Jaigarh Fort

Impressions of India: 26
Much sterner, more functional and military than Amber Fort a kilometre below, Jaigarh Fort was built in 1726 and boasts the world's largest wheeled canon.


Something you'll never see in Britain - ice being transported through the fierce morning heat on the back of a motorbike. One hopes he didn't have far to go or he'd end up with just enough for one round of drinks!

Great mutton chop whiskers - a fashion doubtless left over from the days of the Raj - guarding the improbably large canon. 6 metres long with a range of 30km, it's made from a mix of 8 different metals and weighs in at a hefty 50 tons. There's no record of when and if it was actually fired.

These braceleted ankles belong to an old lady who was walking with a young girl (in yellow) on the narrow tarmac strip of the winding mountain road, rather than the wide verge, and so found her arm being clipped by the tuk-tuk's mirror. My tuk-tuk driver Suni stopped to apologise but, upon being soundly and loudly berated by the old lady, pointed out that she really shouldn't have been walking on the tarmac at all. She was so furious that I didn't dare take a shot of her face as I thought she might then have punched me, or Suni, or both of us!

It's possible to ride up to either Amber or Naga Forts in style on an elephant howdah - but it takes a while as the pace is ponderously slow, which no doubt explains why several of their drivers were fast asleep.

Posts still to come: 

A privileged glimpse of Brigitte Singh's handblocking workshop
Jodhpur's fort and palace

The fabulous Jain temples en route to Udaipur

Udaipur's lake, bats and palace