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In
a hotel where you arrive not by car (or even by limousine) but by boat, can
anything be normal or usual? The Lake Palace Hotel amazes and delights you
at every turn. It is pure white marble, every ancient inch of it slender carved
columns, fountains, filigreed screens, marble from the pinnacles of its domed
chattris to the bottom of its swimming pool, created for the private frolics
of a princess. 
Udaipur's
rulers intended the Lake Palace to be a haven of peace and solitude. Today,
ensconced in its luxury, you may find it hard to imagine that the surrounding
hills once shook under the advance of besieging Mughal armies. But visit the
nearby forts and battlements, and listen to the legends, and you will realize
how hard the Mewar Rajputs fought "for the ashes of their fathers and
the temples of their gods" Kumbhalgarh, Chittorgarh, Haldighati - these
are names that raise a surge of fierce pride in every Rajput's breast. 