Udaipur

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I just realized that I gave John free reign to post pictures, and they're all of me! That's gotta stop, so I've just deleted some of the more unflattering images (sitting on a camel all day and spending all night camping doesn't really show off my best side).

After a quick stop in Jodhpur (which is much bluer than Jaipur is pink) we're out of the desert and in cool, green Udaipur in the hills. The city is small, clean and pleasant to wander around in. Happily, the lake is full - after taking a boat ride around it, it's hard to believe that all of that water could just dry up with a few bad years. It's a city full of beautiful views, with the summer palaces floating in the lake and a nice waterfront. It's fairly small, but we're enjoying browsing in the bazaars and visiting the palaces. They're quite proud of their history, especially of their rulers who successfully fought off the Moghuls. These rulers (Mewars) also claim that they are descendants of the sun!

It's one of the few places we've been to that has stuff to do at night - any night of the week you can walk into one of the hotels and watch the early 80s James Bond film, Octopussy. The first part was filmed in Udaipur, and they're really making the most of it! John laughed at what a curse it must be for the folks who worked in the hotels when we passed a sign reading, "tonight's movie: Octopussy. tomorrow's movie: Octopussy'. Might get a little old after the hundreth screening...

I think winter is coming, since the evenings and early mornings are now cool - almost sweater weather!

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