Finale

Finally we are in our last destination (if you don't count our very last night near Delhi in Tikli Bottom but that should be a story of a separate blog:) - Udaipur.

We are parting with Mulchand, our driver of 8 days. We actually felt quite sentimental and J gave him a very good tip, which I think Mulchand was quite embarassed to accept (but of course he still did!;).

Behind them is a lake which is the main reason why people come to this town (and lots of shopping too of course!). You can see what looks like an early 20th century cruise ship on the lake in the background. In fact this is a famous Lake Palace hotel - it's a 5 start hotel, yes, a building, that seems to float on the lake. Really quite incredible at night with all the twinkling lights...we didn't stay in that hotel of course:) (300 quid a night anyone?), but at an old, beautifully restored, haveli right by the lade side. It's called Jagat Niwas, so you can have a look at the link on the right;)

I went for my first and last lesson of yoga the following morning (tough but I really like it). Here I'm just sitting and having my breakfast of cinnamon swirls and real coffee! it's a German bakery, believe it or now (well, and Indian version of it).

On our last evening in Udaipur we went to see traditional Rajastani dance.

One bowl on her head:

And ten!!!

Katya posing next to our hotel room:

KK and JC both posing (we look particularly happy 'cos we've just devoured a huuuge banana split!)

The Lake Palace at night:

And here we are. The end of our trip. How could I summarise it?

Well, I took this picture at the airport when we were flying from Udaipur to Delhi. It's Ganesh, leisurely lying on a pedestal, all pink, relaxed, reading a (spiritual? or quite naughty?) book, in the middle of an aiport..absurd! sweet, silly, incredible, incomprehensible, devout - India is all of that, and so much more.

So many people have such different theories about the ways this country will progress, or not. But all I can say now, writting this blog 2 weeks after our return, is that India did have a huge impact on me. I didn't expect to be this affected by poverty, mind-boggling number of temples and some sort of centeredness that seem to come with it (at least it did to me). I'm now back to the hassles of 9 to 5, but still, every morning I wake up with my nose remembering a mixture of Indian street smells and a sense of perspective, depth this world, my world has. I'm trying to keep it...