Lal Niwas Rajasthan

... a sculpture of rats" and i was like "dude that is not what a rat temple is about....". anyways, we didn't get touched or harrased by them...but it was a clear example of communication breakdown.....

Day 6: Mount Abu: A hill station (which means a higher elevation location where people from the lower elevations go to escape the heat)....maybe they can call it Mt Crapu b/c it kind of sucked. A ****** man made lake, with not much to do or see ...

... had just taken place on the water. You see- I was thinking about you all this way away!

Our final stop in Rajasthan was the 'pink city' of Jaipur. We stayed in a really cool hostel with a charismatic owner and lots of nice resting areas which meant we were able to relax and read lots- something we have grown to appreciate. The pink city is situated inside a behemoth fort (with everything painted a reddish pink) and we had fun visiting this and the huge ...

... took many pictures...most with sunset mode and it added this nice glow to the temple. We spent about another hour touring the temple and then hopped back in the car for the long journey home. Upon arrival back in Udaipur, I immediately went to the computers down on the main floor and began the long (and sometimes frustrating) process of uploading my pictures. I managed to get some 200 pictures up in about 2 hours. I felt so much better after though...I was really proud of the shots I ...

... and you wait and see the leather bag I brought... (made of camel.. I won't ride them but I'll wear them.. hmmm sure that's not right) From there, we travelled to Bundi- a charming town with a pretty hillside lake and palaces. Rudyard Kipling spent some of his writing years here, and found inspiration in it's beauty to write 'Kim'. We visited markets, temples, palaces and step wells (notice a theme running here? me too, and oh am I templed out...). We found a great guesthouse that did ...

... the back page on their cultural section was our photo with the bride and Emily in the midst of women's bussiness! We have kept a copy and will try and scan it when we upload photos. It was hard to say goodbye to this beautiful family who showed us such amazing hospitality. We left amongst a smother of offers to visit them again in Mumbai and we promised we would. The girls have insisted on taking Emily shopping and making sure she gets a good deal! Next update will be Jodhpur.

... wrong could you go with something as simple and basic as Parathas and curd? We didn't know whether to laugh or cry when they managed to serve us by far the worst Parathas and curd we had had in India. This was a big shame as it was our last Indian breakfast. When the waiter asked us about our meal we were brutally honest, which obviously shocked the poor soul into silence. Still he did mumble an apology later as we left the hotel. I haven't yet said anything much about ...

... this lovely B&B a year before. It was a grand residence in the hills outside of Udaipur, and a perfect first landing after a long, long journey to India. I was treated like a queen, and thoroughly enjoyed my brief stint in Udaipur. The Royal Palace was a sight to behold.. I enlisted the services of a local guide to take me around the Palace, rather than use the English-language earphones. Cost the same, and ...

... camera but unfortunately I am having trouble uploading because they are set to high quality. I will try to upload from Amy's camera tomorrow maybe. Today we woke up and walked around. We just got back from the holy lake which is so pretty-surrounded by temples and mountains. I wish I could take pictures there but it is not allowed. Later Amy is getting a one hour massage (which is insanely cheap). I am going to spend that time taking more ...

... white marble arches calmed me a bit and I took off my shoes and pattered down the steps, halfway down I followed a ledge around a corner to observe from. The stairs all around the lake were covered in people and colorful clothing. It looked as if a box of crayons melted together and was covered with a bag of black marbles. The Hindus are not quietly reverent in their spiritualism. Overhead a loudspeaker or two clamoured out announcements or prayers, security blew ...

We stayed a couple of days in Pushkar. Its a temple town and as such is a very holy place, but also very commercial with far too many stalls on the main street and lots of people, mostly Israeli, swarming around the place. We explored a bit and saw all of interest then decided to move on to Udaipur.