Udaipur

Picturesque Udaipur, surrounding the shores of Lake Pichola, was chosen as one of the principal locations for the filming of Octopussy. A complete contrast to Mumbai, the old city is geared up for mass tourism, hundreds of agents offering tours of the city and surrounding areas, shopkeepers trying to force there wears upon weary travellers. On arrival at the tarain station, at 7:30 am, after a 19 hour journey, I jumped into a prepaid rickshaw, who's driver, Manu, turned out to be a very friendly fellow. He saved me some rupees by showing me to the Lake Shore Hotel, half the price of the place I had reserved, and with the lake coming right up to the window of my room.

After a refreshing shower, well eneded after the 19 hour journey here, I strolled around the old city, and found myself in a ceremony in a beautiful Hindu temple (Jag Mandir), surrounded by the sounds of bells and the smell of burning incense. At the end of the ceremony, the priest kindly threw some holy water on my face. In the afternoon, a fellow guest, Isaac, and myself, employed Manu's services to take us to Monsoon Palace, on the top of a nearby hill. The long afternoon shadows added to the mystical ambience looking through the mist out over the surrounding area, Udaipur city visible by the lakeshore, and hills protruding out of the plains in the distance. White monkeys with black faces sat around grooming each other and playing near the entrance to the palace. After sunset, back at the hotel, I enjoyed a Vegetable Mutter and a beer, looking out over the lake and the old city lit up on the other side. After dinner, we suffered a screening of Octopussy, if only to see how Udaipur was portrayed in the film.

The following morning, I took a tour of some of the other sights the city has to offer: a burial site for the Marharanas, sporting hundreds of spikey Hindu domes; a colourful and serene royal garden with elephant-shaped fountains and squirrels playing in the trees; another Hindu temple, and finally an outlet for intricately decorated Indian bed clothes and wall hangings. I stopeed for lunch at an authentic Indian restaurant, where the man dining opposite me explained how to eat Thali with one's hand, a very useful lesson.