The drive from Balsamand Lake Palace out to Nagaur took two dusty, bumpy, headlight flashing, horn humping hours. But my goodness it was worth every minute of it to get here. This place is beautiful and I haven't even seen it by daylight yet. I'm standing in a raised courtyard which is illuminated by the soft glow of what seems like a thousand little oil lamps set into a thousand little niches, row upon row of them in two of the walls which surround us. There is a North Indian eight piece musical combo getting down and dirty in the corner, and they haven't even got into their full groove yet. We're waiting for his highness, the Maharaja of Jodhpur, MoJ for short, to arrive and join us for dinner. We are his guests but he's running late and we've been told to start eating coz the evening's really getting on, so much that it feels as though it might start getting light soon. But I know that's the jetlag talking.

Let the feast begin.

iWwhooosh s