October 10th - Udaipur to Jodhpur

We decided to leave as late as possible to enjoy the early morning at the Lake Palace Hotel. Our suite was simply unbelievable. It included a whirlpool bath that had windows on three sides overlooking the lake! It was such a shame that we were only spending one night there. It has to be one of our top five hotels in the world. Another photo of this unbelievable hotel as we took the boat back to our car.

We left soon after 8am for the 325 kms drive to Jodhpur. We had decided to skip the optional off road section so that we could spend time at two places on the route. The first is the magnificent and awesome Kumbalgarh Fort and the second a Jains temple at Ranakpur. Both these sites were constructed in the 15th century.

The fort is perched on top of a hill, miles from any large town.

The walls extend for thirty-six kilometres! The place reminded me so much of the Great Wall of China. A view looking down on the walls.

We spent a couple of hours there, climbing to the very top from where the views across the Indian countryside were fantastic. It is difficult to comprehend the work that went into constructing such a huge fortification.

About 50 kms north we came to the marble temple of the Jains religion. The temple has 1,144 columns, all intricately carved, supporting its many domes.

Each dome is wonderfully carved on the inside.

The construction of the temple apparently took 60 years.

We then drove the 120 kms to Jodhpur, stopping on the way at a carpet weaving stall and buying a beautiful hand made carpet. A short-cut from the official route took us up the main highway due north and we arrived at the Umaid Bhawan Palace Hotel on the outskirts of Jodhpur around 4pm. The hotel recently made the headlines as the venue for Elizabeth Hurley's wedding. Our dinner this evening will be on the lawns where the wedding ceremony was held.

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