Bundi

We took the train to Bundi, along with a group of boisterous Tibetans who were going all the way to Delhi. We've lost count of the number of times we have been told not to accept food on trains (apparently some locals have drugged food and stolen bags), so when we were offered food by our travelling companions we gratefully accepted (they wouldn't accept no anyway!) and tucked into the tandoori chicken, mutton curry, (Very hot) chillies and naans - it was really good, and they fell asleep before us anyway!

Bundi is a small quietish town with a palace that looks like its falling down a hill. We walked past the palace along an overgrown path (ok, so we did take one wrong turn which made it even more overgrown) to the fort at the top where there was no change to the path as the fort was in ruins and also overgrown, but extremely peaceful and nice. We relaxed and explored in the silence and solitude until we realise we weren't alone......there were also hundreds of monkeys that seemed to come from no where and were suddenly all around us, it was like a scene from a film (no partially expose statue of liberty to be seen).

We hired rickety old bicycles and, dodging the cows, pot holes and people, headed out into the country along quiet lanes where it became lush and green with wheat fields surrounding us as we passed many temples and cenotaphs - along with friendly locals who continue to have a conversation with us from the back of motorcycles.

In the ever increasing heat we took the opportunities to find various shelters where we could sit and watch the world go by including a treehouse we stumbled across overlooking a lake where we were joined by many parrots and other birds, the garden of our guesthouse where we could chill out and chat to the family and other travellers, and a quiet lakeside cafe where there was just the sounds of the birds over the lake and an old French lady farting.