Entering Rajasthan, the most visited part of India, we found a land of small but powerful past kingdoms punctuating a flat and dry landscape. This state of Rajas and their megalomaniac palaces flourished, founded on riches gained by taxing the merchants on the silk route between Asia and the West, until the time that commerce shifted to the sea and the new port cities of Bombay and Calcutta.

Each city in Rajasthan has a strong identity (architecture, essential colour, painting), and especially Jaipur, the pink city, built on a startling urban plan. Inside the walled city, all streets, principal or minor, meet at right angles in a grid that resulted in nine square quarters. The plan distributed people according to their profession, allocating streets to silversmiths, potters, woodworkers and weavers. The use of rubble and plaster rather than stone made it possible to build this city in only 7 years and to simulate the much-admired red sandstone appearance of Mughal cities, all of Jaipur's monuments were painted a dusty pink.

In one of the minor streets, we met a lovely, distinctly humble man (right) whose job was to colour old black and white photographs - the results are deliciously kitsch. Having chai together on the doorstep of his tiny workshop, he told us of his conviction that he was training now to be a great painter in his next life. The candour of his eyes and the smile on his face was deeply touching - believing in reincarnation does make life so much easier to live!

Our great "falling in love" moment has to be the Observatory built in the 18th century by Jai Singh who was an astronomer of much repute. A magnificent group of red sandstone structures, brass circles and instruments. Despite its age, the whole place has a contemporary feel similar to some of the latest western architectural showpieces.