Nicholas Quirke was convinced that the fates were conspiring against him and obliterating any evidence that Friday 9th of March happened for him. Despite being careful to ensure he had a plug adaptor from the hotel to charge all his technology, it transpired that there was a fault and by 4am, when he had to get up for his trip to Jaipur, his laptop, go-pro, I-pad were all dead and his phone was very low. He thought the solution to recording the day was to charge his phone and Ipad in the car on the 4 hour Journey. Of course,he plugged it in but after an hour there was still nothing happening. He managed a conversation with sister to help with accommodation in Doha, caught a couple of moments but it died and he was left with only his words to record the memory of Jaipur. It was a long drive starting in the dark but by the time the sun came up his expectations of beautiful indian scenery were crushed as all the daylight illuminated  was a bleak and dull landscape and the only really interesting thing he noted was that the lorry’s, and there were a lot of them, drove in whatever lane they liked and the cars swapped lanes with terrifying speed and recklessness. However 45 kilometers from Jaipur and deep into the heart of Rajasthan the vista became utterly compelling, jagged rock strewn mountains, blossoms of purples, oranges, yellows and sights that are pure cliché but he would have captured them:- the colourful drudge of ladies walking in their Sari;s with bundles on their heads, people riding on tops of busses, cows using their sacred status to wander indolently about the highway, monkey sitting eating on the side of the road, working camels and elephants vying for space ni the traffic with the motorcycles with 4 riding pillion, derelict distressed buildings from which businesses operate and junk, junk, junk everywhere reminding you that you are looking squarely in to the face of real poverty it has a beauty but it is the alien in everyday that makes it quite haunting and magical to witness. They first stopped at the Amer fort and palace an astonishing 16th century conurbation with amazing views. Ragan let him use his phone to take photographs. Which became plentiful when an overzealous curator took the camera when showing them the Kings  toilet and Bedrooms. It was an impressive and opulent and the pictures, if he hadn’t forgotten to give Ragan his email, would have captured the beauty and importance of the site. They then drove into Jaipur, seeing the relic of the haunting water palace, the extravagance of the City Palace and the Hawa Mahal, where the wives were kept by the Sultans in the city where every building is pink. Lunch was at roadside stand selling vegetables and potato made as part of a bun, It was delicious. Nicholas couldn’t escape though the feeling that he was about to be robbed , cheated, even abducted a feeling that intensified when he found himself in a Stone Cutters and a Carpet weavers. He survived the ordeal and they set of back to Delhi on another 4 hour drive. Back at the hotel he went out to see if he could get another adaptor but couldn’t find one and ended up spending some time chatting with a guy called Pintu who he asked for help. He was travelling the next day so it was to bed for another early start.