Oh, James
Our first stop in Rajasthan was the romantic city of Udaipur. It is known as one of the most beautiful cities in the country for its palaces – one of which is the largest in the province and another which is a beautiful white island in the middle of the city’s lake; from the shore, the latter looks like a a floating mirage at sunset.
However, what I didn’t know about Udaipur is that it is none other than the setting for the James Bond movie, Octopussy! Having seen that movie, what- maybe ten times, I was very happy to take note of all things Bond whilst touristing through and around the city. The Lake Palace is Octopussy’s island;
the Monsoon Palace on the top of the hill overlooking the lake is where Kamal Khan lives;
the Maharana’s 1934 Rolls Royce Phantom, which is on display in the Vintage Car Museum, is Kamal’s car;
the Shiv Niwas hotel is exactly as it is when James Bond is a guest there and when he takes dinner by the pool; the Jagdish temple looks the same as it does in the rickshaw-chase scene; Octopussy’s boat is still moored on the lake.
It was all very exciting for me and I didn’t tire of watching the movie each night as we ate dinner. Many of the restaurants here show the movie each evening at 7.00pm so that we tourists can appreciate all the sights we’ve seen during the day – apart from their historic, religious and artistic value, I mean. It reminded me of how much that movie formed my first impressions of India.