EN: On the way to Udaipur we visited the Jain Temple at Ranakpur which sits on 1444 pillars. The Jain Religion was founded in the 6th century BC and is based on a doctrine of non-violence towards all living beings. Jains are strict vegetarians and no leather items are allowed in their temple. Here we also met the highest priest. For 100Rs we rec...

Our experience on the overnight train from Bundi to Udaipur was an improvement on our first cockroach infested journey from Delhi to Kalka at the beginning of our time on India. The train was quite clean and despite waking up our berth-mates by our entrance at 1:30am we had a fairly restful nights sleep waking refreshed in Udaipur. Iain particul...

...and then add a teaspoon each of cumin seeds, ground coriander, anise, red chilli powder, chopped green chilli, a pinch of salt and simmer... Aahhhh, the aromas emanating from the pot on the stove in Renu Mahta's kitchen are mouthwatering! I'm in Udaipur, where I stayed for a few days with the Mehta family as a 'Servas' member (see www.servas....

Namaste, Shaken but not stirred we arrived in Udaipur to be met by Billu, a particularly friendly auto rickshaw driver, who has been with us ever since. We settled in at our guest house, The Panorama, which lives up to its name with spectacular bedroom views of Lake Pichola and Udaipur Old City clinging to its banks. We spent the remainder of ou...

So this week is orientation. FSD has two program coordinators (Anna and Siddhartha) and a family coordinator (Namrata) who have been helping to get us adjusted to life in India. Anna is from Washington DC and has been in Udaipur for almost 2 years after interning with FSD in San Francisco. Siddhartha is originally from NW India (I forgot how to ...

Having extricated myself from a blissfully relaxing three weeks in Pushkar, I find myself marveling at the lakeside wonders of Udaipur. This serene city with a mild traffic problem for a city its size where the James Bond film "Octopussy" was partly filmed is a charming delight of culinary and alcohol indulgence after eggless, meatless, and alco...

Indeed the inhabitants of Udaipur seem quite proud of the fact that the lush James Bond movie Octopussy was shot here. Of course I couldn't have the occasion pass by and I watched the movie with a cold beer and a nice meal, while looking over the lake where James Bond was racing over with a speed-boat. Go watch the movie and you'll get a good fe...

Udaipur is a beautiful town, between three lakes and lots of palaces. Their primary business seems to be separating me from my money, having bought more in one day than the last three months across Asia. Very happy with the made-to-measure shirts knocked up in 4 hours though. Not so sure about the calf-length board shorts with pleats and a razor...

The trains thro' Rajhastan going south are limited and so we took a bus down to Udaipur, for a 16 hour stint, but in typical H&M style we manage to grab the one and only straight thro' bus which because of some elections taking place we have to change midway, great! Finally we get to Udaipur and book into the nearest Hotel available (and close t...

Hello chaps We're in Udaipur, which has something of a reputation for being romantic. We haven't yet tested this theory out as all we've done is check in, sleep and send emails, but we'll be sure to find out later when I drag James along to see a musical fountain. Shut up, it might be good! Our hotel is another corker with a pool and a power sho...