Maria from Spain and I decided to take the boat tour of Lake Pichola today from the City Palace. It circles the Lake Palace Hotel made famous by the film, Octopussy, and docks on Jagmandir Island, which hosts its own hotel and spa. Built in 1620, and flanked by a row of stone elephants, it has a fabulous view of the city and its golden palace. After lunch we went to the ghats. Groups of women in saris performed pujas as the men bathed in the lake and young boys dove from the walls above. I felt like I had strolled into someone's home; the rituals and baths were too personal to linger in the area and we quickly exited.
