We travelled to Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. Jaipur is one of the most important heritage cities in India and is also known as the pink city and home to India’s second most visited site. The Hawa Mahal or also known as the palace of the winds

We arrived midday, just in time for lunch. We ate at the hotel which was very nice. Our hotel was called Ustav Niwas (c-89, she khanate moth, jaipur-302023). It was a very comfortable hotel and the food was nice.

We went out and explored the city, Girri gave us a tour of the market which was inside an enclosed gated area made of pink walls. It was the longest street market I have ever seen, it went on forever. Here I learnt that sugar is a big thing in India, they live the sugar! We went past markets and shops which only sold solid sugar in many different forms. Some selling pure sugar the size of a dinner plate.

We also were shown a stall were this man was making chewable tobacco, now I understand why there is a a lot of spitting in India. People chew the leaf which has tobacco and herbs before spitting onto the street. It was a very interesting market with a lot to see. There was also monkeys running around everywhere. They say that building work takes a lot longer in Jaipur as they climb onto the scaffolding and ruin the building work.

We also took a stroll last the palace of the winds, I have seen this in photos before but did not expect to see it in the middle of a busy street. It was an amazing building set in between old and rustic ones.

That evening we went to the cinema to see a new Bollywood film called Tiger Zinda Hai, this was a fascinating experience. The cinema itself was very impressive, it felt like a theatre in London. The seats were luxurious and the film even had a half time where people can stretch there legs. Throughout the showing people would scream, boo and cheery, it was a very lively cinema. I also noticed that there are no age restrictions. This film was about ISIS but there was kids in there about 3/4!

After the cinema we went to a restaurant nearby. Unfortunately I couldn’t eat as it was all cooked in ground but oil!