Udaipur - Jodhpur
We decided to take the overnight sleeper bus to Udaipur. They’re very cleverly organized with some seat and overhead sleeping compartments - a sort of not-quite double decker. However, there was not too much sleep on the 12 hour journey as most of it was spent airborne due to the poor roads.
Udaipur was on the list of places to see, then off it and then on it again. The town rose to fame on the back of Octopussy - which is still shown every night in some of the local backpacker joints. However, the lake laevel is low for whatever reason and there is some dry ground - used to play cricket on - and a fair amount of rubbish. We found a place that was reasonable and overlooking the lake and for the very first time, I started to haggle the room rate with some success.
The tourist end of the town, adjacent to the lake is small, narrow and very noisy with the traffic. We actually saw some backpackers! The hotel on the island will allow you on there if you take a R2,000 meal. However, there is another island which is worthwhile going to on a lake boat tour. The palace here is the largest in Rajasthan if not all of India amnd is a massive affair (also a part hotel) that has been successivley built on by various rulers.
‘Scuse the typing but at usual this keyboard is finished.
Most of the hotels/backpackers have rooftop restaurants and on our last night we had the most romantic meal on top of one. The night is the best time in Udaipur because you can’t see the rubbish around the lake and the palace is floodlit.
Sonali wanted to see what the countryside was like so we took a day bus to Jodhpur, about 300kms to the north. The road is like the Tugela Ferry road in Natal for those who know it but the road surface is really poor - which accounts for the airborne night on the way down. We got in Jodhpur yesterday at 2pm and got a place at the Sun City - believe it or not. I haggled the room rate from Rs3000 to Rs1200 but it is still overpriced for what it is. Still, its only for a couple of nights and then off to Pushkar tomorrow. Jodhpur is the first place we’ve seen a proper local market. Sonali wants to buy some copper bowls. I’m writing this from the local fort - a massive affair that’s worth looking up on Google images. Jodhpur is known as the ‘blue city’ as many of the houses are painted blue. We ‘ve an audio guide to get through after this that will take a couple of hours.
BTW I finally lost in in Udaipur. I handed in a pair of trousers to have a small rip repaired. I was quoted Rs50 (R10) which I thought was a bit high but not worth haggling about and was told to come back at 5pm. At 4pm, I returned and was told to sit down for ten minutes. I let rip at these two guys telling them that I could have repaired the rip in ten minutes and told them to “F… off and get the trousers NOW!”
Right, to find accommodation in Pushkar . . .