I wasn't exaggerating when I said that Udaipur had run dry. This post is really just to provide some pictures of the somewhat incredible phenomenon - though I imagine these will have most impact if you have previously seen Udaipur in its full glory.

The little patch of water you see behind these women is all that's left of the great lake. It's just a tiny strip, and every other square centimetre of the lake-bed is bone-dry. Incredible.

Here's our (rather wonderful) guesthouse, the Lakeshore - just looking rather forlornly lake-less. The water should be lapping at the building's edge, but it's vanished entirely:

In true India style, the kids are making the best of things and have made-over the lake-bed as an impromptu cricket pitch. Their skills are truly something to behold, because the ground's extremely rough and uneven!

Maybe the most incredible view of things here is this image of the majestic Lake Palace Hotel that occupies the prime real estate in the centre of the lake. It should, by rights, be looking like a fairytale castle set in a gleaming bed of water. Instead, behold the carnage of the drought:

Normally, the hotel offers patrons the chance to dine by candlelight on floating pontoons on the lake. Each of the lavish little pontoons is large enough only for a romantic table for two (and the hotel graciously assures guests that if you don't wish to have a waiter standing on your pontoon all evening, they can just provide you with a walkie-talkie so that you can summon wait-staff as you need them - classic!). Now, in the current conditions, they've had to set up the very sad-looking little tents you see in the foreground of the photo. Inside, each is carpeted with bright-green Astro-turf ... not quite the $1000-a-night image potential guests may have been expecting!