While Lucy spent the day at a local children's charity, we went off to the Hawal Mahal, the 'Palace of the Winds'. This tall and incredibly narrow building was built to allow members of the hareem to watch the outside world whilst remaining in purdah.
From there we went to the Jantar Mantar, a collection of 18th century astronomical instruments built on a truly astronomical scale, including the world's largest sundial, depicted in this photo! The audio guide explanation was wasted on both of us, it may as well have been a sculpture or skateboard park!
Next was our trip to Amber Fort, on the way visiting the Jal Mahal - perhaps demonstrating where not to build the palace of your dreams!
We also stopped off briefly at Jaigarh Fort to catch a glimpse of the world's largest canon (on wheels!) though the views of Amber and the surrounding fortifications were the real highlight.
The Amber Fort itself far exceeded our expectations. Amber was the capital of the Rajput clan from the 11th to the 18th century before Jaipur. It was particularly evocative given the setting sun and the absence of other people.
We enjoyed it so much we nearly got locked in, we were the last tourists to leave!
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