I’ve got a cold, lying in bed snuffling and sneezing, while Jennifer sits in the lobby down stairs. I feel better for a rest but a quiet afternoon is on the agenda.

Last night we all went to the Charcoal Bar Restaurant which is only a short walk from the hotel. The rest of the group had just seen a dance and juggling troop and were very impressed with the show. The restaurant is four floors up from street level and the last level of the spiral staircase has only a hand support on in side. I made a mental note to myself, minimal alcohol tonight. The views from the rooftop were excellent. The nearby Hindu temple was lit up in a silvery light, the palace was illuminated bright creamy orange and fireworks lit up the eastern sky with a loud bang. Jennifer and I sat at one end of the table and we both opted for lamb kebabs. This was the right decision! Yummy! Ray who was sitting beside us both, said it was the best lamb he had ever had, and we would not disagree with him. The owner is the twin brother of the chef who took the groups cooking class earlier that day. I had strawberry waffles for desert.

We negotiated the stairs with caution to emerge onto the still busy, narrow street below. Ray and I visited a sitar player who showed us the instrument. It is a devilish musical device, with large wooden pegs to tune the steel strings, and multiple frets which are all airborne above the neck. He also demonstrated a drum and some of the unusual sounds they make in Indian music. Very interesting indeed but I am not in any way tempted to learn the sitar! I will admire it from afar like Nicole Kidman.
In the morning, we had arranged to catch up with Ray and all have breakfast together. We went to the Rainbow Restaurant again, tempted by it’s superb views of Lake Pichola. The reflections of ghats, temples and hotels all shimmered magically on the water, the sky was clear and deepest blue. This has to be the best breakfast venue ever! I had superb poached eggs and the queerest bacon, it was chopped up and cooked to death, odd. Jennifer had a beautiful omelette. Ray was a little disappointed as his pancakes were more like pikelets. Washed down with Chai of course.
After breakfast, we descended the narrow stairwell, and went back to the hotel. We met Anthony, he is French speaking Canadian and he wanted to come with us on our walk this morning. In particular we wanted to go to the Monsoon Palace that hovers above Udaipur like a star in the evening sky. You cannot go in till 10 am so we walked around the lakes, and photographed the scenery and people. There are people everywhere, mostly just busy with living; enjoying the morning, washing themselves in the lake as they stood off a ghat, setting up their shops and of course walking and driving through the city streets.

We hired a tuk tuk to the gate of the road that ascends steeply to the palace. Anthony negotiated a good price! The palace is in a beautiful location with superb views over the hills and lakes of Udaipur. It is not in a great condition but would be very suitable for restoration. It would have been a glorious and comfortable building in its heyday in the late 19th and 20th centuries, with numerous internal water features to cool the air inside. We came back into town and walked along some of the streets nearer the big hotels. We enjoyed Chai from a seller and settled down to some people watching on a concrete bench opposite the shop, and people watching is always fun in India. Ray and Anthony left us near our hotel, and so we had a light lunch at Rainbow Restaurant. By now, I felt pretty crappy and Jennifer put me to bed in our hotel room.

And tomorrow, we are off to the holy city of Pushkar!