BUNDI - UDAIPUR - FEBRUARY 12

A last glimpse at the fort from our balcony…. There are also a few monkeys around, one has to be careful, as they don’t hesitate to come into the rooms to steal things. .

After a good breakfast, , we say bye bye to the cows and pigs around the hotel and we leave for a long road trip. Today is one of our longest days on the road. Udaipur is about 360 km away from Bundi, which is not that far, but knowing that the average speed in India is about 60 km/h, it will take at least 6 hours. And in fact, it will take us about 8 hours. We have a longer stop in a school on the way, as we could see all the pupils from the road and we wanted to have a closer look. The schoolmaster invites us for coffee, it is a very nice moment. All the children, mostly teenagers, are really excited about seeing us I don’t think that 4 European women stop that often to see their school.

The other reason why it takes us more time to reach our destination is that a long stretch of the road (180 km) is under construction, .so that it is difficult to drive even at 50-60 km/h. It is sometimes just 20 km/h. It is so bumpy and dusty at times, with trucks everywhere. And of course, the usual cows crossing the road.We stop another time for a snack.... ........The landscapes are very nice, it is a very fertile area, so there are lots of green fields ......and even opium fields (in blossom at this time). We also pass the town of Chittor, but unfortunately don’t have time to stop to admire the beautiful fort, that is huge. We can see it from the road though. Another time… There are anyway plenty of good reasons to come back to this part of India.

I ask Jassi if he wants to drive us to Mumbai instead of Udaipur, it is "only" 900 km away, but he does not want to... Strange!

It is about 4.30 pm when we enter Udaipur. First thing we see in the narrow street is an elephant… Our hotel Blue Heaven is situated right by the lake, the view from the terrace is fantastic. .Our room is fairly small, but it is OK. I really like Udaipur at first glance. I go for a stroll on my own in the city, there are nice houses, very colourful.... .Everything is colourful in India, anyway. Even the cows have red horns here... There are also plenty of beautiful murals.....

On the street, I meet a girl who was with her boyfriend in Bharatpur, staying in the same guesthouse. So we talk for a while, exchanging our impressions. Then, I go on with my walk, but it is dark now and I get lost…. Everything looks alike in the city…. I have to ask for my way several times before I find the right street again.

We have dinner in a nice roof top restaurant, not far from our hotel.