Dera Kumbhalgarh Rajsamand

... br>3) good vision; and
4) good luck!

Udaipur itself is amazing. It is set around a beautiful lake on which two upmarket palaces/hotels reside. Our cheap hostel was right on the lakes west bank and the views from the balcony were something out of a postcard. We arrived in the evening and the sight of the sun slowly setting behind Udaipur's calm waters was one to put in the every growing locker of memories I will take back from my time here. The city itself is ...

... big enough for a dinner for two. Several other tables surrounded the pool, prepared for dinner that night. We felt like we had finally landed. We were only disappointed that we would only be staying for one night. We spent the rest of the day languishing by the pool, feeling like after all this time on the road, we deserved a bit of luxury. And we really did appreciate it! We were invited to join the chefs in the ...

... Adinath (aka Lord Rishabha). It is a big temple (ceiling around 7m high), made up of white marble and is beautiful and intricately carved on both the outside and the inside. It has more than a thousand columns none of which are alike. We stayed at an Indian "Fawlty Towers". The waiter was lovely and nothing like Manwell but there was definite weirdness to ...

... him what price to give me! I asked if he had any double rooms available and he gave me a price that was higher than what our guy had told me. I laughed and walked away without saying a word - they both knew why and called me straight back. He offered me the price I had been quoted in the street but begged me not to tell any other tourists about this special rate as is was more than a fifty percent discount! He showed me the room and, although I was thinking it was worth ...

... her on her artistic shot! We were shown the Flour Mill and also the Saw Mill where a young guy used a band-saw to quickly cut up a scrap block of wood to demonstrate how a saw works. The village was really cool and the people very friendly. We were all so surprised that no one begged for money, which was a very pleasant change. Having said that, everyone seemed quite content and well-fed despite the very simple living conditions. I asked Chandra whether ...

... at the Indian Embassy in London at 5:30am on the morning of my intended departure! Thankfully my flight was not until 5pm, and doubly thankfully, all went well and when the Embassy opened at 8:30am, I was the 23rd person in a line of approximately 950 people! This early bird caught the worm, but it would have been much smoother had I stood in line a few weeks earlier. As it was, the late change in plans meant I ...

... got off the plane and took an autorickshaw to our place. It was like a little tree house. We found it in our guide book. Our driver stopped ont he way and bought us flower leis. They were made of roses and smelled so good! We were definitely the only westerners around and we quickly had to get used to being the center of attention. The people were all very nice though and helpful. It was fun to see camels, elephants, and of course-the holy ...

... and transits of the crowds. Then loudspeakers blast out announcements of lost kids and Bollywood music at ridiculous decibles. Sadu's chant "Ram Ram Suh" and groups of colorful sari-wearing women sing Hindu hymns. Camels bleat and hawkers holler about their goods. Your ears are exhausted. And the rest of your other senses are equally affronted. Smells of animals and sewage and incense and food. Desert dust becomes rank mud from the hundreds of people and cattle ...

... and their scams... or so we thought. Within minutes of having arrived in Pushkar, Christian and I were down at the lake each with our own 'priest' blessings our families and loved ones by throwing water over ourselves and smearing bindis on our foreheads. Smelling a rat, I stressed I had no money to donate, but my priest reassured me I need only give what Christian gave, be it one ...

After a quick breakfast in the hotel courtyard I headed off to Pushkar. I won't waste any more time on the driving experience as I know that I may lose some readers at this point but I will say that the driving does not improve REGARDLESS of the road you are on. In this case we spent a lot of time on a two or three lane highway and it was just as scary as the drive from Agra to Jaipur. The best was that in one case, a car in front of us missed a U-turn entry so instead of ...