I left Bombay after a tiring day and got aboard the first of several trains taking me north to Rajasthan. Heretofore unkonown Spanish girl named Kristina sat next to me on the first train – ten hours to Ahmedabad. From there we changed to a twelve hour slow train to Udaipur.

I learned a few facts about this train when during one of the several 30+ minute stops I went up and met all of the conductors and engineers in the engine car: Slow train number 432 built in Varanasi in 1968, maximum speed on this section 55 KPH (that is about 30 MPH). Twelve hours to go a total distance of 290 Kilometers (that is only 180 miles, that means about 15 MPH average speed, like a good bicycle).

Spectacular scenery all the way passing through lush green hilly Gujarat and South Rajasthan (which I thought was suppose to be all desert!). This train track is far from any road and so stops for long stretches in really remote villages where all the passengers get out, sit on the soft green grass and look over the view, village children running up to play ball and get a look at the strangers. So quiet. Just waiting for the train heading in the opposite direction to reach the section of track where two trains can pass each other.

In our compartment met two nice fellows: Anil from Rajasthan and Prahbu from Gujarat. We got on so well with Gujarati Prahbu that he came along with us when we reached Udaipur, stayed in the same hotel and we all had dinner together at the most reasonable and typical place in town. The restaurant was named “Santosh” and is located near the Dharamshala pilgrim hotel. We ate the local standard dish called ‘Dhal Bhati’, which is lentils (dhal) and bhati, a fire-baked ball of hard wheat flour crumbled then smothered in Ghee (a kind of butter oil) instead of rice. This is served with several excellent curried vegitable dishes. The same Bhati with sugar added is called “Chorma” and makes a nice dessert. I guess that since the fundimental situation of traditional Rajasthani is desert warriors living nomadically with their camels it makes sense that the true original bhati is baked in a fire fueled by dried camel dung (which actually smells great when burned).

Udaipur is a very romantic city – our hotel had marble floors and cost us $3 each. The next morning Prahbu left and Kristina and I went to see the Udaipur Palace, joyfully ornate and huge with a great collection of miniatures (painting on paper or walls) inside that made the court life and history here come alive. The James Bond movie ‘Octopussy’ was filmed in the lake palace below.

Every hill here in Udaipur appears to be topped by some cool building beckoning through the shaggy green forests, abondoned palaces haunting and taunting the eye. Like every hour spent looking upon the lake and horizon reveals a new palace, every minute spent looking at the western-dressed Rajasthani men here reveals that their ornate traditions cannot be contained by western formalities. The Rajasthani man’s love of personal decoration sneaks out in the earrings, painted fingernails, bracelets, and mahindi (organic henna designs drawn on wrists palms and soles). Traditionally dressed village men wandering through the streets on a shopping run can be tall (more than two meters!), skinny, and turbaned, sporting long mustaches they constantly twist up at the end and thereby show their manhood. Women are separated, the streets belong to fierce, loyal Rajasthani men with firm gazes and clear eyes. Despite this imposing appearance they are easy to coax a smile from with only a moment of clowning.

Foreigners are everywhere (‘phirengi’ means foreigner) but are able to float here and there unmolested in the off-season. This place is tied up pretty tight on the entrance fees, so no way to sneak in anywhere without paying. That is OK since here the fees are generally much lower than the UNESCO sites in the rest of India.

I am so pressed for time that I must go to Jodhpur tomorrow. Going to examine the inventory of several furniture producers there for Hediyeh.com. Called mom and she sounds like she is a bit depressed but is trying to hide it from me, I gave her advice to focus on the present –said I also worried more about my sister Darya’s speed and distraction than mom’s passionate heart orientation.