After having stayed in the desert city Jaisalmer for almost a week we decided to continue our journey to Udaipur. Our new Canadian friends Tiffany and Sarah were also planning on going there, so therefore we decided to go with the four of us.
We left at about 15:00 PM in the afternoon right after a last-minute repair on of the tires. After about twenty minutes the bus pulled over for an additional repair and after about 3 hours again and again ... the road was really bumpy, there were no more sleeper available and I think I've never heard such annoying honking in my life so the ride to Udaipur (of approximately 15 hours) was quite tiresome. Upon arrival the owner of our hotel (who is the cousin of the owner of the guest house in Jaisalmer) was so kind as to come to pick us up at 06:00 AM, amazingly friendly man!!
After a nice nap we decided to visit the majestic city palace, the largest palace complex of Rajasthan! I was amazed to see "Delft's blauw" (see pictures) there! It turned out the Dutch left their marks there some three hundred years ago. There we met a guide called Vikram who offered us to explain everything about the palace and India in 1 hour time! He seemed a nice person and we accepted the offer. He was enthusiastically explaining us everything about this beautiful place and quite soon it turned out he was very much into yoga and meditation which made the whole thing even more interesting for me. In several occasions he had stayed in the Netherlands and Italy to give free classes as he refuses to charge anything for it. After the tour we made an " extra excursion" to visit a temple he built located in a small village outside the city. While having a cup of "Chai" with some locals he explained us things about Hinduism and the temple. Observing this village was different then the usual temple visit and quite an authentic experience. He told us he had been approached by some organizations to give talks about religion and the environment, but he has always refused to speak in front of a crowd as he does not want the wealth that so many gurus in India enjoy. After that we returned to the city where we had another cup of Chai with him, his wife and grandchildren at his simple home. As we still hadn't paid for the tour I insisted on paying as we had formally agreed before but now way: he refused to receive any money. It was a very special experience to have met this generous man who showed us a bit of the real India.
