Last day in Jaipur.

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The nineteenth day was designated as a chill out day, we have so much more to do that a relaxed day was definitely in order. Curry for breakfast again started the day off nicely and then we decided to get hold of Rahul to take us to buy the train tickets we need for the last leg of our India trip. He turned up in a tuk tuk much to Alice's displeasure although it did have speakers and lights so I suppose as tuk tuks go it was a fancy one.

We needed to get money out and it took us a while to find an ATM with money in it. The Indian government made the decision a few weeks ago to recall the 500 and 1000 rupee notes - two of the most common notes in usage, so there is now a huge shortage of cash throughout India. Every card has a daily limit of 2000 rupees that can be withdrawn from it and queues for the ATMs that do have cash run right down the street. Not great luck on our part as it does make things tricky! However, although I feel very bad, the people queuing often let us go past them and use the machine straight away, whether it is because we are tourists or female I am not sure but it does make things a bit easier and I am always very grateful to them.

We stopped off at a little place by the side of the road and had a masala chai tea sat on little plastic stools on the pavement. The tea was beautiful, and it was lovely to do some 'real' things while I'm here as well as the tourist stuff. I then got a chance to drive Rahul's tuk tuk, it was very fun although I forgot that I needed to steer around holes in the road and so did bump it around a bit!

The streets in India are so strange yet I find myself surprisingly comfortable with them. There are animals everywhere; dogs, pigs and cows roam freely anywhere and everywhere, often seen eating from piles of rubbish. Less common are horses, camels and elephants usually pulling or carrying things - it makes for an eclectic yet fascinating mix. The roads are not quite as crazy as those in Vietnam yet still a far cry from what I now realise is rigid order that we have back home. Vehicles frequently drive the wrong way down roads if it is quicker to do so and there is always someone blowing a horn somewhere.

The evening was a quiet affair, after a quick (and very cheap!) drink of rum in a dark bar we headed back and took Alice's parents out for dinner - the least we could do after all the things they've paid for for us.

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