Waiting for Room Service

Finally...room service

At the Amber Fort

Our guide Pushpin

Olivia shopping for her dresses

Collin and Doug on the elephant ride to Amber Fort

Well, it has come to the point in the trip when the kids have overtaken the adults and we are stuck in the hotel room ..and we actually ordered room service. The kids almost revolted when we told them we were thinking of leaving the hotel to venture out to a restaurant. This is the first television we have had the entire trip that actually has cartoons on it..even though 3 out of 4 are in Hindi..they are still willing to watch it.

We started out early this morning. We went to the Amber Fort and took an elephant ride up to the fort area. Such a neat place, and the elephants are all painted up, looking so neat! The kids liked the elephant ride and the fort was really ornate and had a fascinating story about it.

We really got know our tour guide and it was great to find out about India first hand. We all liked learning about his family, he lives in a house with 35 of his relatives. All of his brothers and sisters and their cousins as well. Each side of the family has their own kitchens, for each branch of the family. The kids thought this would be great...they thought living with their cousins would be a SUPER idea! It was eye-opening to hear about the different classes in Indian society and what they mean. 65% of the population in India is of Hindu religion, and 25% is Muslim and the rest Christian, etc. But he said Hindus and Muslims NEVER marry each other. And that there is outright killings if it would happen. I suppose the arranged marriages puts a damper on any of that.

We also go to do some shopping around the bazaar, close to the Wind Palace. Pretty hectic, but Collin got a t-shirt and Olivia got 2 Indian dresses and an umbrella she has really been wanting. We are taking a flight from Jaipur to Udaipur tomorrow. Oh and I didn't even mention Doug's 2 hour adventure trying to get our clothes laundered this afternoon. He hopped in a tuk-tuk with "Gobal" (Doug immediately took his picture with his phone and texted it back to me in case he came up missing....technology is amazing) and went searching for someone to get our laundry done before we had to leave tomorrow...he insisted on seeing an electric dryer before he handed over the clothes. He said there were lots of promises but he couldn't trust they would be done so we have a full suitcase still of dirty clothes. He threw in the towel after an hour of breathing exhaust. Better him than me, we spent the afternoon in the pool, the water was freezing but the kids didn't seem to mind.