India 2010

Well it's into May and cannot believe that I've been home 10 days already. India ia a pretty amazing country, nothing is ever easy but in the end very rewarding and never boring. I left Udaipur on Apr 26 and flew to Delhi for one last night in India (had sort of forgotten how crazy Delhi could be, especially after the laidback easy going Udaipur). Hint when flying out of Delhi make certain you spend or exchange all your rupees before going through to the departure lounges as you cannot spend them in duty free unless you are an Indian. Good thing I didn't have a lot of rupees left. I flew to London the next day and Heathrow was unbelieveable, it must have taken me at least 2 hours to get through Immigration. Finally made it to my hotel, had time for quick shower and John and Tracey showed up. We hit the bar in my hotel and I had my hamburger finally (6 months with no red meat was probably good for me) and I must say I really enjoyed it. Then Sophie arrived and we had a great time catching up, in fact we did close the bar, the bar man went home but said if we wanted more drinks just call the night manager (good show). It was wonderful to see the three of them again, we had met on the Cuba trip. I am posting a few more pictures, hope you enjoy,

Hi everyone, am still enjoying Updaipur. On Sat I splurged and hired a car/driver and went to Ranakpur for the day.It is about 90  km s from Udaipur  and I did not  feel up to taking the local bus, plus the a/c was a bonus, it seems to be getting hotter every day. Ranakpur is widely known for it's marble Jain temple. Over 1444  marble  pillars carved in exqusit  detail support the temple.  It was constructed between the late 14th and  mid  15th  century.  It is really spectacular! The Jain  religion is very similar  to Hinduism  and accounts for  less than 1 percent of the population, where as  Hinduism is the religion of over 85% of all Indians. It was a nice drive and well worth it. Yesterday  (Sun)  just wandered about and ended up meeting a really nice  English couple, we went for a drink and then had a terrific dinner at  Amir (we had tried to go there for Lara's  birthday  but it was incredibly windy  and we went somewhere else). Sorry Lara  the meal was great  and it lived up to it's rating in the Lonely Planet Guide. It was a very enjoyable last evening in Udaipur, this evening I fly to Delhi and then  tomorrow London. I know I am ready for home, I have been craving a hamburger, I've been eyeing all the cows in the street and I've seen firthand what they do and stepped in it a couple of times as well (I am gong to have to burn my sandals once I make it home).Se you all in a few days.