at the Amber Fort we were given the option of an elephant ride up the hill to the fort's entrance although the tour company did not sanction it because, we were told, the elephants aren't treated very well here. I'd already been given a heads-up about this and decided not to do it (the walk would do me well afterall). In fact, it was only birthday-boy Paul who opted to take the ride. I found seeing the elephants convoying up the hillside to be a rather sad sight. There must have been some 50-odd elephants who walked the hill continuously from 8.00am to 11.00am. At least that was good - they didn't work them all day.

The fort itself was another stunner. Magnificent views from its dominant hill-top position stood it apart from others we have visited so far but its most spectacular feature had to be the mirror room. A semi-open 'room' that has every wall and ceiling covered in ornate mirrors of varying sizes. A real gem. As we left, this snake charmer was doing his thing at the perimeter of the fort. It's a cliche shot, I know, but I did like the colours and I'm sure he doesn't mistreat his cobra the way the elephants were mistreated . . . .

After the Amber Fort we were taken to a fabric printers to firstly see how hand printed fabrics were created then into their shop to see a range of fabrics, saris, pashminas, duvet and cushion covers, menswear and so on. We'd had a plan that when we went out for dinner tonight we'd all wear traditional Indian dress. Certainly the idea of buying a sari had a lot of appeal. But somthing happened between the idea and the reality for me. I began to feel the tension rise in me after I'd tried out my first sari. I didn't really like the colour on me and said so and then it felt like I was just bombarded with sales staff offering sggestions. It was very in-your-face and there felt like little or no space for me to consider how I felt about colours, patterns, fabrics, prices . . . I would have saved myself a lot of tension if I had been more sure in my own mind but instead - for fear of offending the sales people who were, afterall, just trying to be helpful - I allowed them to make suggestions, drag out more samples and try talk me into buying one. After far too long - when I felt far too stressed - I eventaully decided to pull the plug and opted out of buying one. I would really have loved one but the sales technique was an absolute put-off for me. I guess there's a cultural difference that we just couldn't bridge. I may look at others later, elsewhere . . .

After the shopping (where others in the group bought some gorgeous items) we headed to a retaurant for lunch. Mmmmm - I only wish I could remmeber the names of the dishes we ate!

After lunch there was time for some free choice. Some went shopping in the bazaars whilst I opted for the cycle rickshaw trip round parts of the town before heading back to the hotel.

The evening activity was great :) Uncle Sam, or Samir, is a famous international chef who has cooked for Prince Charles and Lady Di. He spends half the year in India and half elsewhere in the world - mostly California. We were fortunate that he was available and were treated to a cooking demonstration in his home (which was a very modest house) which we then consumed. Such simple dishes but ooooh so tasty. I particulalry liked the fact that he uses organic foods - his philosophy being that it is better to spend more money on good food to keep you healthy than to pay a doctor to fix you when you're sick. I like that. So simple.

Anyway . . . bed now. Tomorrow is a long 8-hour day on the bus to Jodpur. We leave at 7.30am.