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After some breakfast (boiled eggs and toast, mmm!) Mahabir/Mohammed(!) dropped us off at Jaipur's City Palace and left us there to explore! Jaipur is really pretty - the whole city is painted pink! (hence the reason it's known as 'the pink city!). It's full of history about past kings, or Maharaj as they are known in India, so there are lots of forts and palaces. A rickshaw driver approached us whilst we were reading our Bible for some info on the sites we were about to see and said he'd takes us all around the city for 20rps/hr (we bartered again and he agreed to 15rps! It's gotta be done here, otherwise they charge well over the odds!) We were reluctant at first but the sites were around 300rps each to get in and we weren't really bothered about going in, we just wanted to see them, know what they're about, and takes some nice pics, so we agreed to the rickshaw - our drivers name was Ali! He was great, he was so skinny and we felt guilty sitting on the back of his rickshaw (which is essentially just a bike with seats on the back) whilst he peddled our weight around! It was a great way to see the city, we went through real Indian markets where they sell fresh fruit, veg and spices from the floor - it was so, so bright and colourful and looked gorgeous! Ali was really informative and told us a bit about all the places we saw - the Jantar Mantar, Hawa Mahal, City Palace, Water Palace, Marbel Temple, etc, etc, etc! After 3 hours he dropped us back at city Palace where Mahabir picked us up from and took us to Amber Fort, just outside the city. We tried a local snack from a street stall outside the fort which was a bit like Bombay mix, but with fresh onion salad in it as well, it was wrapped in old newspaper! It was lovely! The weather was bloody boiling but I had to wear a shawl around my shoulders cuz it'n not socially acceptable to show your shoulders or chest, and we had to climb hundreds of steps to get to the top! On the way up there was loads of wild goats, pigs and squirrels!! Was such a good view from the top......we took loads of pics so will post them later. After visiting the fort we got Mo (Mahabir - his name is difficult so we shortened it!) to drop us back in the main Bazaar where we went around the local market and shops which was very interesting, so busy and chaotic! We found an internet cafe on the way back and then took a slow walk back to our guest house as we have an early start in the morning as we are leaving at 4.30am for a 5 hour drive to Delhi to catch our flight to Kerala!
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