So I wasted a whooooole day after being sick everywhere in bed, sulking - and missed out on a fort which I didn't mind too much. We were in Jaipur and it was grotty so the next day I just bumbled around the hotel and played with the computers uploading my photos until Sarah returned from her shopping trip.
That night we went to see Billu the Barber at the cinema which I think is also out at home? (Billy the Barber?) Anyway the film was set in india and was in Hindi so we had noooo idea what was going on... we made up a little plot in our heads until th tour guide told us the actual plot and topped off this amazing night with a McDonalds :D

After this we left the grim town of Jaipur and headed for Bharatpur (20th Feb) which was much nicer, the morning was filled with a bus journey to the town and after lunch we headed out to the Keoladeo Bird Park - it is a massive park which does not allow cars to enter and is full of birds, fish and random mammals. Our rickshaw guy was 24 (with 2 kids, one boy, one girl) and had been doing this job for seven years, he was amazingly observant and knowledgeable and deserved far more that the six quid he got for the two hours of cycling us around and answering our stupid questions.... He also let Sarah pedal the rickshaw!!! After this is was back to the hotel for dinner, cold shower (hot water is SO unreliable here! and bed)

Jeeps took us from Baratpu to Agra on the 21st and Agra is diiiiiiirty and dusty! On the way to Agra we stopped at a palace and had a very good tour of an amazing palace - the tour was made longer by the many temples for his four wives (two hindi, one muslim, one christian)
We checked into the Pushp villa which has the merry go round restaurant... a revolving restaurant on the top floor (very strange) which does VERY good food in big portions! We ate lunch before heading out to the Agra Fort where we met our best tour guide yet - he spent one and a half hours explaining about the fort and the story behind the various inhabitors, ending in a eight year imprisonment for Shah Jahan by his son, just after he has completed the construction of the Taj Mahal.
After this we went to see the Taj Mahal and the mausoleum and sat in the grounds until sunset. The Taj was beautiful and the detail on the outside was absolutely amazing - much better than expected.

That's all for now. xxxxx