Hello everyone from stinky Jaipur,

                                                  We need to finish telling you about our nice little adventure from yesterday. So we decided to go for a walkabout around the main bazaar where we're staying. Right across is the main train station where we thought we'd look into getting a train to Agra. This friendly man helped us find the entrance (its very confusing!) and the guard said that we had to go to the goverment tourist office. One crazy ricksaw drive later we meet this man called Naz, also very friendly (we're not sure whether they're naturally friendly or just want our money..hmm) and he said the best way to see India is with a driver. After much thought we decided to go ahead and do that. So we're seeing the Golden Triangle! Our first night in the Smyle Inn is something that will stay with us for a loooong time. The room was interesting! We'll start with the beds. Two skanky sheets and blanket ("we are NOT using them!"), and no pillows (not that we would've used them). Next the bathroom. Not bad if you like freezing cold showers. There was also a friendly cockroach who scared the crap out of Julie. Strangly enough didn't sleep very well that night. Dinner consisted of water and a packet of Pringles.

So as we said, we're in Jaipur which is filthy,stinky and very pink! (its not called the pink city for nothing!) The drive here took about 5hrs(we have very sore bums!) and we saw some cool stuff on the way (pictures to be on here very shortly when we can figure it out!). First stop was the Amber palace. Very pretty but LOADS of people asking us for money for various things. Very annoying and spoilt it a bit. Next was the Water Palace which was this huge palace in the middle of a lake. Very pretty and we saw our first elephant whilst we were taking pictures of the palace. Next stop was Hawa Mahal (aka Palace of the Wind). We didn't go in but the outside was amazing. After a detour to a fabric and gem shop (we couldn't help ourselves) we got to our hotel. The Umaid Mahal is the kind of hotel we could get used to! Very pretty and we could use the sheets! Hot and cold running water (its amazing how much you miss it!) and air-conditioning. Pure luxury! Hope we'll sleep better tonight!

Thank you everyone for posting on our message board. It's great to hear from you all back home.

Love to you all

Julie and Kirsty

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