Oases in the Desert

---

Finally stopped and at last have had a chance to catch up with our blog. We arrived in Pushkar, much to some relief as we knew this place would have very little to offer in terms of doing anything - albeit extremely beautiful. Brahma the top hindu god dropped a lotus flower once and a huge lake appeared all of a sudden. This fresh water lake in the middle of dry, hilly scrubland is a major pilgrim site and the beautifully coloured houses and temples that surround this holy body of water are very attractive. Everyone was extremely laid back here, the hard sell hassle was all but non-existent, haggling kept to a minimum. This might have had something to do with the interesting flavoured green lassis being drunk by visitors and locals alike! We stayed in a bold blue temple guesthouse (Krishna - it was fabulous) and, at last we bumped into one of my ex-students (Emily, travelling with her friend Cress!). We spent most of the time taking photographs, drinking mango juice, eating humous and avocado pitta breads and buying jewellery. Afterall this action I was in terrible need of another Ayervedic massage. This time I was butt naked with Meetu, an aged Indian, resident masseur of our guesthouse, and having been slathered in oil and rubbed all over he escorted me back to my room, where he rather shyly asked me if he could have some of my wife's underwear! He explained that his missus had a preference for marks and spencer - we didn't believe him!
We then took the bus to Udaipur. This city is completely magic, and is definitely the most European looking city we've been too. A huge oasis in the middle of the desert, the lake has been extended through man made devices, but the stunning palaces and temples that line the waters edge on both sides, and the hilly terrraces that the rest of the town is made up from, make Udaipur a combination of Naples and Venice! Aside from visits to the Maharaja's various residences (we saw the worlds largest turban and the leaning tower of Pisa, Eiffel tower and Statue of Liberty all made out of polystyrene!), we couldn't pass up the opportunity to sup g&t's at the top end hotel by the City Palace, whilst the sun set over the lake and the famous lake palace, and then pass a supper on a roof terrace watching Octopussy (much of which was filmed here) and then pretending to be licensed to kill for the rest of the stay. We stayed in an absolutely fantastic guesthouse called Dream Heaven, with a superlative view from our room, a brilliant roof-top restaurant and the cheapest to boot!

---