Day 8: 24 December

---

We departed the hotel in Jaipur at around 0800 after another uninspiring breakfast. We knew the journey was going to be the longest of the trip at around seven hours.<span><span>The journey was pretty uneventful, with us only stopping to use the loo and for Vijay to have the odd ciggy. He had tried to hide the fact he smoked but Alice had caught him have a crafty drag behind one of the buildings!



The day was not too hot and the whole family were happy to snooze, read or watch the world go by as we had a mixture of good highway interspersed with unkempt roads and the odd traffic jam.



We arrived at the hotel after driving through Jodhpur city. The traffic was mad as ever, but as we entered the main streets, passage was further impeded by a Muslim funeral; complete with a body atop a stretcher, wrapped only in the traditional white sheet, followed by hundreds of mourners.



On arrival at the hotel, the first impressions were of grandeur.<span> Within the compound walls were trimmed lawns, neat paths and a swimming pool.<span> The rooms allocated to us were on the ground floor, with a neat garden in front.<span> Vijay was also happy, as he found out the the hotel gave drivers free food and lodging. After a brief unpacking, we sat in the garden and toasted Christmas eve with cocktails for the grown ups and ‘mocktails’ for the children.<span> As we had not eaten since breakfast, we also indulged in pizza and spring rolls.<span> As the sun sunk below the horizon, the lawns became alive with fairground entertainment for the guests. There was a traditional Rajistani puppet show, donkey rides, a local band and a stall offering the use of air rifles to shoot out small balloons stuck to a target.<span> The attention to health and safety was a little concerning, with the stallholder’s son sat next to the target area, apparently oblivious to the shocking weapon handling of the punters. His dexterity to replace popped balloons before another person took aim was impressive.<span> Joe and Hanna, under close observation took their turns, both taking out balloons with impressive accuracy.<span> Jerry decided that the rifle that he had been issued had both a curved barrel and very poor sights, as he did not manage to hit anything.<span> After a lovely meal and testing the pool temperature (discretion being the better part of valour) we retired early.



Unfortunately Jerry and Claire were woken at around midnight by a newly arriving neighbour who decided that we might also like to hear the TV in his room.<span> Sufficed to say, we were a little disappointed and after a call to reception, the volume was eventually reduced.

---