Udaipur

We were in Udaipur 2 weeks ago so sorry for the delay!

We arrived in Udaipur at 530 in the morning not quite sure what to do. So we hopped in a rickshaw and got dropped at our hotel. We didn't figure it would be open but that we could go for a walk nearby. The rickshaw driver had other ideas. He got the light from his phone and shone it in the face of the poor boy who was sleeping behind the desk (common practice). He mumbled lots and told us to go away until 10. Fair enough! Apparently satisfied that we wouldn't get into our hotel the rickshaw driver then tried to offer us hotels all over Udaipur! This is pretty common, everyone is trying to get commission from somewhere so we replied with our stock phrase 'no, no we've already paid! (we hadnt)' and he eventually let us be.

Udaipur is surrounding a very big lake so we went and sat on the shore for an hour or so just enjoying watching a town wake up.

Udaipur is the home of the Bond film, Octopussy. We didn't know this until we got to the town and it was EVERYWHERE! There's graffiti and signs and offers of film viewings whereever you go. (yes that is a photo of a man weeing up an octopus. Men in India wee where ever they like)

We were finally let into our hotel and chilled on the rooftop terrace overlooking the lake for the whole day. In the evening we thought we'd take up the offer of a free viewing of a bond film. We ate a pretty cheap crappy dinner of Iceland standard pizza (the shop, not the country) and were moved into a small room with a big tv and a German family and sat and watched Octopussy.

At the time we thought we'd seen the film, turns out we hadn't. A film made by a British company set in India made in the 1970s turns out to be a recipe for disaster! There were so many cringe worthy rascisty moments! All in all not the best bond, although Roger Moore dressed as a clown isn't something I'll forget in a hurry.

For the first time since leaving volunteering Martyn and I had a seperate morning. He went off walking and I had a course in miniature paintings. These are famous in Rajasthan and have a very set style. I enjoyed it so much I did 2! The first is a peacock, the national bird of India and the second is Lord Ganesh, the Hindu God.

(mine are the bottom 2)

The rest of Udaipur is a wash of relaxing on a terrace and getting boat rides. A beautiful little town that we didn't want to leave....