Oooh dapper in Udaipur

The Marwari is a beautiful Indian horse, the first of which I met properly at Camp Zainabad in Gujarat.  Marwaris are warmbloods (like a Thoroughbred to the less initiated) descended from far eastern horses with, surely a spot of Arab mixed in there along the way.  They have insanely curly ears, lovely paces and come in lots of beautiful colours.  They are also a delight to ride as I discovered at Krishna Ranch which is in the hills outside Udaipur keeps a beautiful collection of them in fabulous condition.  The ranch is run by the amicable Dinesh and Francine who also owned the exceptional little hotel where I was staying in town.  Hotel Kumbha Palace nestles in the offshore shadow of the City Palace which I photographed in my last post.  I was so comfortable there with the Langur monkey neighbours, the great Dane and the delicious food that having to leave for the Taj Mahal became a most reluctant departure!

The line on the left was my window frame!

A nice spot for a morning ride

My relaxing time in Udaipur continued and having spent two evenings on the roof soaking up the atmosphere of "wedding season" with the lovely Alex from Hampshire, I met Matt and Dan from London at Sashi's excellent cookery class and then lovely Bronwen from Bristol.

One happy teacher and pupil ...thanks Sashi!

It was with Bronwen (who has an excellent Blog) that I donned a little slap and my limited finery and entered the city palace grounds for sunset G&Ts at one of the most splendid hotels I have ever seen.  It was wonderful to be waited on in such style and opulent surroundings whilst we swapped our travel stories ...including the one about Bronwen's night as the accidental passenger in the 1st class carriage reserved for the Minister of Defense for India!! It was nice to know that before curling up on his bunk, he introduced himself and apologised for the ferocious platoon of gun wielding bodyguards that rudely awoke her prior to his boarding!!

*you might remember the shampoo advert with two backpacker girls and the luxury eastern hotel where they quickly washed their hair in the fountain outside to gain admission? ...It came back to me as we crossed the threshold of the ornate and guarded palace gates!