Udaipur & eating amazing Italian food in Pushkar

Udaipur is a beautiful city. It is where James Bond's "Octopussy" was filmed. The girls and I arrived in the evening time and decided to hit up the shops right away. Angie and Alex ended up both buying beautiful sari's (which wasn't an easy process nonetheless with all the arguing with the shopkeepers) and I bought a beautiful purple embroidered long dress. The next day we decided to ditch the guides and explore the city on our own. We walked to the lake and than took a gondola up where we could admire the view of the city. Around the lake we saw people bathing and washing their clothes in it. The lake, although beautiful from afar, is extremely dirty (much like the rest of India) when you look at it close.  I can't imagine what it would be like to have to bathe and wash my clothes in somewhere like that. Afterwards we explored the city some more, and than went to watch the sunset on the water. Later on we enjoyed a traditional Rajasthani music and dance show- it was fabulous! We watched one woman balance 9 pots on her head and dance like a pro, swinging her hips to the music. In the evening we ate dinner, and smoked some shisha. The Royal Palace was being rented out for a wedding by some Bollywood star or something. Wow was it ever a sight! From our rooftop looking up we heard a live band which was loud all night (nothing is quiet in India), and a spectacular light show... it was definitely a fancy and expensive affair. We were also able to witness some other wedding processions in India. Each night we would hear the band playing down the street and rush outside to watch the groom on horseback and the tons of people beside him cheering and dancing away on the street. All times it was amazing to see. Today we drove another long drive to Pushkar. Our driver took us to some tourist restaurant for lunch which was grossly overprices... As soon as we told the man at the restaurant it was too expensive h said "Okay! 40% off!" India is a place where you constantly have to barter and it is very exhausting. In the tourist areas people are always trying to rip you off and no one ever tells you the real price. At the same time everything is very affordable.. We have been eating most meals for 1-4 dollars. On our way to Pushkar I read in the Lonely Planet that there was a good authentic Italian restaurant. We decided to check it out and had the most amazing meal ever. Indian food is very yummy but we were all getting a bit sick of curries and were delighted to feast on Banana Lassi's, hummus and pita, big Margherita pizzas, and the most amazing desert I have had so far traveling; a banana, fudge, ice cream, whip cream, biscuit concoction.... Wow did we ever enjoy it! So far I can only describe India as a rollercoaster.. it has been a series of ups and downs. It is amazing, the sights, culture, history, food, etc... But it is quite shocking at the same time. Driving in general is horrendous, the men are often harrassing us (taking our pictures, staring, saying things, rubbing against us 'by accident' and are also quite arrogant towards us women, and I am appalled at the lack of care for the environment. The roads are packed with garbage, it looks like you are driving through a dump sometimes. Many people throw their trash on the ground with so little regard for the planet...its quite upsetting. I have seen a lot of road kill on the street and today I cried out loud when I saw a dog running down the street with the leg of another animal in its mouth. Its been an experience thats for sure.. Tomorrow we will explore the Ghats of Pushkar (one of the Holiest cities in India) and than head on to Jaipur the capital of Rajasthan. I have heard many good things about Jaipur (especially the shopping) so I am quite looking forward to that. We are going to visit the Monkey temple there which should be quite some fun as well. (Today as we were driving we saw a row of monkeys eating bread on the side of the road, it was pretty funny).

Here are some pics from the last days.. I hope everyone is doing well and I miss everyone lots

Love  Krista

Rat Temple- near Bikaner

Temple near Udaipur

Overlooking Udaipur

Sunset in Udaipur

Our driver Hookum and us