After our morning tour of Udaipur we had a very relaxed afternoon in the hotel watching all the polishing & buffing going on for the visit of the VIP. We had a lovely meal with local entertainment. There were 3 young men playing a variety of instruments & singing plus 2 Indian dancers. Their costumes were beautiful & at one point they were dancing with fire bowls on their heads.
Vikram was waiting for us & yesterday we started the journey towards Narlai, our next overnight stop. We travelled through hilly/ mountainous terrain & we were both reminded of being in the hinterland of Spain. We stopped at a fort which was amazing & it made Carcassonne look small. It felt like being on top of the world. We had lunch at a local restaurant called Casa Manolo— just to continue the Spanish theme— but the food was entirely Indian, simple but delicious. After lunch we went to a Jain temple which was utterly amazing—photos to follow.
We arrived at Narlai about 5pm & our hotel is an old fort. The style is very Indian & the facilities less luxurious than before, but the welcome was warm & once again the ration of of staff to guests is very high. Last night we went to a Stepwell Dinner which the hotel puts on. The ladies were given shawls & the men all had to wear turbans. There were 2 other couples & we were all transported on 3 bullock carts about 1km to an ancient well which had been lit entirely by lamps & candles. The effect was magical & we all really enjoyed ourselves. The food was Thali style & we all had a back & head massage too. We came back to the hotel by jeep with our driver on the lookout for panthers in the surrounding hill terrain!!!!!!! I forgot to take my phone so not sure whether the IPad photos will come out.
This morning we are not leaving until midday so can have a more relaxed time. We move on to Jodhpur this afternoon.
