More on Udaipur

Some things what I have noticed..

Udaipur is like India Light, it's more aesthetically pleasing, there's less poverty, less begging, it's slightly cooler and the buildings are buildings in the conventional sense with walls and a roof etc.

Dogs go mad here after 11pm - in the day it's too hot and they just flop about, early evening they stir but are still harmless, last night I was wondering around Udiapur, got lost - I have an unwarranted faith in my own sense of direction - and suddenly got surrounded by rabid dogs all barking and going nuts. It was quite unnerving. I was lost and there wasn't an autorickshaw to be found. At first I just clapped and yelled, but the dogs were only fooled by this for so long and started to circle. In the end I had to hitch a ride back to the hotel with these Indian guys on the back of a motorbike. Phew!

This is a little controversial so I'll try to be sensitive, don't mean to be rude. Obviously gay men are frowned upon here, as in many countries in this part of the world. Conversely Indian women don't go out as much as Indian men, particularly in the evenings, and couples don't generally hang out together much - again open shows of affection not the done thing. This leads to a lot of men hanging around with men. Often this just takes the form of mates hanging out normally, but it can also look very camp - they hold hands, drap arms around shoulders - I wonder if this is suppressed homosexuality that goes unnoticed or if it is just their way.