Today we had a busy day in Jaipur sightseeing... We went to see the amber fort... It was so pretty! Situated up on the mountain and looks very Italian in style... It reflects beautifully on the water and the sun radiated it wonderfully. We took jeeps up to the fort which took about five or ten minutes but there is an option to take elephants although I thought it was a bit cruel... Poor things traipse up and down all day on a steep hill and they looked so fed up. Upon arriving at the fort you are welcomed by an impressive courtyard which has stunning views all round... There are various buildings scattered around which are all impressive and have great examples of Hindu architecture! I took sooo many pictures!!

After the fort we headed to Hawa mahal which as an impressive five story building that looks a bit like a honeycomb. It was built to allow the emperors wife and ladies of the palace to enjoy the processions below without being seen. It's quite something and incredibly ornate on the outside and a simple decoration within. This was a swing by for photos before heading on to the other sights of this pretty city.

We then headed to the city palace which is an impressive complex of courtyards and gardens... This. Is where the king would carry out orders of the court and is like the Indians Buckingham palace. You can see the residence of where the royal family still reside, although the king himself died last year so now it's habited by his widow, daughter and her three children. There's a stunning room where their thrones sit and all around the room are portraits of all the kings from the beginning of Jaipur's history to the present day. There is also a building that has numerous examples of the clothing worn by the kings and queens of the day... One jacket is huuuuge! The king was seven foot tall and four foot wide... Incredible! We then went to see some examples of local art... They were so good! The paintings were so amazing... Painted in so much detail. I really wanted one but travelling around would have ruined it! But they are amazing... So clear and detailed... Some even look like photos and are painted using fine brushes and painted derived from various local stones mixed with water!

We then headed for lunch at a local restaurant and on route a bird pooped on my arm... better be lucky!! Anyway... we got to the restaurant and had lunch, it was really tasty... It was a vegetarian restaurant and I had he paneer makhani with a roti and Steven had vegetable koftas which were tasty... Potatoes stuffed with vegetables in a spicy gravy. After lunch we headed for the shops to try and get saris or Punjabi suits, there were so many shops and it was like finding a needle in a haystack. The guys don't offer help... They just try and sell you what they have! Instead we headed out to find 'FabIndia'... We walked to the smart part of town, past the Albert museum and past numerous girls colleges and down a posh street and there it was... A beacon! It was so refreshing to go there, it's all fixed prices and had air con, which Steven enjoyed. The shop assistants were nice, they try and help you... Not just sell you stuff!

I didn't really find anything I liked as it was very modern and I wanted a more traditional dress but I did get a gorgeous coat hook and some incense... We were just amazed we found it and took loads of daft pics in there. We then took an auto rickshaws back to the hotel to freshen up.

Later we headed out to central Jaipur to catch the newest Bollywood movie! It was so much fun. We arrived early and waited in the foyer! Steven bought some popcorn but ate both mine and his before we went in... Even Abhi said to him... "Err Steven ...you can take the popcorn in" ha-ha!! We were chatting with a couple while we were waiting to go in and it was so interesting. They had got married thirty days ago and it had been arranged by their parents. The girl still had her henna tattoos and wore the most beautiful red and diamanté bracelets... Including one that had both their names in pretty red stones... The husband explained that she will always wear these now as she is married and the red in the bracelets means she is married, they wanted some pics with us and then were on their way. We were then standing and waiting to go in then the next thing a baby is thrust in my arms "for photo!!" And the about twenty people got their cameras out and starting taking pictures of me holding this poor wee thing who was bawling!! Was so embarrassed!

The movie it's self was so much fun. It was mostly in Hindi with a little English and told the story of a musician who comes to London and falls in love with a wealthy girl who is engaged to be married... Then as the story unfolds and follows him as He gets older and working as a bomb expert in the Indian Army. It was so cheesy but also so much fun... Every time the main guy came on screen there was cheering and whooping and wolf whistles! The guy is a god in India... And he knows it. It was set a lot in London and was a lot more raunchy then I thought with sex scenes and everything... Something I would never have associated with Bollywood films! When we left it was weird as I thought I was back in MK and just leaving the cinema to head home... Even got a little home sick! Didn't have time to dwell as we jumped in the auto rickshaws home.

As we really wanted to get Punjabi suits for the Taj Mahal we thought we should get sorted.., it was ten pm though and we were shattered... However we had promised the guy in the shop so went back to look at the suits! He said he would make them over night and we could pick them up in the am. He said they were two thousand but after a lot of haggling we got him to one thousand, five hundred which I was happy to pay.,. About seventeen English pounds. He wasn't happy and in a strop as he measured us up. I did feel bad but was told that the sellers won't sell without making a profit so if you feel bad for the when you leave then you got a good price :) he wanted us to pay up front so I ran to the cash point which wasn't working so Angie said she would lend it to me... We went running up to her room ...unlocked the door and walked in... For her to then say... Err this is not my room!! We had walked into Abhi's room! It was so weird as we had just said hey to him as we ran up the stairs as he climbed in the lift, thankfully we got out before he came out the lift! Turns out the keys aren't specific to your room. We went and paid the guy and said we would collect in the morning as we weren't leaving till ten am.

I then headed up to meet Steven in the restaurant but it was too late to eat so I just had a small beer by the pool and headed to bed. I have eaten quite scarcely since arriving... On average having one or two meals a day with no snacks ...not because the food isn't nice as its gorgeous but just because it's quite heavy and it's so warm here! It's a good diet anyway.