Over 10 years ago, the family visited Sedona, a great place to visit by the way that everybody should put on a list at least once. During our week there, we planned on doing a hot air balloon ride but made the mistake of scheduling it for our last day. That particular day, the winds were not favourable so the ride was cancelled. Being our last day, we didn't have another opportunity to go for a ride. Ha! I still remember driving out of Sedona the next day back to the airport on a calm, sunny day and counting 8 balloons in the air around the town. Darn!

Consequently, when we decided to go to Sedona for a second time, I was determined to not make the same mistake. I booked a ride for us all but for early in the week. If we once again had bad luck with the winds, there was a good chance the next day or the following day would see us in the air. In any case, the lesson learned was to not book your flight for the last day of your vacation!

We arrived in Sedona on Saturday for our week long stay and had a day to unwind. On Monday, we got up at the ungodly hour of 4am to get ready before going to the pickup point to the central office of our resort. A truck company Red Rock Balloons came to pick us up at 5:25 and then our driver drove through the town of Sedona and continued in the national park to rendezvous with the rest of Red Rock group. I was given to understand that ballooning is something one does when the wind has died down as much as possible which seems to be either at sunrise or sunset hence, the "ungodly" hour of our flight.

Before you begin, the team always launches a trial balloon. By studying its trajectory, they can determine the strength of the winds and the currents at different altitudes, etc.; in short, if the winds are suitable and conducive to a launch. Obviously, if too much wind, a balloon ascent would be dangerous.

After five minutes of watching the test balloon, the team leader raised his thumb to indicate that they were going to start. Our truck and two other trucks of Red Rock including trailers containing the balloons themselves went to the launch point. A small bus full of other passengers joined us.

Once there, we noticed that there were two teams and two balloons. Our balloon, the largest, had a basket capable of holding twenty people while the smaller one was for ten.

Both teams set about removing the balloons and baskets from their trailers and setting them up. Part of this job was to unfold and stretch out the balloons themselves, a huge mass of what I guessed to be nylon fabric. Atop each basket, the teams set up a frame to which they attached a burner then attached the various ropes of the balloon to the frame. Interestingly enough, they anchored each basket to a truck before starting the process of blowing up the balloon. This entailed placing some large fans at the mouth of each balloon to inflate the fabric. Once the balloons were inflated, the pilots began to use the propane burners to heat up the air. As the air warmed, the balloons began to right themselves until they rose above the baskets. I asked as I stared up at the towering mass of inflated fabric and was told that each balloon had a height of 5 stories.

Boarding the basket was a bit of a novelty. Initially, the balloons and their baskets were laid out on their sides. Just before the balloon began to rise up due to the hot air and thus right the basket, the team partially fill the baskets by having some of the passengers essentially lie in it. Our basket of the largest balloon was divided into five compartments, four for passengers and a central one for the pilot. Half the passengers were ordered to get into each of four compartments, and when the balloon rose to the vertical, the passengers found themselves standing.

The rest of the passengers climbed on board and I did the same thing myself. Our driver gave a short speech on what to do in a balloon dotted of course with some jokes: "The smoking section is outside the basket."

I hadn't realized it but the basket had actually lifted off the ground. It was still tethered to one of the Red Rock trucks so the team could control when the launch actually took place. I was thinking with a smile of a funny scene where the balloon takes off with the entire truck dangling from it however I guessed that in reality, the balloon would never have enough lift to pick up a truck.

Finally, the driver yelled "Let's go!" and the ground crew detached the cables from the basket. Links to Mother Earth being cut, the basket and its 20 passengers rose from the clearing while floating silently above the treetops.

Silence reigned. This is the most striking feature of the flight that I remember. From time to time the pilot warmed the air in the balloon and we could all hear the swoosh of the propane burner but other than that, silence. We were floating in the air as if by magic. No plane, no rope, no other way to explain how we were hundreds of meters above the ground.

I have been in small planes over the years and of course, have been thrilled with flying. However, this experience has always been connected to a small plane, something which is noisy. In contrast, the balloon is totally silent. To stand in the basket and look around as you float with an incredible degree of calm and tranquillity without the noise of a propeller engine is a truly amazing experience. This seems strange to say but it is magic! Where is David Copperfield?

I think all the passengers gasped. The air in this region is clear, amazingly clear. This corner of the United States is not heavily industrialized, therefore there are no polluters. This morning was no exception. With such clarity, we could look quite a way into the distance. In addition, the sky was completely blue, no clouds, and we were all bathed in sunshine; the sun was just creeping above the horizon.

At the highest point of our flight, the pilot reached an altitude of 700 meters or approximately 2200 feet and at the lowest point, we touched a pond. Ah, here's the story of the pond.

We were floating near the ground, trying to see the fauna and flora. Slowly, we approached a pond. The pilot told us that often, he was able to perform a manoeuvre called "Splash and Dash" and since we ended up just above a pond, he would try to do it.

First, I should clarify the term "pilot" a balloon. An airship or dirigible balloon may be directed. Nevertheless, a balloon or a hot air balloon cannot be directed as such. The pilot can raise the balloon by heating the air or let it descend by letting the air cool but it cannot really direct the balloon. The balloon and its pilot are pretty much at the mercy of the wind. Yes, there are flaps with which a driver let out air, however the true piloting of a balloon is in understanding the currents of air and how air moves in a different way depending on the altitude. Our pilot spoke of the city of Albuquerque in the state of New Mexico, where every fall, there is a balloon festival, supposedly the best place for such an event. Apparently, at one altitude there is a current of air that moves away from the city and at another altitude there is another current of air that returns to the city. Consequently, the airmen can take a ride if they follow the proper air flow. In Sedona, the wind always blows in the same direction: we start from a point in a national park and we get to the other side of the park at the end of our journey.

Above the pond, the pilot pointed out to us that we could see the reflection of the balloon in water and of course ourselves, too. I looked down and the surface reflected the bottom of the basket, the faces of the other passengers peeking over the side and the huge balloon over our heads. Everyone took a photo. Slowly, we descended until the bottom of the basket touched the water surface and then the pilot turned the burner to warm the air and we rose once again. That was our "splash", touching the water, and our "dash", taking off again.
The region around the town of Sedona is typical for this part of the United States. It looks like the Grand Canyon and I was struck by the significance of this comparison. Normally, when you look at the mountains, you are seeing the phenomenon where tectonic plates have collided pushing up the land to form said mountains. In comparison, this region was formed by the action of water. It was submerged in an ancient ocean and the canyons and valleys represent the erosion of the earth. When you look at a mound, hill, higher ground, you tend to regard them as a mountain yet, in reality, the higher ground is usually ground level and you are actually below ground level.

When we were in the balloon, floating above the valley and had a panoramic view of the city of Sedona, the valley, the hills, the so-called remote mountains, I realized where we were. There were no mountains; we were in a trough, an area below ground level. The tops of these mountains, the "elevations" were in fact ground level.

Sedona is situated in a valley where half is occupied by the city and the other by a national park. Our launch has taken place from one side of the park, we were swept away by the wind through the park and we finally landed at the other side of the park just outside it. I asked the pilot how he planned the landing and he explained that it depended on the wind. Sometimes, depending on conditions, he was forced to land on private property, a ranch. However, despite the invasion by these balloons, the ranch owners seemed to warmly welcome these fliers.

All in all, a hot air balloon ride is a very unique experience. It's not cheap, but I can tell you it is not something you'll forget. If I can jokingly refer to the movie critics, I give ballooning 2 thumbs up!

Click HERE to read more columns by William Belle.

References

Wikipedia: Hot Air Ballooning
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_air_ballooning

Wikipedia: Hot Air Balloon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_air_balloon

Red Rock Balloons
http://www.redrockballoons.com

Red Rock Balloons: Photos
http://www.redrockballoons.com/photos.html

You don't necessarily have to go all the way to Sedona, Arizona for a hot air balloon ride. A quick search on Google revealed a number of companies in and around Toronto which offer this unique experience. Check it out!

Google: Toronto Hot Air Balloon Rides

Our time in Udaipur is almost over, and we're getting excited about Mumbai. We have kept minimally busy here with tours, and spent the rest of the time relaxing in the lovely hotel pool and resting in general.

Yesterday morning we visited the largest temple in Udaipur, Jagdish temple. It is built in the traditional Hindi style; a steep flight of very large and narrow stairs leads to a large square platform with a large central temple and four smaller temples on each corner. Ornate carvings decorate the exterior of the temples. They depict the various layers of divinity: along the bottom there are demon faces, then people in various forms and poses including erotic carvings, then a layer of larger carvings of people of a more "divine" nature, followed by a layer of gods above. Before we could see inside the temple, we could hear the beat of drums and singing spilling into the warm, dry, morning air. When we reached the main room, there was a group of about 20 people seated on the floor in the centre. A few were standing and swaying or dancing to the music with their eyes closed, while the others sang, chanted, beat drums, and played other musical instruments. Everyone was smiling. It was very lively and made us think of an Eastern version of a Southern Baptist or Pentecostal church, where the worshipers really lose themselves in the moment with the music. Simon also fixated on the variegated floors of the temple, which were made of a raw granite which almost had a soft texture imparted by the irregular unfinished surface. It was quite beautiful (sorry, no photos allowed in the temple). Carvings and other idols adorned the various walls, and there was a secondary chamber set back from the main room in which could be seen a black marble idol of Shiva the Destroyer.

The Hindu religion is extremely confusing due in part to the enormous number of gods and also because everyone seems to believe that one or some of the gods are more important than others (there is a difference of opinion and spectrum of belief that seems more varied than all the different sects of Christianity). In spite of this, we seem to have been able to apprehend some basics. Hindus generally believe that there is a trinity composed of three supreme beings: Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer. Each of these gods have various incarnations (e.g. Vishnu has 9 incarnations including Rama, Krishna, and Buddha; his 10th incarnation will herald the end of the world). They each have wives (Lakshmi for Vishnu, Pavarti for Shiva) who are goddesses of various aspects of life and have different incarnations to match a given incarnation of their husbands. Then we have children of the gods. Ganesh, the elephant-headed god, is perhaps the most popular, son of Shiva and Pavarti. Each god has a particular vehicle (an animal such as a bull, a rat, a tiger, etc.) and are usually portrayed with multiple arms and sometimes heads, which represents the many facets of their power and knowledge. Something interesting we learned in Delhi was that Hindus acknowledge that this doesn't make rational sense, and as they enter the temple you can see them touch their head and then temple steps. This represents leaving their mind and reason outside, and using their heart inside the temple, since they believe religion is supposed to touch the heart and the mind can interfere with that.

We ambled from the temple up the road to the City Palace, which is still occupied by the Maharana (this means the same thing as Maharaja, but they cannot call themselves that anymore since they lost all their power in 1974). Construction of the City Palace began in the 6th century and continued over a period of 1000 years. You can see the different influences in the architecture of different parts of the palace depending on when it was constructed - it started with Persian style architecture and then there was Chinese style and finally more European influence. Like most palaces we have seen, parts of the palace are in pristine condition where other parts have been damaged and/or destroyed over the years. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the palace, but due to the heat and the number of other palaces we have seen on our trip so far, we kept him moving along at a pretty good pace.

Our final stop of the morning was the Fountain Gardens. The structure in and surrounding the gardens was rather decrepit, and like every other monument in India there were hawkers at the door selling everything from bottled water to memory cards for cameras. We have learned to ignore these hawkers completely, if you give them any hint of attention they will stick to you like glue and follow you around offering deals (each one better than the last) for tens of minutes in some cases. Blatant indifference comes much easier to James than Simon, but Simon has gotten much better at it as the trip goes on. The gardens themselves were lush and green, which is really quite impressive given the scorched earth that surrounds them (the temperature reached 48 C that day) - if you didn't look at the other surroundings, you would swear you were in Miami. For anyone who doubts global warming, they need to take a trip to India where the temperatures in the North have been rising about 2 degrees a year in the summers for the last 5 years. Udaipur, which is known as the City of Lakes, is virtually unrecognizable as such due to the increasing temperatures in the summers and the decreasing levels of rain in Monsoon season - it's really very sad and water supply is becoming a major problem facing the Northern parts of India.

That evening we went to a cooking class, which has been one of the highlights of the trip for both of us. We met with Shakti Singh, the owner of a local shop called the Spice Box. He led us across the street and up a narrow, labyrinthine staircase to the third floor of a building which housed his cooking studio. It was a small, cramped room with a bench along the walls and a table with a small gas stove in the middle. It was tremendously hot and he had several fans humming at full blast to cool the cramped quarters, but even with the fans James felt like he was going to pass out at one point until he acclimated. We were shown a variety of the base spices used in traditional Indian cooking and walked through preparation and cooking of several dishes, all of which were vegetarian. He gave us recipes for everything that we made, and we made notes as we went. The dinner was simple but delicious, and quite different from what you would get in a restaurant. We learned that restaurants usually have a stock of basic curries and pre-boiled meats and vegetables which they mix together and add whatever extra flavours and spices are called for in a particular dish. This results in an extremely saucy dish (which we love), but normal Indian cooking doesn't have so much sauce, which makes sense since we can't imagine eating that much rich, oily sauce on a daily basis. After dinner we sat for a while and chatted about life in India, and differences with other parts of the world including Canada. Our guide ate with us and joined in the conversation, and we learned a little bit about the importance of family life and food in Indian culture. They generally live with several generations of family in the same home, and dinner is the time when they all come together and talk as a family about everything going on in their lives and where the wisdom of older generations is shared. They are also accustomed to eating immediately before going to bed.

Mr. Singh was very proud about having recently been written up in the Victoria Times Colonist and featured in several other travel guides. He has had a lot of Canadians come in recently for cooking classes. He started his business several years ago as a spice vendor, and people thought he was crazy given the number of similar spice shops in the area. He decided to focus on selling to tourists, but realized that in order to sell to tourists you needed to teach them how to use the spices first, and started his cooking classes. Now he says that the bulk of his business comes from the cooking classes, but he still sells spices in a small shop just across from his studio. We went there after and purchased a few of the spices we had learned about. We also gave him a small gift of some maple sugar candies that we had brought from Canada. He was quite grateful for it, and threw in some black cardamom pods, which are supposed to be more difficult to find at home.

This morning we saw a few more temples. They were older ones, and one of them was partly in ruins and no longer active. Still, the carvings on the exterior are in fairly decent condition and quite interesting to see. On our way out there, we passed hundreds of marble yards. Marble is one of the major industries in the area, and they produce massive quantities of marble, granite, and other stone products in the area. We had originally planned to visit the Lake Palace (where one of the James Bond films was shot) for lunch. It is supposed to be quite spectacular when the lake is full. You have to take a boat out, and the palace is an island in the midst of a lovely deep lake. Now, instead of a lake, there's grass land and flocks of cattle around the perimeter, and there is a small swampy channel that a boat uses to ferry people between the palace and the "shore", all of a 1 minute journey. We were told by our concierge that there is a $50 cover charge just to GO to the palace, let alone eat their extremely overpriced fare, so we decided to skip it and cancelled our reservation. It would be something neat to do if there was a lake, but the sheer arrogance of it was a turn off to us, and we've had enough of hotel food at this point anyway. Instead we opted for a much more reasonable local restaurant for lunch, and then wandered around the local market streets and back alleys prior to hopping in a tuk-tuk (we finally found out that's what the 3-wheeled cabs are called) and coming back to our hotel. On our wandering, all the children we came across ran up to say hello to us. We have found this to be the case all over India, and they often wave when we drive by in the car. It seems they're fascinated by westerners, and we find it really adorable. Even in small villages, the children know how to say "hello" and "where are you from?".

Tonight we plan to feed the animals on the hotel's reserve grounds, and then venture out of the hotel again for dinner. In the evening, we will come back for a reprisal of last night, when we had drinks at the hotel's outdoor restaurant with live Indian performers playing music and dancing under the moon and stars. Then it will be off to Mumbai to finish our trip! We hope everyone is well at home…

We've arrived in Udaipur after a long day of and delays at airports, possibly due in part to the tragic Air India crash which occurred this morning in Mangalore, and claimed the lives of 158 people. Our travel woes were exacerbated by the completely unhelpful staff at the Mumbai airport, who couldn't have been less interested in assisting us to find the terminal we needed to get to. We arrived to Mumbai late with very little time to make our connection to Udaipur on another airline (Air India), and were asking for directions to Terminal 1 where our connecting flight departed from. Two of the airport staff just stared at us blankly, and then looked down at our cards as if trying to figure something out. After they stared at our cards trying to decipher the information on them for about 30 seconds, James freaked out and yelled "they don't know anything, let's just go!". Simon snatched the cards out of their hands and was dragged by James out of the airport to find a the way to terminal 1.

Lucky for us, a local representative from the tour company was waiting for us outside to help us make our connection. We had to hop in a ridiculous little 3-wheeled taxi (the kind we have seen all over India) in order to get around and up to the departures level quickly. The air in Mumbai was so hot and humid that we felt like we were drinking each breath - a real change from the arid desert conditions we have been experiencing for the last week, where the earth is dry it seems to literally begging for Monsoon season to start. The taxi driver totally tried to rip us off; he demanded Rs 50, but the makeshift meter (which, if it was anything like most of the metal detectors at monuments in the country, didn't work at all) displayed a grand total of Rs 14.8. James was digging around for money while our guide argued with the driver and Simon was shouting, "just give him some money and let's go!" so James threw Rs 20 at the driver and ran off while he was yelling at us. Nice try! Then, we took a page out of the the Indian handbook and wormed and forced our way towards the front of the line and made it to our flight on time.

We still don't like the whole pushing and shoving thing, but at least we're learning to work within the boundaries of such a system. Indian people are funny, they seem to hate anything holding them back - even if they aren't in a hurry. Whether driving or lining up, they aggressively make they way into the clear and then resume a relaxed a pace - it's very strange.

We arrived to the hotel, which, like all Oberoi hotels, is absolutely beautiful. We finally found a chink in the Oberoi armour however, as we have had quite a few missteps at this property which is very uncharacteristic. Perhaps they set the bar too high at the last 4 properties we stayed at, as James was disproportionately annoyed by these fairly inconsequential issues. Just wait until we get back home where people aren't waiting on us hand and foot, it will be quite the reality check.

We got settled and went for a swim in our own semi-private infinity pool that our room and terrace open to, it really is a tough life here in India. Our guide then met us and took us to the local market, which included a vegetable "farmer's market". It was so vibrant, colourful and full of life that it was exhilarating to walk through the narrow streets and alleys where the locals peddled their wares to other locals. People whipping by on motorcycles (often with 3-5 people on a bike), the women always behind the men and sitting sideways since they are wearing saris and can't straddle the seat; children playing in the heat of the afternoon, running from street to street and up stairs into homes; piles of incredibly delicious-looking sweets (probably not safe for our Western GI systems, if the burfi of Varanasi was any indication); jars of incense for sale as offerings at the nearby temples; piles of ground spices and grains for sale, some brilliantly coloured; men getting their faces shaved in hole-in-the-walll barber shops; women carrying everything from grain to housewares to water on their heads; men holding hands walking through the streets (a very common sight, apparently often between siblings or close friends): all these things happen at once in the streets and weave together to form a part of the fabric of daily living here, which is as colourful as the saris.

The sights and smells reminded us of what we loved about India from the moment we stepped of the plain in Delhi. These people work so hard every day of the week to eek out a living and feed themselves and their families, yet there is nothing sad at all about their lives despite the stark contrast to our own. They have very little, yet they don't feel like they are without - we could take a lesson from them. We think the reason that India culture is so steeped in religion and faith is because it is that hope that keeps them going despite the many obstacles they overcome on a daily basis (lack of water, electricity being shut off for hours at a time, etc.).

We just got back from dinner, where we ventured out on our own - no driver, no guide - just the name of a restaurant and a sense of adventure. Our guide had mentioned a restaurant he thought we would like, so walked out of the gated grounds of the hotel and were soon approached by a driver of a three wheeled taxi vehicle. For a mere Rs60 ($1.25) he drove us to our restaurant, all the while trying to sell his services as our driver and guide for our stay in Jaipur. James bluntly told him we had a driver and guide, but Simon, ever the kind, but weak, gazelle tried to give the driver some hope that we might use him again while we're here. The dinner recommendation was fabulous and we dined alfresco in this lovely garden courtyard by the lake - very romantic! All in all, a great first day in Udaipur.

Our final morning in Ranthambore consisted of a 05:00 wake-up call so we could go on our final safari. We had been so lucky on our first two safaris to see tigers, so we weren’t sure if our luck would hold out, but the jeep ride in the morning before the heat of the day were so enjoyable we were happy to go whether we saw tigers or not. We were with four other people in the jeep, a couple from Ireland who we had met on a previous safari, and two young British guys currently living in Norway who were on their first safari. Luck was with us and we had another great sighting of a tigress early in the morning and were able to observe her for the better part of an hour. Dan, one of the British guys, did not look well, so James inquired if he was feeling ok. It turns out he was fighting a very nasty stomach bug, and was still feeling very ill and the only medication he had was Imodium. James offered to give him some illicit cipro when we got back to the hotel, which he gratefully accepted (he wasn’t familiar with this drug, and we assured him it would be safe and effective). He and his friend were going to Agra the following day and then on a 13 day trek through the Himalaya’s, so hopefully the antibiotics we gave him had him feeling well in time for that. Not exactly the type of “act of kindness” we thought we might provide in India, but hopefully good karma none the less.

We were driven to Jaipur from Ranthambore and arrived around 13:00 in the full heat of the day (around 46 degrees) to our beautiful oasis of a hotel, the RajVillas. It is a 32 acre property which has about 70 villas on the grounds and it’s just lovely (we’ve attached a pic of the main building at night) - they have peacocks roaming freely on the grounds which never fails to impress. After a quick rest we met our Jaipur guide, a very eager young man who has lived his whole life in Jaipur and was passionate to share his knowledge of the city. We drove through the gate to the “Pink City” which was a stark contrast to most of the places we have visited so far. Jaipur was the first “planned city “ in India and it really shows. The streets are on a grid system and it is much more orderly than any other city we have visited. Not suprisingly I suppose, James quite liked this about the city whereas Simon found it uninteresting and quickly developed a bit of a dislike for Jaipur. We did our requisite palace visits to the Wind Palace and the City Palace, but we are both getting a bit weary of Indian palaces - it’s kind of like looking at churches in France, they all start to bleed into one and other after a while. Our next stop was Jantar Mantar, a site where the Maharaja (who was very interested and knowledgeable about Astronomy) built these very impressive devices such as sundials which are precise to within 2 seconds and various astrolabes. It was really quite fascinating to see, as much of it was built in the 17th century.

We had an early breakfast at the hotel today and then met our guide in the lobby at 08:00 to start our only full day of sightseeing in Jaipur. First stop was an elephant ride up the hill to the Amber Palace - this was a definite highlight for James and a redemption of sorts after the disappointment of learning that his tonga ride in Agra was not an elephant ride, but rather a filthy horse pulling a rickshaw. It was really quite a thrill and a reasonably comfortable way to travel up to the palace. The Palace itself was, well, like all the other palaces but did have very impressive views over the city of Jaipur and up to the Amber Fort. Our guide took us through a nauseatingly detailed history of the Palace, and near the end of the tour he sensed we were tuning out and asked us if we wanted to wrap up the morning’s sightseeing. James was still quite interested in seeing the Amber Fort, so he suggested to the guide that we do a “brief” tour of the fort before lunch - the guide seem to get the hint and we only spent about 30 minutes at the fort which was ample time. We went to a local restaurant for lunch, but instead of just showing us to the restaurant and letting us dine our ever zealous guide asked to join us. He caught us off guard so we were stuck with him. James seized on the opportunity to have an inquisition of sorts in which we gleaned a lot of information about our well intentioned, though far too chatty guide. We found out he is Muslim, lives with his entire family (his parents, his brother with his wife and two children, himself and his wife, and his sister) in a smallish apartment. He also told us he has no children as his wife is unable to conceive and that they are saving up for in vitro. So the lunch wasn’t a total loss.

We did some shopping in the local market area after lunch, which mostly consists of jewelry stores. James was somewhat interested in buying a grad gift for his niece, and Jaipur is known for it’s jewelry so we thought we’d look in a few. These place were definitely less high pressure than any other stores we have visited in India, but Simon was convinced that they were a rip off, so we just browsed a bit and called it a day. The heat, as always, was intense this afternoon so we decided some pool time was in order. Surprisingly James has adapted to these high temperatures rather well and is increasingly able to tolerate the heat for longer each day. Our exertion in the pool was rather lackluster, so James decided he needed to go for a run (as he has done several time this trip) - he is one of the few people who is actually gaining weight while visiting India. We had a lovely evening dining on the terrace, as the heat wasn’t too bad this evening - we had a tasting of India platter with various kabobs and curries and it was just fabulous. James ended the evening with a lovely glass Louis Jadot white wine and a fruit platter under the stars which was a perfect way to our end our time here in Jaipur.

We have an early wake-up call again tomorrow and then a fly to Udaipur (the City on the Lake). We’ll update more from there.