In the footsteps on Mr. Bond

Things are moving fast here in India. Everyday a new city and something new to be amazed at. After Agra and the Taj Mahal we moved on to Jaipur, known as the pink city. It was painted pink for a royal visit in the 19th century and now is more orange, which is the lucky colour of Hinduism so that worked out well for them. Jaipur was a bit crazy. Had a really big tourist day that involved hiking to the top of the Amber Fort that overlooks the city. You have the option of riding an elephant to the top, but that was pretty expensive. The views from the fort were stunning. The region is full of flat lands punctured by mountains. Stunning is the only word for it.

Jaipur also made me realize that India is not really that big...at least for white people. When we left Agra we were a bit late for the train...ok an hour late...but fortunately the train was 4 hours late so we made it with no trouble. In the train station while waiting we met up with 3 guys who had also just met at the station- a dutch guy, a frenchman and a guy from the Czech Republic. We ended up talking and playing cards most of the trip. The next day we ran into them at 2 of the places we visited and then shared a reserved compartment with the french guy on the way to Udaipur (the city where I am now). The traveling community is never as big as you think it is.

Right now I am in Udaipur, which is so beautiful. Our hotel room overlooks the lake, which is lined with palaces and temples. It is stunning. Also, it is where they filmed parts of the James Bond movie Octopussy, which we watched at the hotel last night. So funny to see the movie and then look to one side and see the places they claim are in Dehli. I was also struck by the fact of all the places Bond went in the movie (London, Berlin and Dehli) I have been to them all!

Plans have changed for Christmas. I will now be spending it in India, probably coming back here to Udaipur to the same hotel (which costs 7.50 dollars split between Liz and I). We were going to head to the beaches of Goa, but there has been a terrorist alert there as members of Al Queda were caught carrying out dry-runs of some bombings they were planning. Plus it is rather far away and staying here will save travel time and money. All in all a much better plan...at least until it changes again.