Tuesday 22nd - Jaipur Day 2

Once again the restaurant staff provided our early morning call and we were first into breakfast. After packing our bags we hopped an Indian Helicopter into the city centre, getting dropped at the Hawa Mahal, a quite amazing structure that allowed the ladies of the court to observe city life without being seen. The top floor provided superb views across the city and up to Nahargarh Fort, where we dined last night. We followed this up with avisit to the Jantar Mantar observatory built around 1730 and used for astronomical measurement and prediction.
For the hat trick we visited the City palace complex, still occupied in part by the Maharajah and Maharanee of Jaipur. There were some quite interesting exhibits including a previous Maharajah's billiards suit. Best of all there was a shady cafe where we availed ourselves of a light lunch. We are beginning to think that toast is a Hindi word as it is on every menu for every meal.

Time to go shopping as a mains adaptor is needed to replace one left behind by accident. We find one without too much bother in one of the arcade shops. It costs 20 rupees - less than 30p but seems to be well made. The ones we took from home cost over £5 each. R wants to look at bangles so head down Bangle Alley where she can browse and dodge speeding mopeds at the same time. As we stroll the narrow streets we are hailed by a man on a motorscooter, who turns out to be the hat repairer. We tell him that his e-mail bounced back the photo he asked us to send so he promptly produced a different card with a different company name and e-mail.
The time for leaving Jaipur was drawing nigh but we couldn't miss the chance to have a beer on the 9th floor of the Om Tower, much the highest building in the city. We were tugged by a cycle-rickshaw wallah who had seen us first so he only had himself to blame. We did give him a very generous tip. los Amigos bar was decked out in Wild West kitsch and was devoid of customers. For the first time since arriving in India we were served Tuborg rather than Kingfisher.
After picking up the luggage we took a cab to the station where there was an hour to kill. D explored the station and found one of the few remaining metre gauge lines. The day was made perfect when the driver let him climb up on the engine to take photos. Our Shatabdi express was on time if a little ramshackle. The meal was a strange cross between street food and 70's airline fodder but we survived and the train pulled into New Delhi bang on time. the taxi rank was a real scrum but we toughed it out and got to our hotel.