April 30-May 2, 2008: Jaipur

Clarks Amer Rating: Excellent
This was a fabulous hotel with a very helpful staff. The breakfast (included) was very good. The wait staff on the first breakfast was quite rude but after talking to the dining room manager, the service at lunch (not included) was impeccable. The manager apologized and offered to prepare a special breakfast the next morning which we gratefully declined. That was a very nice thing to do.

Guide: Bhopal Singh Rating: Excellent
The palace with the mirrored room was very special. We were a bit disappointed that the elephant ride was not possible; however we understand the circumstances. Bhopal was quite jovial, joking about street life and did not mind pointing out the underbelly of India which no other guide had done to that point. It allowed us to ask some questions about life in India that we were not able to do prior to his guiding. Several of them said India is a land of contrasts but none seemed willing to talk about anything but castles and forts. This was a welcome change. He took us to the Astronomy tour and that was quite different and very interesting. We had an opportunity to calculate and calibrate our watches to the sundial. That was impressive.