Apsara Hotel Udaipur

... there today and that tonight there will be fireworks. Wandering back through the town we agree that this has so far been the most chilled city to date. Surprising seeing as it has a really high number of tourists and a designated tourist 'downtown' but it would be a really good place to ease yourself into an Indian adventure.

So back to the hotel for dinner on the rooftop looking over the lake toward the palace watching the fireworks, a wonderful end to the day.

... air conditioner kept him awake although they didn't bother me too much. (I woke up once or twice but fell back asleep.) After a decent breakfast at a place recommended by the English girls I met at the restaurant yesterday, Tony and I walked around the town together - getting quite off the beaten path. At one point we encountered a (holy) cow in the middle of a road that we could swear had it in for us. Numerous Indians passed by this cow in the road without ...

... Es el que te sortir del circuit turistic.

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I decide to get out of the traditional tourist circuit and visit the Shekhawati region that lays between Jaipur and Bikaner. It is one of the entry points to the Thar desert, and given its location, the villages in the region benefitted from the caravan trade to / from Jaipur and Delhi, and today it is still possible to visit the rich and lavishly decorated residences, here called ...

... food!!

The 12 hour overnight train ride to Udaipur was fine...although the Agra train station was another eye opener...street children, women thrusting their naked crying babies in our face, people without limbs, dog fights, rats, staring (at the sweaty, smelly travellers) and white people sticking out like a sore thumb with backpacks...like us! All part of the experience though!!

Udaipur was a ...

... and darren and here i am in jodhpur, a little tired and hungry, the girls head of the jaipur in a few days, the guys to pushkar, and i push further north to jaisalmer.

first impressions of jodhpur? the first of th monsoon rains still havent reached this far yet so its very very dusty and DRY hot instead of humid. you can tell they all cant wait for rain, and there are nearly no travellers, not that thats a bad thing.

more updates soon. hope this finds you well =]

... to lord Vishnu and contains an enormous black stone of Vishnu in the main shrine. I am willing to take my shoes off and to enter, Judith does not want to start the day with dirty socks, so I go in alone. The entrance is flanked by stone elephants and a bronze image of Garuda (the mythical bird vehicle of Vishna). Slightly suffering from temple overload I take a few pictures and return to join Judith at the base. We had noted ...

Glorious Udaipur, but not quite the same as last time, since the level of water in the lake is considerably lower than last time, and as yet, there are no health problems!! I am staying with Deepak and Meetu and they are the most kind and gracious hosts. It was Deepak who looked after Vivian when he was unwell here last November - hence our friendship. Their house is right next to the ...

... restaurants and bars from which to take in a view of the entire city at sunset with a few Kingfishers - and we spent both our nights there doing just that. Meanwhile, Chris, who has taken a particular interest in the Hindu gods because they remind him of superheroes, trawled the markets in his continued search for a statue of the elephant god Ganesha. Jaisalmer, as in every Indian town we have already visited, was home to hundreds of cows that plodded ...

... run around taking pictures althrough i really wanted to udaipur is very proud of its history of never having surrendered to any invaders so the rulers of this region are called maha-rannas not maha-rajas as in the rest of india. Maha means "great" - raja means "warrior ruler" and the ranna part in udaipur means something like warrior who never surrendered. That does not mean they were never defeated by invaders but that they never surrendered - the ...

... sounds grotesque but really it worked! There was also a carving of a single cobra that just went on and on and on in twists and turns around the whole carving - the patterns it made was very much like the Buddhist Endless Knot. And of course the various deities, elephants etc. Then ... we went thru a winding gorgeous mountain pass. Ai-yooohhh! It was worth driving just for the views. It was breath taking, considering we had not too long b4 passed ...