Monday 7 December

I'm wide awake. There is music blaring. It's 1:30am. It's the other group. And they show no signs of letting up. Sigh. I get my ear plugs and it's virtually quiet again. The alarm at 5:40 is not very welcome. But we want to see the sunrise. We get ready and Malcolm sterilises some water. But the taste is so gross we don't use it. There are just 5 of us walking up the hill. Lots of rocks. The old fort on top where the king used to live. It's mostly ruins now. The sun rise is lovely. We have chai tea and biscuits. Once back we relax on the terrace and then head out for a village talk and walk. It's nice to see that education is compulsory to a certain age, the optional. The private schools (still cheap) teach in English. And in the small village there 5 schools. 3 private and 2 public. Free uniforms, supplies and food. The children are adorable. Once back we pack and have brunch. A lot of ladies in lovely saris come to work on the construction of the hotel. Once we pay our due we board the van and head on our way. I try not to watch where we are going. It's too scary. I catch up on some reading. The traffic in Jaipur is quite slow, but we make it pretty much to the said time. There is wifi. But with the other group arriving not far behind it's pretty slow in no time. Our roof is on the roof. Big and spacious. I'm glad it's not summer. We have a break till 3pm and head out to the observatory on tok tok's. It's fascinating the knowledge they had and equipment they built. A guide gives us a tour. Then after buying drinks and snacks we walk to a stand that serves the best chai tea. It has fresh ginger and it's really good. Next is a rickshaw ride around the old city. It's a good relaxing ride. We see a man hit by a car off his motorbike. The car didn't even stop. I think all was ok though. There are lots of lovely clothes for sale, streets of statues and vegetable markets just on the road. We stop for lassi drinks and it's really good. One of the best I think. It's a short walk to a beautiful theatre where we watch a Bollywood film. It's late when we leave but we walk to a local hotel for there great buffet. It's nice to have some salads and fruits. Then a tok tok ride to the hotel and showers and sleep. A good long day.