When we were in Bharatpur we went to Keolandeo National Park (not sure if I spelt that right).  The park is famous for its birds, but also has monkeys, turtles and deer.  We hired bikes to cycle around the park which was really nice, except that the bikes where a bit dodgy to say the least, no brakes and the chain came off a couple of times!

In the morning we left early to drive to Rathambore National Park.  It was an all day drive and it was a very hot day, so we were very pleased when we arrived at the hotel to find a swimming pool, which is a rare thing in India.  That evening we had some local Rajastan people come and do some tradional dances for us, but I think we actually did more dancing than they did.

We were up at 5:30 the following morning to go on a jeep safari into the park, which is famous for its tigers, but unfortunately we did not manage to see any, we did see several deer, monkeys, antelopes and several different birds, including large numbers of peacocks.  The safari lasted about 3 hours and when we got back to the hotel we packed up our things and started our journey down to Udaiper.  It is a 2 day drive to Udaiper, so we stopped along the way and found a good spot to bush camp, it was tucked away off the road in a little stone mine, so we only had a couple of locals come over to watch us, which makes a nice change from the 50 to 60 we usually attract.

In the  morning we left at about 6:30 as we still had about 450km to cover, which takes a long time when you are in India, especially when you get lost or take the scenic route, we did both!  We spent several hours taking a shortcut through a lot of farmland driving on dirt tracks which was very interesting.  On the way we stopped at a small town to buy samosas for lunch and I think we pulled in the biggest crowd yet, easily over 100!.

We arrived at the Jarat Retreat just outside Udaipur at about 6, which is where we were staying for 2 nights, we were supposed to be camping, but a few of us upgraded to the lodges as they were stunning, huge rooms with great decor and the best bathrooms I have seen yet, in England the rooms would probably be close to 150 quid a night, but here in India they were only about a tenner - bargain.

On Monday (7th March) we took some tuc tucs (rickshaws) into the city to have a look around, it is a beautiful city and more relaxed than all of the others we have been to so far.  Udaiper is built alongside a huge lake, but unfortunately they have not had the monsoon rains for several years and the lake has been dry for over 6 years.  The James Bond film Octopussy was filmed here, so if any of you have seen that you will know what it is like.  The highlight of the city was the City Palace which has been turned into an absolutely huge museum showing the palace and the history of Udaiper.

Udaiper is sourounded by large hills/small mountains and in the evening we took tuc tucs upto the top of one of them to see the monsoon palace and the sunset.  The palace has stunning views of the city below and the sourounding hills.  We were supposed to go up there for the sunset and we almost did not go as it was cloudy all day, but just as we got to the top the clouds cleared and the sunset was stunning, the best one I have seen by far, the colours were amazing.  From there we all went back into the city and had a meal in a really great restaurant overlooking the summer and winter palaces which were lit up.

On Tuesday we left Udaiper to come upto Pushkar which is where I am now.  On the way we stopped off in a town called Chittograth (think that is spelt wrong too) where they have a huge fort at the top of a ridge (it is 6km long and 1km wide). We only had a couple of hours here, so we had a whistle stop tour to see the temples and towers.  We had some great views of the city and countryside from here too.  We then carried onto Pushkar and arrived at about 7 oclock.  We were all quite tired by this time, so were just going to pop out and get something to eat and get an early night, especially as Pushkar is a very holy place and alcohol is illegal!  When we got to the restaurant though the waiter said he could smuggle some beers in, but we would have to call them apple juice and keep the bottles hidden under the table!  One beer turned into several and then we went back to the hotel and met up with another overlanding group who were staying there and one thing led to another and we finally went to bed at 5 this morning.

Pushkar is a very nice and relaxed place, they have banned all motorised vehicles from the centre and the shop owners are not pushy or try to hassle you which makes a nice change, so it has been a nice easy day strolling round doing a bit of shopping and walking off the hangover.

Our next port of call is Jaiper for a couple of days and then onto Delhi where the first part of the trip is over and we loose some people and pick up a young Australian guy, which is a real shame as the group get on really well.

I will write another update in Delhi on Sunday.