Jaipur

After breakfast, we met and our excellent guide Vijay and headed out on a gloriously sunny morning.   Driving by the iconic Hawa Mahal... 

... to the Jantar Mantar, an astronomical observatory built in 1827 by Raja Sawai Jai Singh II.

To the City Palace, where associate director Giles Tilotson escorted us on an informative tour of the palace.

To the fascinating Palace museum.

Followed by lunch at the City Palace restaurant.

Following lunch, a rare treat for the public with a visit to Jal Mahal.  This recently restored summer lake palace in the middle of Mah Sagar Lake is apparently the victim of bureaucratic tussles that has prevented the current owners from completing their planned projects around the palace and lake.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped to look at jewelry at the Silver and Art Palace.

Fortunately, Mrs. SFO agreed to "think about it" overnight... and decided the next morning that she really didn't need the jewelry.  Whew!

And back to Rambagh to rest and then drinks with Thakur Durga Singh of Mandawa, scion of the the aristocratic family of Mandawa in northeast Rajasthan.  And dinner in the formal dining room.