Next stop Delhi and the final!

The last two days spent in Udaipur have been a nice contrast to the busy cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Jaipur, not least because of the lack of traffic. We've been based in the old city which is a mass of small mazey lanes, full of shops and hotels, mostly offering a view of the Lake Palace which was used in the Bond film Octopussy. It's as an impressive sight at sunset and sunrise as the postcard pictures suggest, just a shame that as it's a rather upmarket hotel now its not possible to see inside.

 Another contrast of the town is the people, more laidback and open to tourists saying no and then open to a chat about the town, one similarity is how easy it is to get lost, maps and road signs aren't one of this countries strong points but then that is part of what makes travelling fun.

We took in a boat road to get a closer look at the two palaces on the lake and a quick wander round the Jag Mandir one, it looked as though it was getting setup for a wedding later in the day, quite an impressive venue for one. Later it's an overnight train ride on the Mewar Express back to Delhi for our lastnight of the trip, it'll be interesting to compare the train with our first overnight ride on the Radjani Express.

As for the hockey we watched the semi-finals lastnight on the tele, the teams that got through both played the better hockey and fully deserved their wins, just a shame we'll be watching England in the 3th/4th place placeoff, am hoping at least for a decent crowd as hopefully the locals will come out in force....there's still the question of who to support in the final, Germany or Australia, any help in deciding is most welcome:)