Merry Christmas, Sir/Madam

It was past 7am when I looked at the time. I leaned over my bunk, John was also awake so I moved down. We whispered 'Happy Christmas' and sat and watched the passing alien scene through a tiny dusty window.

Knobbly trees and vast arid land for the next 3 hours, broken up by a couple of rock quarries where we quickly spotted turbaned men walking in a line carrying stones.

On arrival at Jodphur station we said our 'goodbyes' to Sunni who kindly gave us his card if we needed him and we wished the family a happy wedding feast.

Three hours or so behind schedule at 10 am it was lovely to see the smiling face of Pradeep who had driven the 23 or so hours to be our driver. We hadn't known Pradeep would continue to be our driver until we got to Dehli, but this is how it is done.

Pradeep drove us to Ratan Villas where we were charmingly welcomed and breakfast was made for us amidst the scent of marigolds and roses.

Christmas Day Breakfast: spicy omelette, toast, orange, coffee and masala chai.

The sun is shining so at last chance for a dribbly sleep (Sam) by the pool. John swam - its not really warm enough for that.

In the evening we chose Deepa's recommended restaurant on the rooftop of the Blue City beneath Mehrangarh Fort. We shared a vegetable thali and the local dish Lal Maars (Rajasthan slow roast mutton) - delicious.