Another day another fort

Jaipur
OK I dwell too much on the pollution but for me it is overwhelming how we as a species can get ourselves into such a state. Anyway Jaipur (still in Rajashstan state) have billboards proclaiming to be the Clean and Green City (not). But there d seem to be some efforts toward that. For example in the old part of city "The Pink City" there is actually a pedestrian only street. The City itself was laid out by one of the Singh rulers who had a thing for astronomy and orderlinness sothat the streets are laid out in grid fashion which is uncommon in other cities. The traffic flow here is a bit more orderly - traffic police and lights seem to generally be obeyed and one can cross the street with relatively greater sense of safety and less adrenaline flow than in other places we have been.
Yesterday we took a full day bus our operated by the Rajasthan Tourist Development Corp. The city is quite widely spread out and one of the main attractions (a Fort and Palace) are 11 km outside the city in the mounatainous regions just beyond Jaipur. The tour "guide/commentator" on the bus spoke a raspy english, but stood at the front of the bus and had no microphone. We were at the back of the bus and couldn't hear a word he said; but even when close to him I couldn't understand most of what he was saying. I was not alone.
There were three Forts on the tour - they tend to have a sameness and vary mostly in the degree of restoration or not. The difference with these were that they were atop a mountain and thus provided a vast view (limited by , you guessed it - pollution) Most of these forts started to be built around 100 to 1200 I believe and were defence against the moghuls and other would be invaders. In addition to the forts are the Palaces - the main one we visited is the residence (off limits) of the current 72 year old 'monarch' The Singhs are still called royalty but in the Inidan contect they are not kings and queens. They have donated most of there palace and fort holdings to the State.
The tour went fairly smoothly and we were targeted to be back at the starting by six pm. The tour sort of broke down around 5:50 when we were at the Amber Fort where we had to leave the bus and take a very old jeep up a very bumpy and smelly road to the fort. Half way back to the bus we were taken to the mandatory official craft sellers wich puportadly were official government establishment associated with cottage industries. It is hard to tell sometimes what is "official" but I think this one was. Anyway the jeeps at this point disapeared. The drivers had already been paid. So we waited and had to be ferried back to the bus in different groups by this one jeep and we are already past six .
I had wanted to treat ourselves to some lamb curry at a restaurant called The Copper Chimney" but Pedro was quite tired and didn't want a big meal so we ate at a Pizza Hut. Oh well it is good to have some American franchise food now and again!

By the way on our way back down the switchback on our bus tour I noticed a sign "Plastic Free Zone" What a concept!! I think it was probably a little nature preserve as I noticed a lot of peacocks around (India's national bird) Any way I think that is an awesome concept for towns and cities in Canada and could be used toin concert with the 'no plastic bag' plicy being adopted by many towns. Plastic water bottle discards are a major problem around the world, including Canada (right Sharon)

OK enough for now. My adductors are back to normal and my butt is healing ok.

Off to Delhi tonite on train. Arrive arond 10:30 and have a hotel booked. They promised to keep for late arrival so here is hoping. I had quite a bit of difficuly finding a place. We are peak tourist season.