5.30 this morning and the hotel woke us with a very noisy wakeup call. Not long after we were sitting in a bus heading for the hot air balloon ride. Our first drive through real country side. Bumpy and dust roads (still no seat belts) led to the spot where two balloons were inflating. Soon we were floating over little houses and fields packed with wheat, tomatoes, corn and cauliflowers. I was so excited seeing where the vegetables grow that a small girl through me up a cauliflower. See Alison's Facebook for photo. I felt a bit nosy photographing inside courtyards but floating quietly over gave us a real insight into the design of the small homes. Men swept the floors, women fed the cows and children played. In the fields the wild antelope stomped and ate the crops.
After breakfast we spent rather a long time wandering around the palace. Jaipur looks like it has quite a European influence with shop frontages and a first storey for accommodation. Behind this was the palace where the crown prince mingled for the day and every one was flying kites as it is kite festival time.
Later on we visited a jewellery shop and saw how the stones were shaped for the jewelry.
A ride in the rickshaw took us to the astronomical gardens (pretty impressive 7th century sun dials) and through the market place. The driver had a pretty energetic time pulling us through the traffic but he got us to the bollywood movie on time. I need to rewatch the movie with subtitles.
A nightmare for the farmers as hunting and shooting is prohibited in India. We landed not far from a little village where the children raced to see us and older women strolled over to shake our hands and with big smiles have their photos taken. One of the older women complete with nose ring wanted to try my glasses on. She was thrilled and that was by far the best thing of the day. I dare not tell the balloon pilot that when he asked if we enjoyed the ride.
After breakfast we spent rather a long time wandering around the palace. Jaipur looks like it has quite a European influence with shop frontages and a first storey for accommodation. Behind this was the palace where the crown prince mingled for the day and every one was flying kites as it is kite festival time.
Later on we visited a jewellery shop and saw how the stones were shaped for the jewelry.
A ride in the rickshaw took us to the astronomical gardens (pretty impressive 7th century sun dials) and through the market place. The driver had a pretty energetic time pulling us through the traffic but he got us to the bollywood movie on time. I need to rewatch the movie with subtitles.
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