We had another rough entry into India...remember our lost luggage back in December?
 
It was a marathon trip from Phuket to Udaipur - 45 hours of travel. Why? We bought discount tickets resulting in a trip spanning 19 hours with 4 different flights. Then we were delayed on the 3rd flight so missed a connection and had to wait 24 hours until the same flight the next day. After a night in a scuzzy New Delhi hotel, we were exhausted once we finally arrived in Udaipur.
 
My Post Concussion Syndrome symptoms were flared up with my head buzzing like a radioactive ball. The only thing that fixes it is rest and I shouldn't have read but intermittent reading was my emotional cure. There is nothing better than escaping into a good book (The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah).
 
Being in Udaipur for the spring celebration of Holi Festival was a special treat. I could not miss out so rested up enough to participate. And what a day we had! With a group of Swiss visitors and Laksman, our Dev Villa owner, we gently threw coloured powder on others, visited family and friends, drank local whiskey and snacked on Indian goodies. I say 'gently' because when we celebrated Holi in Pushkar 32 years ago, it was far from gentle - that was a wild affair. 
 
Walking the streets of Udaipur, our group of seven engaged in the frivolity of the day until we wove down some allies and arrived at the home of friends of Laksman's. Tentatively, we entered the space and tried their whiskey and snacks, 'communicating' in Hindi, German and English. By a few houses later, we were dancing to Celtic music played by what appeared to be a wandering minstrel from France, we were meeting sisters and brothers and fathers and nieces everywhere we went. I even acquired a new 'brother'! Everyone was welcoming and kind. Although we didn't understand much of what was said, we knew the feeling was one of love, openness and generosity.

To get to our last stop, we were transported on motorbikes and taken to another part of town alongside the lake. This family was well off, with a beautiful home and great snacks - including my favourite - pakoras. We met Laksman's sisters and saw how close the family was. By this point, we had been celebrating for about six hours.
 
Before returning us to Dev Villa, Laksman orchestrated a situation where we followed the mother deep into the yard behind a small building. All of us, curious and gullible wandered back there and subsequently were sprayed down with a hose, soaking our clothes and conveniently washing most of the coloured powder off us. And, wisely, did not tramp it all through Dev Villa.
 
Even though the temperature was warm, we cooled off quickly as we stood there dripping wet so made a quick exit in a car, got 'home', showered and fell into bed.

 I guess my head will need a rest tomorrow but oh, what a day!

Afraid the flying coloured powder might get into Jim's camera, we took Donna's dinky little one so the photos of the Holi festivities are not of the usual quality. The ones of Udaipur more generally (at the bottom) are better quality... but less fun. As usual, you can see more of Jim's photos and in higher resolution, on his Flickr site.