We flew to Udaipur and that was an adventure unto itself.... but the flying adventure gets even better later in the trip so I'll expalin that one then :o)... anyway, we set off to the hotel, and what a hotel! It was the Lake Palace, a former palace of the Maharani of Udaipur. You may know it better as the home of Octopussy from the James Bond film. It sits in the middle of a man made lake and is pretty spectacular. What made it even more so was the room that they provided... Upon check-in they explain that they have done something very special... the room was the former room of the Maharani himself!

Took a boat cruise of that lake and saw a "party palace" that was used for the Maharana's women so they could swim and dance in relative safety (but not "safe" from the Maharana himself :o)... ). Then a tour of his "city palace" that is built into the hill overlooking the lake... what a place! It's so big that it has been turned into two hotels, a museum and a private residence. Why a private residence you wonder... well, the decendants not only still own it all, but they live there as well! These guys have some *serious* wealth!