The Amer Fort (or Amber depending on who you talk to) is perched on a hill above Jaipur. We opted not to take the elephant ride to the main entrance but our driver seemed to be able to get most of the way without any difficulty.

A hindu festival meant that the locals were out in force, creating a colourful, noisy, and of course, chaotic, traffic jam on the uphill drive out of Jaipur.

The Fort is built overlooking a lake and houses a beautiful, and very peaceful old Hindu temple of intricately carved white marble. We were treated to VIP access and first blessings by the pundits. The Fort also has beautiful gardens and meeting areas.

Next stop, Jaigarh Fort

This was most impressive for its location. It sits high on the hill tops providing magnificent views of Jaipur, Amer Fort and the walls. There are literally miles and miles of walls linking the forts, protecting the whole city, providing access to the drinking water wells etc. They really should develop these as walkways. They are high, substantial and reminiscent of the Great Wall of China. It also has beautiful gardens – and the world’s largest wheeled cannon!

On arrival we witnessed a particularly bad tempered langur monkey launch himself at full speed, feet first, at a parked motorbike just to knock it over.

Beautiful looking fresh produce added to the vibrant colours in the street markets of Jaipur.

Although the Albert Hall houses Jaipur’s Central Museum, a quick photo-stop at the was all we could manage before, once again, retreating to the hotel swimming pool.

India