Apart from the fact that the shaking opened the window, blasting us with a jet of cold air every 30 minutes, the 14 hour overnight bus to Udaipur was not as bad as the Shangri-La experience (at least I got a bit of kip!). After then crashing for another couple hours we were treated to a breakfast right on the lakefront overlooking the beautiful city of Udaipur. Having thought that
Jaisalmer was a fairytale fort, this is where the princesses would have come from! The Palace Hotel was floating in the clear waters, the hills were shimmering in the distance, the ghats were alive with the sound of clothes being violently beaten clean
and the waters were lined with ornate havelis, temples and hotels. A pre-lunch amble confirmed the attraction of the old city, only marginally spoiled by the ridiculous number of rickshaws and cars trying to squeeze through the narrow streets and the tourist hordes adding to the general blockage. Day 2 was for joining the other tourists, we marveled at the Palace, went shopping for "miniature" paintings and then watched the Bond film Octopussy on the roof of a restaurant, sp
otting all of the places in the city where it was filmed whilst eating pizza! With 4 of us we were then able to hire a car for a day costing a paltry 4 quid each and so were able to take in the more distant sites of Kumbalgarh and Ranakpur. Kumbalgarhfort fort was
impressively placed at the summit of a dominating outcrop, the 36km outer wall snaking off into the distance. The whole place was also remarkably empty and in excellent repair. Ranakpur was an excellent contrast, being a group of intricately carved marble Jain temples set in a
remote wooded valley. The detail rivaled those of Jaisalmer and the marble must have been much harder to work here compared to the softer sandstone. All in all the day panned out to make a wonderful trip, the car also taking us through valleys and a countryside of small villages, crops drying in fields and cattle driving water collection from deep wells for collection, washing and the irrigation of the lush sugar cane fields.
Apart from the fact that the shaking opened the window, blasting us with a jet of cold air every 30 minutes, the 14 hour overnight bus to Udaipur was not as bad as the Shangri-La experience (at least I got a bit of kip!). After then crashing for another couple hours we were treated to a breakfast right on the lakefront overlooking the beautiful city of Udaipur. Having thought that 
Jaisalmer was a fairytale fort, this is where the princesses would have come from! The Palace Hotel was floating in the clear waters, the hills were shimmering in the distance, the ghats were alive with the sound of clothes being violently beaten clean 
and the waters were lined with ornate havelis, temples and hotels. A pre-lunch amble confirmed the attraction of the old city, only marginally spoiled by the ridiculous number of rickshaws and cars trying to squeeze through the narrow streets and the tourist hordes adding to the general blockage. Day 2 was for joining the other tourists, we marveled at the Palace, went shopping for "miniature" paintings and then watched the Bond film Octopussy on the roof of a restaurant, sp
otting all of the places in the city where it was filmed whilst eating pizza! With 4 of us we were then able to hire a car for a day costing a paltry 4 quid each and so were able to take in the more distant sites of Kumbalgarh and Ranakpur. Kumbalgarhfort fort was 
impressively placed at the summit of a dominating outcrop, the 36km outer wall snaking off into the distance. The whole place was also remarkably empty and in excellent repair. Ranakpur was an excellent contrast, being a group of intricately carved marble Jain temples set in a 
remote wooded valley. The detail rivaled those of Jaisalmer and the marble must have been much harder to work here compared to the softer sandstone. All in all the day panned out to make a wonderful trip, the car also taking us through valleys and a countryside of small villages, crops drying in fields and cattle driving water collection from deep wells for collection, washing and the irrigation of the lush sugar cane fields.
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