We arrived in Udaipur after yet another night on a train, neither looking nor smelling very nice. We immediately found a rickshaw driver who was full of jokes and bought us a cup of chai which gave us a huge sugar rush. We then found a lovely room with stained glass looking out over the lake (we were only marginally jealous of the people staying in the 5star Lake Palace hotel in the middle of the lake).

Udaipur is set around two lakes, and is packed full of palaces, many of which are now hotels. After washing Jon's slepping bag in the bath, (it had caught soem sort of mould from the damp room in Goa and the smell was enough to knock out an elephant) we ventured out for lunch and were treated with a tuna sandwich on brown bread. We then wandered through the little streets - escaping various men trying to convince us that what we needed in the 30 degree heat was a new suit each for only 80quids - to the city palace. The palace is absolutely stunning, full of glass mosaics, stained glass, carvings, gold leaf, huge courtyards etc - don't think they'd heard of minimalism.

In the evening we had an extremely surreal experience. After dinner we sat down on an open rooftop terrace to watch Octop**** (part of it was filmed here) under the stars, with the occasional firework going off in the background.

After such a lovely day we obviously desereved to be punished. We have spent today on a 5 hour autorickshaw tour/ sales pitch which covered only 10km. Our driver decided to spend the entire 5 hours either trying to make us buy paintings, giving a detailed account of his busines and exactly how much profit he makes on each item, or trying to convince us to set up business with him. Never mind, after a pancake and cuppa we were recovered and enjoying looking out over the city again without anyone wittering in our ears.

Off to Jodphur on the bus tomorrow, then to Chandigargh by train which sounds like Indias answer to Milton Keynes, think there may be some differences though.

Sarah