A morning at leisure was shown on the programme but we decided to make an early start and visit Ajmer and Pushkar on the way to Jaipur. It was a two hour drive along a generally good road to Ajmer but unfortunately on arrival, the Nasiyan (Red Temple) was closed in preparation for Holi and we were only able to see the impressive outside and not see the gilt wooden representations ofJain mythology inside. To make up for this, we make a detour to see Pushkar and its lake.
Again preparations for Holi were ongoing including the requirement to make a small donation before we could enter the town built round a large and not very enticing looking artificial lake. Our driver conjured up a guide and Phil and I walked through the town down to the lake. Quite a few European hippies were hanging out and one was being enticed into the lake to purify his soul (and not looking too happy about it either).
After that excursion we drove on to Jaipur stopping briefly to eat a very late picnic before arriving at our hotel which is an annex to the Rambagh Palace, a luxurious place where we have much enjoyed dinner yesterday night and tonight.
Today was Holi and not wishing to get indelible dye thrown over us, we spent the morning reading, swimming and wandering round the Rambagh Palace Gardens. This afternoon we went to the Amber Fort, the former capital of Rajasthan before Jaipur took over this role. This was an impressive structure overlooking an evil smelling lake with some fine plasterwork and carvings. It was also very crowded.
On the way back, we stopped at another temple, the Govind Dev Ji, which was full of people celebrating Holi.
Tomorrow we have another full day in Jaipur before continuing to Fatehpur Sikri and Agra on Sunday.