Jhodpur

I had a couple of hours to myself after lunch and had a little rest. At 4pm my guide picked me up to take me on a tour and what a treasure he was! Very good sense of humour and a fountain of information. We went to the Umaid Bhawan Palace first, which is directly opposite from my very comfortable Hotel. Part of the Palace is still being used by the current Maharadja and his extended family, the rest is converted into a 5 star Hotel. Over 300 beds, but only 90 are in use. A nights stay in the Maharani Suite is about $3000
From the Palace we could see a new development iniciated by the Maharadja to built houses and apartments for Indian people. One of the houses, about 5 to 6 bedrooms and the same number of bathrooms, will set you back about $1.2 Million. The advertising drive is - "Live close to the Maharadja". Then came the exciting part. We went to the old town, to the markets.
Every trade has it's own street, the biggest and longest is the clothing section. I saw for shoes, kitchen utensils, herbs and spices, fruit and vegies, all around the clock tower. It was wonderful.
On the way to find our car and Mr Singh, I photographed the cows just lying in the street, with the traffic chaos all around them. And Indian traffic is noisy!!!! Mr Singh has one finger on the horn when he is driving. I think he would rather be without his brakes then without his horn!
I had dinner in the Hotel, something delicious vegeterian, had a large beer, then went to bed very happy and very tired.