Jaipur

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Woke up refreshed,had breakfast-I find a boiled egg balances the curry of the night before and set off to see the Amber Palace.
We arrived at the magnificent site to find that the only way up was by elephant or a boring landrover so we elected for the elephant. I carefully selected what I thought was a docile beast (not that I know anything about elephants) and we clambered aboard, but not before our guide had regailed us with stories of how someone was killed a few weeks ago by a rampaging elephant. WE clung on to the ponderous beast and looked down about 2.5 m as we swayed from side to side and made our way up a very steep and slippery slope. The view was superb, albeit a bit scarry, with the palace looming over us from above and a steep cliff falling away to the left.
The palace was magnificent and had been the home of a rather randy Maharaja with 12 wives and countless concubines. He prefered elegantly dressed ladies and had little carts to pull them about down secret passages.
Even 400 years ago when the palace was built the architects had incorporated a natural type of air conditioning which really worked. Cleverly placed convex and concave mirrors provided enough light in one particular room from a single candle.

Later we visited an Observatory where we saw the largest sundial in the world, accurate to 2 seconds per day..
The next day we flew back to Goa via Bombay and the day after Pauline secumbed to the dreaded Delhi Bely-fortunetly our medicine chest and the local Pharmacy provided medication so that she was back on her feet within 24 hours.
Look out for the next section-we are off to see Tigers and wild elephants!
By the way Pat the comments about the Taj were intended as a joke!!!!

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