Extended Family,

This morning we had to get up early in order to avoid the line-up for the elephant rides up the mountain to the Amber Fort. We arrived at breakfast at 7:15am and needed to be in the tourist van (hereinafter referred to as the "Tourist" because of the large "Tourist" sign on the front window) by 8:00. The chef and wait staff at the hotel are all very nice and are willing to do anything to please the guests, but they will never be described as efficient. Recognizing this, we placed our breakfast order last night so that it would definitely be ready at 7:15am. Recall that there are only 3 other guests in the hotel…

So we arrived at breakfast at 7:15 ready to quickly eat and then get going. Among the five of us we ordered, fruit, cold cereal and toast. At about 7:22 we saw 3 glasses of orange juice; at 7:28 Antony got his milk; and at about 7:40 Lucy got her water. We saw the first plate of fruit at 7:32 and the first bowl of cereal (corn flakes) at 7:38. Unfortunately Antony wasn't feeling very well today, and couldn't eat much after having a bit of toast. He politely explained to the waiter that he would have to cancel his corn flakes because he didn't feel well and was going back to the room. The waiter understood, but told Antony to just wait a minute because he was going to bring him some cooked tomatoes with melted cheese, because Antony enjoyed it so much as a side garnish to the previous day's breakfast. Trying to keep a straight face, Antony said that he didn't feel well and couldn't eat anything - corn flakes or tomatoes and melted cheese - and headed up to the room.

As we finally finished breakfast at around 8:30, and after having discussed with the waiter about how we had a big day of touring planned… he asked, "When can we expect you back for Lunch?" (!!)

Our guide in Jaipur is named Singh. He is a very nice guy and knows a ton about the history and the city. But by far the funniest part of the day was when he addressed Richard, Lisa, Antony and Lucy as: "Mr. Richard, Mrs. Richard, Antony and Louis" (Imagine it in a fairly heavy Indian accent.) Killed me.

The Amber Fort is a palace built by the Maharaja Mansing of Rajastan around the mid 1600s. It is an absolutely magnificent structure built upon the top of a mountain range. We rode elephants up the path to the fort. It was about a 15 minute ride. Antony and I rode together. When we reached the top we spent a few hours wandering through the fort and learning about the Maharajah who built it. Turns out he had 12 wives… one for every month!

In the afternoon we finally had an opportunity to walk some of the streets of downtown Jaipur. I think this was Richard's favourite part of the trip thus far. He must have taken about 500 photos - mostly of bicycles with tons of things on the back, and of old people. The most amazing thing about the walk was that everyone seemed to be so happy and friendly. Most of the shops were nothing but dirty holes in the wall, with wild dogs, monkeys, and cows wandering around, and a ton of poverty, but still everyone is very pleasant and eager to please.

We ended the day with a late lunch at the Rambaugh Palace hotel in the heart of Jaipur. I had a fantastic and authentic Indian meal. Grilled cheese and French fries. Fantastic.

Tomorrow we have a 7.5 hour drive to Jodphur from Jaipur… We're going to see a ton of cows!