After 5 hours of bone rattling misery the bus finally rounded the mountain revealing a castle perched on the side of it; we'd be at our new temporary home, the Havali Katkoun, in 10 blessed minutes. Bundi is exactly like all the guide books present it: a medieval feeling little town with narrow intertwining streets, temples at every corner, all loomed over by a mighty fortress...yep, they got that part right. But the town is divided into two very unequal parts. The first part is the aforementioned which is about 10% of the city. What the writers fail to include in their whistle-stop description is that Bundi is also the largest city in the district and all the roads funnel into one coronary thrombosis of beeping cars, whizzing motorcycles, gawking men, demanding goats, scavenging pigs, and more cows than there are pigeons in New York.

Naturally, our first recon mission had to be the Maharaja's castle. Upon entering the walled grounds we met Kamal, a stroke of good fortune on our part. He guided us through the labyrinth of chambers taking great care to explain information like the fact that the two colors of blue that run throughout the palace are paint made from ground lapis and turquoise. Knowing all the ins and outs of the place is the sign of a great guide, but he also took us into restricted areas to see the unrestored courtyard where the flock of queens would spend the afternoon bathing, playing on a huge swing-set, and twiddling their thumbs while waiting to see if it would be their lucky night with the Grand Pooba.