Udaipur

Well I've officially left camel country (at the moment) and entered...monkey territory! I left Jodhpur by bus this morning, traveling into the mountains and down the other side to a lake side city called Udaipur. As we came into the forest (and out of the desert) I spotted 4 or 5 monkeys, sitting next to each other, each on their own rock, watching us go by. It was way too quick and I thought I may have missed my chance to get a good monkey picture, but once I got into town I was pleasantly surprised.

As I walked through town I saw a group of monkeys cross the street, knock over a motorcycle and climb into a tree and on a pole (the tree one is pictured above). I was giddy. The locals didn't seem to notice (except for the owner of the motorcycle, who rushed over, yelling at them).

The weather here is relatively mild, maybe 28 degrees Celsius and a little balmy. It's very forested, unlike the places I've been so far. The smells here are better, the forest smells exotic and a little sweet.

Udaipur is famous for it's lake and their palaces (one is to the right), that are built on tiny islands so they almost look like they're floating. It's a gorgeous place. My hotel is nice, the location is pretty good, and did I mention there's monkeys here?

For dinner I met up with the British couple I met in Jaisalmer (randomly on the street here) and we went to this home style place (the family actually lives there, so it's a little more than home style, it's actually their home). We had a tasty dinner, finished off with a nice glass of chai.

Apparently the James Bond movie Octopussy was partially filmed here, so they have showings around the city. I may see one tomorrow night. I'm here all of tomorrow and then leave the next day for Pushkar, which should be plenty of time to soak it all in.