Thursday 6th December
Another day, another long bus journey. Having spoken to someone at a tourist information centre, I arrived at the bus stand in Jodhpur expecting a 'deluxe' bus - equivalent to a standard coach at home but usually in a more delapidated state - to take me on the six hour bus journey south to Udaipur. Instead, as has often been the case, I was forced to take a government-run bus, and these are seemingly held together by the dirt that is caked to the seats, windows and every other crack of the rickety, rattling pieces of junk.
The bus was so noisy, due to loose and shaking metal and windows, that I had to jam my earphones deep inside my ears to avoid the irritating rattle for the entire journey. Added to this, the suspension was such that every time we went over the slightest bump in the road, I was flung about a foot off my seat, landing on my arse with a jolt so hard that my rib cage crashed against my hips.
However, I am getting increasingly used to these kind of trips, and this is a fortunate thing as I will no doubt experience many more - and possibly worse - journeys in the future. It wasn't the worst journey I have been on in India, and the beautiful mountain scenery along the way went a long way in making up for the general discomfort. We were even held up for almost an hour while construction workers bomb blasted part of the hillside away, as they were extending a long and wide stretch of motorway. We eventually got to Udaipur at 18.30, making it a journey of eight hours in total.
Udaipur is situated on a lake and surrounded by rolling hills in the distance, none of which I could probably see on arrival in the dark of the evening. It is famous for a colourful history, in the same way as all the other cities I had visited in the state of Rajasthan. A more recent claim to fame was that it was the setting for the James Bond movie 'Octopussy'. In fact, the hotels and restaurants think that this is such a big deal for us tourists that many of them screen the film every night at 19.00. As I got to my room and unpacked some of my things, I heard that famous musical intro, as 'Octpussy' was indeed starting to roll bang on time in the hotel rooftop restaurant. After a long bus journey, it felt like as good a way of passing the rest of the evening as any other.
