The city of kites.

Going from Agra to Jaipur by bus, was a fantastic (although somewhat expensive) trip. Taking about 4 hours it really gives an opportunity to see a good deal of the northern Indian countryside. Also the transformation from the lush climate of Uttar Pradesh (the state which Agra lies in) and to the desert state of Rajastan.

The trip is worth it just for seeing (and taking pictures of) the life along the way. You'll see farmers and fruit sellers going about their business, not to mention the cows, dogs, camels and crazily overloaded trucks along the way!

Well there, Jaipur turned out to be a nice, and quite busy city. Known as the pink city, after the local Maharajah painted the whole city pink in anticipation of the British king arriving on a visit, it yields both history and a great opportunity to buy jewelery and clothes.

We arrived in Jaipur at the same time as a kite festival took place there, and on the 14. of january the sky filled with kites in all shapes and sizes. Our host in Jaipur, Arvind - an amiable ex transport officer in the Indian army now running the "Explorers Nest" - told us the hospitals were on high alert during the festival, fearing all from cuts from the line holding the kites to birds falling down and hitting people after getting tangled up in the lines (sic!).

We greatly recommend hiking up to the Nahargar (or Tiger) Fort, a place where the Maharajah used to hunt tigers from, back in the days when there were still tigers to be found in India. It gives a great view of the whole city, and it's also a good starting point to walk to the other forts in the area.

Unfortunately after a few days in Jaipur, I caught a high fever, leaving me struck out for several days - and a strife of bad stomach that has kept on all through our trip. This somewhat destroyed our plans on seeing the rest of Rajastan, forcing us to fly out of Jaipur to Goa.