As you might have noticed, you are now receiving the emails from my executive assistant. I was informed yesterday by my detail oriented mother, that my data usage thus far on this trip has been astronomical! Apparently it counts as an individual email for each person on the list. I have also been banned from sending pictures!

On Thursday morning we went on a boat ride in Lake Pichola. The lake is man made and is 12M deep in the deepest part. It is 3KM x 4KM in size. Located within the lake are two spectacular water palaces that were built as summer palaces for the Maharajah. The newer of the two summer palaces was in the James Bond Movie, Octop****

On one of the restaurants at the edge of the lake, there was a sign advertising that they showed a movie every night, "Octop**** or other movie"!

On Thursday night, our tour guide in Udaipur arranged a cooking class for us at a family's home.

It was meant to be only about a 10 minute drive but it quickly turned into a

1.5 hour mission to get there because of road closures and a big Indian traffic jam - obviously caused by three enormous elephants wandering down the street.

Once we arrived at the family's home, we began by learning how to cook a few indian dishes... Stuffed Okra, Mixed Vegetables and a chicken dish. The mother of the home led the demonstration - and Lucy took diligent notes so that we can try it on our own at home. We all had a chance to help, and even Richard got in on the action, demonstrating his prowess in the kitchen (Unfortunately I can't share physical proof because of the picture ban that has been imposed). Lisa paid close attention to this development and expects it to continue when they return to Melbourne.

After preparing part of the meal, we had vegetable pakoras as appetizers and sat in their family room while the finishing touches on dinner were prepared by their children. We discussed their upbringings, and talked a lot about their marriage (by virtue of the photo album that was on the coffee table).

It was a 5 day wedding with at least 150 per day and 1000 at the final dinner! Their marriage was arranged and they only met each other 2 times before the wedding - which is even crazier because that is considered a lot of pre-marriage contact.

This evening we are headed from Udaipur to Delhi by plane. The flight was scheduled for 330 but moved to 530 and now 610... Not a good pattern.

Hopefully we get there tonight.

I am sad that our Indian adventure is coming to a close... But I think I am even sadder that we have to leave the hotel!