Ken's breakfast was odd. There was a buffet, but a waiter came over and made him leave the line and go sit right next to the counter at the front of the restaurant and order from the menu. Ken talked to a man at breakfast who was also on a car-tour of Rajasthan. The man had seen a cow get hit by a car on the highway right in front of him.

Driver picked us up at 8:30, along with our guide for the day, Veejay. We drove the relatively short distance to the Amer Fort (or Amber Fort, as it is usually called) in the small town of Amer, just outside Jaipur.
 
Our tour package includes a ride up to the fort on an elephant, so our car dropped us at the bottom of the hill. There was a line of tourists up the steps to a platform and a line of elephants on the other side.

As we joined the tourist line we were immediately set upon by the vendors, who sold all sorts of souvenir junk and would not take 'no thank you' for an answer. Only once we were actually mounting the steps could we look back and laugh at the new tourists joining the line.
 
When our turn came we crawled from the platform onto the 'howdah' - a small bed mounted on the back of our elephant. 

The elephant rocked to and fro as it plodded up the narrow walled road that led to the fort. Occasionally we'd meet elephants coming down the path on their way to get more passengers, and kids on motorbikes would zip between the two columns of elephants.
 
 
Inside the fort we dismounted on a platform similar to the one we'd used to get on. 
 
Then waited for our guide who had to come up the back way in the car. The entrance fee to the fort was cash-only and we were almost out of cash, so we tried for a while to buy our tickets online using Heather's phone, but it didn't work. Finally gave up and used cash to buy the tickets.
 

Our guide took us through the fort and palace, courtyard by courtyard, giving us some info and then leaving us to explore each one on our own. The tour culminated in the king's harem, with apartments all around the perimeter for each of his wives.

As we toured the apartments, various security guards would suddenly become tour guides, pointing out to us the stuff that we were going to see anyway and then asking for tips.

This palace is newer than the ones we've seen before, and is the first one we've seen that had any sort of amenities that would make it liveable by modern standards. There were toilets of a sort, though admittedly, the sewage tank had to be emptied manually by servants. The king had a jacuzzi tub with hot and cold running water. The water was supplied by a series of pumps that carried water from the moat below up to the top levels of the fort.

As we exited the fort we once again had to run the gauntlet of vendors who would not take 'no' for an answer. One very persistent photographer had taken photos of us on the elephants and was trying to sell us the stills. He followed us all the way down the road to the parking lot where our driver was waiting, and even after we were in the car he stood outside the taxi widows badgering us.

Then we took the car down the back way from the fort into town, passing camels and elephants with their loads as we went.

Back to town we stopped briefly for a look across the water at the lake palace.

As they always do, the guide took us to a shop, where presumably he would receive a kick-back on any sales. They showed us some fabric printing and carpet weaving demos and then took us to the showroom and tried to sell us some stuff. Foolishly we asked how much it would cost to have silk sleeping sacks make (something we'd been shopping for in Canada in anticipation of our trip to SE Asia in 2017) and ended up with them chasing us to the car again trying to get us to buy something.

Then we drove to the City Palace. Fortunately the entry here can be paid by credit card so we can get in despite our lack of cash. The royal family still lives here, so there is a big section that you don't see. The rest is nice enough. 

We did see the worlds largest silver artefacts, two identical 375kg silver jars that were used by a past king to carry holy water with him on a trip to England for King Edward VII coronation.
 
After the city palace, we were scheduled to see the Jantar Mantar astronomical / astrological observatory, which is just next door. However, we didn't have enough cash left to pay the entrance fee, and they don't take credit cards, so we had to give it a miss. Maybe next time we're in town.
 
After that we had some free time so we tried finding a working ATM, but without success. Instead we asked our driver to find us a grocery store that takes credit cards so that we can buy water. We bought 8 bottles and threw them in the trunk so at least we'd have drinking water. Then back to the hotel, where we took a nap for a while and then went for supper in the hotel restaurant.

We'd been told that the ATMs are usually refilled with cash in the evenings (and empty by morning) so we went out at 8 pm looking for an ATM. We tried a couple near our hotel but found them empty. Then two more further north on the main road, but they were closed. On the way back to the hotel we tried going in a new direction and found an ATM that was apparently working, judging by the long lineup.

As always, there were two lines, a men's and a women's. (This kind of makes sense once you know that in India, people in lineups are pressed tightly together. If you are not physically touching the person in front of you, that's like declaring that you are not in line and inviting people to go ahead of you.) The men's line had about 50 people in it, but the women's line only about 6 or 7. Heather got in the women's lineup.
 
It took about 30 minutes for Heather to reach the front of the line, during which time there was much shouting back and forth between the men at the door of the ATM and all those lined up behind. When Heather got into the ATM she was not able to make any of her cards work and left disappointed.

At the hotel, there was more noise from the all-girls bus trip. Heather couldn't sleep so she called down to the front desk asking if they could do something to shut them up. It worked... shortly after that we heard the chaparones shushing them.