Not quite the traveller hang-out we'd anticipate...

Our vision of chilling with like-minded backpackers -- drinking cold coffees in rooftop cafes -- fled along with all the visitors, and almost as many business owners, escaping the city's heat.

Once we accepted this small disappointment, Bundi turned out to be a captivating town, full of narrow lanes of Brahmin-blue houses, lakes, hills, bazaars and a temple at every turn. I'd almost say that 'Blue City' better describes Bundi, than it's big brother Jodhpur; we had an amazing view of this sea of blue through the arches in our hotel's rooftop restaurant.

To top off our picture-postcard panorama, we looked up at a fantastical palace of faded-parchment cupolas and loggias, rising from the hill side above the town. This partly decaying edifice seems to grow out of the rock it stands on; Kipling's analogy, 'the work of goblins rather than of men', is very apt.

We spent a rather sweaty morning exploring the palace: with its crumbling staircases and creeper-covered archways. The rooms that are open boast a series of fabulous, fading turquoise and gold murals. It could definitely do with some restoration work. But at the same time, that's part of its charm: scenes from The Jungle Book kept springing to mind ... Helped along by David providing a backing track of 'I'm the king of the swingers'.

Note: Be careful of the marauding macaques. After returning with stories of David's unfortunate encounter with a particularly testosterone-charged monkey, we had a quick lesson from our hotel manager: red face bad, black face friendly.