Ratlam to Udaipur via Chittorgarh Fort

Sleepy breakfast

We woke this morning after yet another horrendous sleep and prepared a makeshift breakfast. We opened up our plastic bags full of leftovers and, with plastic bags as plates, enjoyed a yummy curry breakfast. Thanks for the plastic spoons Mum and Pete...they have come in handy.

Traffic jam

Wedding? Or just an excuse to make noise?

We loaded up Big Red and attempted our escape from Ratlam. We turned down a road, as directed by our map, only for it to end very quickly. We were about to do a u-turn when some local guy yelled out at us from his food cart. He pointed down some side road and indicated that we should be able to get across the blocked off construction site and continue on our way. So we did. Across some grass, over a road being constructed, down a gravel hill and somehow back onto the correct road. A good start to the day.

We were happy when we reached the highway and it was just as smooth as we had remembered from yesterday. We rode most of the way to Chittorgarh without little problem. Traffic was stopped at one point thanks to about fifty cows being herded down the highway but apart from that it was smooth sailing. Oh, and thousands of people walking down the road and another few hundred celebrating a wedding, on the road. We crossed into Rajasthan though and the road took a turn for the worse. The pot holes returned with a vengeance and trucks choked what had suddenly become a narrow two lane road. We passed one especially long truck which had come too close to the bank, tumbled down the metre drop and lay on its side next to the road. It's hard to believe that the drivers can come out of accidents like this ok when none of them wear seat belts.

Lauren (aka Rapunzel) playing princess

Chris playing prince

We rode into Chittorgarh and climbed the hill up to the fort that we had seen as we rode into town. The road followed the big, old, stone walls and took us through the huge old gates up in to little village which sits within the fort walks. As we went to start the loop of the fort a group of guys saw us coming and started to yell and point towards a ticket office. Noticing that no locals wore stopping to buy a ticket and knowing that the officials would be far too lazy to chase us, we road straight past. Within the fort are many buildings and ruins and we told ourselves that the ticket they wanted us to buy was probably only for the building it was next to.

Lauren playing princess again

The most romantic spot in Chittorgarh

As we rode we started to notice old ruins and temples popping up all over the place so we pulled Big Red over, locked up our luggage and started to explore. We were going to stay overnight in Chittorgarh but after seeing what was around, decided to just make a day of it.

We jumped on and off the bike, exploring the huge fort area on a combination of foot and motorbike and it proved very effective. Because we were happy to go traipsing across dried up rivers and the like, we found ourselves exploring places that weren't on the usual map. We soon found ourselves on a little balcony overlooking a beautiful body of water with a big old palace on the other side. And, best of all, there was absolutely nobody else around. Sitting up on a platform which jutted out from this ancient structure, it was easy to imagine that we were prince and princess overlooking our grounds.

Taking his camel for a walk

Friends

We spent quite a while stopping and starting, climbing up and under and around beautiful old buildings with only pigs, camels and cows for company. The views out over the fort walls were stunning and it was easy to see why Chittorgarh had been the perfect location for a fort.

As we went to climb aboard Big Red for the last time a nosy cow came to say hello. She was a sneaky little thing, snotting on Chris' bag when nobody was looking.

Chittorgarh Fort Walls

View from our guesthouse, Udaipur

The first hotel we asked at didn't have the right forms to take tourists (strange, yes) but was very friendly and pointed us in the right direction. When we rode into touristy lakeside Udaipur the problem wasn't finding accommodation, it was choosing some. There were guesthouses and hotels everywhere. After some more riding we found a place that we liked for only 900 INR but they only had one night available so we went in search once again finally settling on ........... The sister hotel, Lake Shore, was full so we got led to ......, located well and truly in the depths of local Udaipur. We were happy though, being off the beaten track (as much as possible in somewhere so touristy) meant we essentially had a room on the rooftop and, just outside, chairs and a mezzanine with a day bed that had views of the lake and Lake Palace.

We went back to the rooftop restaurant of Lake Shore for dinner and enjoyed a beer and a gin and tonic which, after coming from a dry state, was long awaited. We had a pretty tasty Indian meal before Octopussy came onto the TV at 7:30pm sharp. Because part of the film was made in Udaipur they play it every single night at many of the guesthouses. While others settled in for the viewing, exhausted, we headed home to bed

Lake Pichola, Udaipur