Day 124 Friday 19 January 2007, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

Exploring Udaipur, with first stop the fabulous city palace, a pile of ochre coloured masonry with a mass of turrets, cupolas and palaces on the shore of the main lake. Its a labyrinth of palaces, chambers and passageways, many covered in mirror mosaic and coloured glass. Then we check out the lake palace hotel but its a bit snooty so we settle for a boat ride around the lake which offers splendid views of the city palace which is the home of the worlds longest established dynasty, dating back over 700 years.

We have a late lunch at the tranquil savage garden restaurant in the old part of the city and return to the city museum in the evening for a sound and light show which traces the history of the Mewar dynasty. After that we watch a performance of Twelfth Night in the palace amphitheatre, given by a group of mainly English actors called “Out of Cocoon” on a sandy patch which doubles as a soccer pitch. Its an excellent performance despite having to cope with feral dogs and goats crossing the stage, the occasional monkey and various people riding bicycles. Bit incongruous really but a good show.

Distance Today: 0km Trip to date: 18,924km