I had slept well and woke up in good cheer. I had decided now that I would miss Pushkar because of the lost night and head off to Bundi to be there on time for the Deshalla festival.
I had a lazy morning then took a long walk around the lake and through some back streets. Talking to the little children who constantly asked me for either a few rupees or a pen. (I noted to myself I should buy a handfull of pens - that way it is less like rewarding begging and more like promoting literacy.)
After lunch I hire an autorickshaw (which you could describe as a three wheeled covered motor bike with a back see - called a "tuk-tuk" elsewhere in Asia I believe) and take in the sights around udaipur before catching an overnight bus.
The sites I visited were:
- Fateh Sagar - a large man made lake with a couple of little islands. In fact all the lakes around Udaipur are man made - they are the towns water supply and I suppose you would call them reservoirs except they are also used for washing clothes, boating and dumping rubbish.
- Moti Mahal - Mahal mean palace and I don't remember what Moti is, but it is a small palace and museum in a beautiful garden that overlooks the lake. There several monuments mainly to a famous leader (something like) Paratak and his noble steed Chetak who had won a famous battle. The battle was against the Moghuls who had used elephants to charge so they had dressed the horse in armour with a trunk that confused the elephants and stopped them attacking.
- Saheliyak-ki-bari (?) which is the garden of two girl friends or something like that. Made for the daughter of a ruler and her friend it was noted that the fountains were all created using gravity fed water pressure - no pumps etc.
- A puppet museum that had other folk art and masks etc of the various regions of Rajasthan. It included a very entertaining puppet show that represented a performance for a king including traditional indian activities such as a belly dancer, a snake charmer, dummy-horse dancers and jester.
- The cemetery for the Maharanas - varying in size from enormous to minor these white domed monuments are not officially a tourist attraction , but guards let people look through for a tip.
- An art school - which demonstrated the minature art that is famous in the area. The minute detail and skill is amazing and beautiful. Like most art at its best it is wonderful and very very expensive. The visit of course is a sales pitch - and the driver owned up that he will get a commission if I buy anything.
- Finally we went to the "monsoon palace" - which is not much of a palace but is in a perfect location to watch the sunset.
Back in town after a long day I purchased a pricy indian designed cotton sheet to act as a cover for the bus and for various grotty beds that may come up.
I had dinner on the roof house and it was a comedy of errors. I suspect they had just opened because when i got there they were desperately trying to get the dvd player and TV connected for the mandatory showing of Octopussy. The waiter was a bit flustered and was like and indian "Manuel" trying to do everything at once and forgetting things. After some prompting he took our orders - he bought my drink then scurried off to serve some others before I could tell him he hadn't opened the bottle. He came back with the opener and a pad and asked me to repeat what I had ordered because he had forgotten. I did and reminded him that I had to catch the bus and asked that he hurry. "Of course, Of course, no problem".
An American behind me had ordered a Pizza and was complaining that it was not even cooked- I thought this was a further error but the waiter assured him this is how Pizzas are made in india - cold cheese is added to the top of it ?
The bus was a "sleeper" which I had assumed was something like the sleepers we had in Peru where they recline extra and have more leg room, but this was not the case. A sleeper in India has a row of "booths" for want of a better word almost on a mezzanine floor above the normal seets.
Single sleepers on one side, double of the other. It was cramped and very noisy so I didn't sleep much but it was still better than a seat and still not expensive.
It was an uneventful trip on a very bumpy road for the most part.