Day 4: On to Jaipur.

It’s with mixed feelings that we get up at 4:40am to catch the 6:05 from New Delhi station to Jaipur. (Mainly the getting out of bed bit to be brutally honest). But the first time on a train in India was always going to be an adventure.

So we hop out of bed bright eyed and bushy tailed to get a taxi to the station. Delhi was largely still sleeping which aided our quick escape. Arrive at the station – not quite a passage from Shantaram but… by the time Phil had paid the cab our luggage was on the heads of two porters who knew where and when our train would be – and we trotted after these guys straight to the point on the right platform where our carriage would stop. These guys are good. Only lesson – negotiate a price before they get hold of your luggage.

The train was actually pretty impressive. It arrived 30 mins ahead of scheduled and departed exactly on time. With our first class tickets, we were in two seats with lots of legroom and it even had phone and laptop sockets in the wall – though we felt that might reduce the train speed by 50% so were not too keen to try them. Throughout our five-hour journey we’re brought tea and biscuits, newspapers, breakfast and water. Very impressive indeed. The train arrived in Jaipur only 30 mins late, which was nothing to complain about given British Rail’s track record.

Jaipur – The Pink City.

Jaipur is great. You notice the difference immediately when you step off the train from Delhi. The air seems much fresher and although it’s still slightly crazy it’s much calmer than Delhi. We arrive at our hotel ‘The Pearl Palace’ and it’s great. For £12 a night we have a basic but totally elaborately decorated room, with hot water shower. The hotel has a fantastic restaurant on the roof, which serves an extensive Indian menu as well as other food.

With a hop and a skip we head in to Jaipur with the tuk tuk driver (Shabbir) whom we have for two days at far too high a price (we’re terrible hagglers!).

The roads are not quite as busy as in Delhi but they are no less chaotic. The lorries seem to be replaced by cows, camels and elephants. We do the major sights of The City Palace, Jantar Mantar (the 18^th Century royal observatory) and then the Hawa Mahal (an elaborate façade to allow the ladies of the harem to view the colourful market scene below). We then head to the Monkey Palace. Feeding pigs, cows, goats and of course monkeys is an education as we climb to a temple overlooking the city in the late afternoon sun. Back down the hill to our driver Shabbir we mount the Chapatti Express (his Tuk Tuk) to be shown some of the best shops in town – no pressure! After buying no bed linen, scarves, carvings, etc much to the disgust of the shopkeepers we head back to the hotel for a shower and a great dinner sat next to a lit brazier - necessary given the evening chill. (Peter Stacey eat your heart out – best curry ever)