Jaipur

In Jaipur we were joined by our parents, who'd coincidentally decided to be in India at the same time as us... we didn't really mind, especially as it gave us the excuse to wear ridiculous jewellery (see below) and to stay in a hotel where a beer cost the same as our Pushkar hotel room.

Jaipur was a city with an odd feel, perhaps due in part to the grid-shape of wide streets selling identikit tourist trash. The city palace was fairly decadent - despite the hordes of Korean tourists - and home to two 10,000L silver pots that the maharaja used to transport Ganges water for his use on a trip to England... #gapstyle. Unfortunately the palace is also home to countless snake charmers, and one taking my dad's liking resulted in one of the most uncomfortable photos ever (below).

We visited the Jantar Mantar, the royal observatory, which was a collection of bizarre structures which looked more like odd modern art. Or a skatepark. It was pretty cool to discover that all the instruments were still in working condition and practical, as proved by the clock on my phone... Whilst browsing the 'bazaars' (shocked to see my parents buying more gap trash than me) a rowdy pre-Holi procession passed: opiumed men twirled huge flags and danced wildly behind a van decked in huge speakers, as life continued as normal beside them.

The following day we visited the Amber fort - perhaps the most touristy destination we visited in India, no doubt due to jaipur's being on the "golden triangle". The marble jacuzzis and secret passageways between various wives' bedrooms provided insight into the sweet/scandalous lives of the maharajas: hard to imagine prince Philip acting like that...

With love