Ahhhhhh, we slept in til 9.30 such bliss. Everyone else headed to the fort, we are to meet them around noon at the City Palace. We had to make the call to get some extra sleep as we have 4am start tomorrow to take us to Delhi.
The tour has been hectic in that we have done so much as well as covered so much ground in between, so the constant moving and covering a significant distance has been quite tiring.
The clincher for this decision was the Hotel Bissau Palace, a stunning hotel that we wanted to thoroughly enjoy and relax in. After our lie in, we had a leisurely breakfast and sauntered around the hotel, we ventured onto the rooftop where we admired the fort from afar.
We headed out on a tuk tuk to set the others. We waited at the gate to city palace where school was let out. Lovely to hear the laughter of children. It was quite a contrast to see these lovely children all dressed in their uniforms and to see this one lady with her 2 children begging the street outside the palace. Such a pity.
The palace was stunning. Very well maintained as the family still ,Iives there and have retained their wealth. A lot of the other palaces have been taken by the government if the kings are unable to pay their taxes.
I was most enamored by the textile display. Firstly by the intricate embroidery on the various king's and queen's garments and then by the gross enormity of the kings outfits. He was said to be 7th tall and 500lbs. The clothing was massive.
We spent some time in the artists section where they had beautiful pieces of work, some quite expensive in comparison to the rest of India, and even Jaipur. I found a beautiful piece, but chose to do without it. I already got my long waited for sari and couldn't justify such purchase.
We all dispersed and did our own thing. I wanted a pair of locally made shoes in Jaipur. We walked and walked and walked throuh the various bazaars, but I didn't find exactly what I desired nor anything close to it.
(aarrgghhhhh, this iPad is driving me crazy. Spell check and the key pad. I type using the home keys and this two finger typing on the touchscreen just sucks!)
After getting lost we took a rickshaw back to the hotel, which was just around the corner past the smelliest part of Jaipur, the meat Market. The most vile smell ever. We did a quick turnaround and headed to the cinema to see Bodyguard, a Bollywood production. The cinema itself is stunning. A wonderful foyer. Here they have only one screen. So as the doors opened, everyone piled in bought their drinks and food and chatted away. Once the doors to the seats opened everyone ploughed into the venue. We got our seats, the lights went down and the opening credits rolled up the screen and the music sounded. Whoops and hollers came from the crowd. This is how movie watching is done in the cinemas of India. They even take cell phone calls and have long conversations to boot! I thoroughly enjoyed the film and the atmosphere. It was quite electrifying however bizarre and zany the plot was. It really was laughable. I tried my best to figure out the plot even though it was all in Hindi. I figured out the twist at the end, not bad.
Our Norwegian friends were very very lost regarding the whole film, even up to two days later!
We made it back to the hotel, had a very light bite and hit the hay. Another early start tomorrow. 4.30am to get the 6am train to Delhi.
Ais
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