We did not know it at the start of the day but there was going to be a bit of drama before today was over, but that is the end of this story not the beginning.

The day started with a quick look at the Wind Palace(or Hawa Mahal) in downtown Jaipur. This structure is not really a palace but rather a facade. It was built so that the ladies of the court could watch street processions from behind the facade without being seen by those in the street.

Next on our days agenda was Jantar Mantar, the Royal Observatory. Built during the first half of the 18th Century the observatory is a collection of very large astronomical instruments. For example the largest of the sun dials in the collection stands over 22 meters high. Apparently a number of similar observatories were built in India at the time but this is the best preserved.

The highlight of the day was undoubtedly our visit to Amber Fort, in the town of Amur about 10 km from Jaipur. It is a massive complex sitting on a hill top amongst a small range of mountains and a series of stones walls (reminiscent of the great wall of China) connecting the hill tops. Like the other palaces and forts we have seen this one had complex arrangements of pavilions, courtyards, and corridors with elaborate decorations in sandstone and marble. A special feature of this fort/palace was a pavilion decorated in mirrored tiles.

An interesting point. Note the (not very good photo) of the large silver urn (photo 8). There are actually two of them on display and they are made of sterling silver, stand 1.6 metres (5.2 ft) tall, each have a capacity 4000 liters and weighing 340 kilograms (750 lbs). They were made from 14000 melted silver coins without soldering. They are officially recorded by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest sterling silver vessels. These vessels were specially made for Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II, who was a highly pious Hindu, to carry the water of the Ganges to drink on his trip to England in 1901 (for Edward VII's coronation) as he was concerned about committing religious sin by consuming the English water. Hence, the vessels are named as Gangajelies (Ganges-water urns).

So what was the drama that I allude to at the top of this post. Well as we were getting ready for a group "farewell dinner" Nina started looking a bit unwell and within a few minutes was on the verge of fainting and unable to stand.

We both immediately thought - low blood pressure and low potassium. The last time this happened Nina spent 4 days in hospital.

The thought going through my head was - "India does not seem like a good place to need a hospital - how do I get her out of here."

After a quick consultation with out tour guide we organized for the hotel to call in their "on call" doctor. This was about 7:00pm.

By about 9:00pm Nina was showing some signs of improvement, a little sleep and a little food seemed to have help. The doctor arrived about 10:00pm and determined that her blood pressure was still low (98/70) and suggested some anti nausea medication and some electrolyte drinks.

By the time the doc left the crisis was over (though that would not be confirmed until the next morning) and the problem of "how to get her out of here" had evaporated, thankfully.