Sunrise in Narlai, Sunset in Udaipur

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We were up early for a 6am start on our walk up the 753 steps to the top of Elephant Rock, unfortunately someone forgot to tell our guide. One of the waiters was co-opted and off we went, with him in this lovely white uniform and 9m of turban.

Thanks to the quick pace he set, we got to the top in time to watch the sunrise. Rajasthan is surprisingly green and has quite a few lakes, albeit many are man made. The view was stunning and the light was beautiful. There is a large elephant statue on the top of the hill and a small temple. While the guide was showing me the temple, the local holy man came chanting up the hill which was rather magical - or mystical.

We had a cup of tea and a biscuit before descending for a quick walk around the village. Our waiter/guide had got into the swing of things and took us to visit a couple of ladies who made dresses and jewellery. However it was before breakfast and no sales were concluded.

After a far too short stay at our luxurious hotel, we were back in the car and off to Udaipur, one of the smaller cities of Rajasthan famous for it's beautiful (manmade) lake. We are staying in another heritage hotel, part of the Maharana's palace, right on the lake front overlooking the Lake Palace. This is the summer palace which is built in the middle of the lake. We took a boat ride this afternoon at sunset and again were agog with the beautiful colours across the buildings. The sunset colours are real, no photoshop applied.

We braved the tuk tuk drivers to go across town for dinner on the roof top of a different hotel - more spectacular views of the city and good food, as well as the thrill of negotiating both the fare and the busy, narrow streets.

The comedy of the evening was to return to our room to be confronted by two men from housekeeping. Our laundry was back but there was a problem. Did Liz have both a cream and a beige pair of knickers? At first we thought, from the photos we were shown, that they had managed to turn the cream ones beige. Then we all unpacked the bag of beautifully folded laundry and realised the problem. We had someone else's blue knickers and the beige ones were missing. Given all our awareness of being modest in our attire, cultural differences etc., it seemed totally crazy to be going through Liz's knickers with a pair of total strangers!

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