Travels in India with too many books

Finally, relaxation! Sitting in a cafe in Udaipur, sipping banana lassi, life is easy. Been here 2 days, and it's magical as the guidebook says: all winding alleyways with motorbikes whizzing about, failing to startle the stoic cows. We arrived, on the night train from Ahmedabad, at 8am, unfazed by a forced early rise as a result of inverse jet lag from flying across the world the easier way: East to West. With a nice hotel in mind after two nights on trains, our rickshaw driver persuaded us to try Hotel Hill Lake, a brand new hotel only open 2 weeks. The views from the room, and the fact that it's 30% cheaper than Jagat Niwas Palace Hotel, won us over (even though having been to the latter, it's not quite there in the restaurant food and ambience departments. Plus the room is a little chilly).

Yesterday, we rickshawed to the Monsoon Palace, visible from the town as a distant fairytale castle on a hill, and enjoyed the stunning views. However the best thing about Udaipur is just the relaxing atmosphere (despite the constant motorbike honking) and lakeside views. We were lucky; in the last two years the lake has been dry due to a poor monsoon.

It is especially relaxing after the frenetic pace and pollution of Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Mumbai was charming at first with it's decaying colonial buildings and early morning atmosphere; however this quickly wore off as we tried to get around. Ahmedabad was a surprise: when we arrived, early morning, it seemed almost a ghost town. By mid-morning, it had erupted into activity that lasted until late on. However, we found a great guide, "Johnny", a rickshaw driver who spoke excellent English and drove us to places like a stunningly carved stone many-floored 16th century well/temple, or Gandhi's Ashram (prayer centre) where he started his march against the British salt tax. This made us think that India, even off the tourist trail, has sights that in other countries would be central attractions.