VADOULOU

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Some technical problems but hoping this works

Before we left Narlai this morning we were given a tour of the village by one of the staff—Lolo. We went to 2 of the many Temples but in addition he took us into several of the local homes. The people live so simply but made us very welcome & they were happy for us to see how they live. Everywhere is clean despite the constant battle against dust. Food is important & every thing is of such good quality. The streets are nothing more than dusty tracks with cows , oxen & pigs roaming free.
Photos of Fort,Temple, hotel & village following.

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.

After a lovely meal last night overlooking the lake, we were up early this morning and onto the ferry over to the landing stage. We were met by Vikram and our guide for the morning, Chadhra. Clearly one of the warrior caste, but with a great sense of humour, and excellent English, without ever having been to the UK.

He explained that Udaipur has a population of over half a million, based upon the precious metals, granites and marbles of the region, but that tourism is now the biggest industry following the filming of The Jewel In The Crown for TV and of Octopussy, the James Bond movie. Now all the worlds great stars come here to be married, or to entertain the others at the weddings. Madonna, Lady Gaga and Lionel Ritchie recently. And today at our hotel, the president of the Maldives ( not Moldova! ). Boy do these guys travel in style! What an entourage.

Anyway, Chadhra took us to the King’s Palace, his museums and gardens, and got us in before the general opening, which was a stampede! And it was amazing. The oldest monarchy in descendants in the world – over 70 consecutive monarchs. Needless to say, a humble abode!

The melange of architectural styles is fabulous, from Moghul, Arabic, European etc, and the use of glass and mirrors is truly stunning. Then onto a temple, which was very interesting, but no photos allowed. Because the King’s son is getting married here later this month, everyone is practising their singing and dancing, and it actually seems very similar to Native American Indian culture.

And I’ve made up the ceilidh band with the Indian squeeze box – bellows and keyboard, but very different design – called a melodian, I think!
We had a great time driving around Udaipur, and then walking back to the hotel through the old town. You can see why they like you to arrive by their boats on the lake!!