Tordi Garh is a heritage property, an old palace converted into a hotel. The hotel lies at the edge of the village and is an 18th century structure with a series of turrets all around which were used during battles. It has a simple architecture with lime and mortar and has a series of courtyards, terraces and verandahs. This  Rajput royal palace has been occupied by the same illustrious family for 17 generations.

A descendant of the founders of the fort has converted a couple of wings of the residential part into a hotel. It now houses 23 rooms. The food served was traditionally Indian using home grown vegetables, dairy, poultry and supplies from farmers in the village. Our meals were served on the upper terrace which gave a fine view of the village and surrounding countryside -- the desert, the fields, the forests and the mountains of Tordi. The supper meal was especially pleasant as the air was cooler and we had a great view of the sunset and lights of the surrounding village and countryside.

We aren't great fans of tattoos, but one of the fascinating services offered by locals is the application of temporary Henna Tattoos These applications are very popular among brides for Hindu weddings. Sue-On paid a young lady to create a design on her hand and forearm. The girl started with a standard design and then Sue-On had her add our show names -- Bill and Sue-On -- along with the symbol we use on all our Edgar Rice Burroughs Webpages.  The young village artist did a fine job on the designs she had obviously specialized in many times but obviously had some difficulty in creating English print characters. 

Henna paste is applied to the skin just as if you were writing with a marker. The paste is made out of crushed leaves and twigs of henna plant and resembles a dark brown toothpaste.  When this paste is applied on skin and left for few hours, it leaves an orange to dark maroon stain on the skin which fades away in 7 to 14 days. 

A casual walk through the village in the heat of the sun gave the tattoo time to dry. Over the next two weeks the design gradually disappeared . . . we weren't too sorry to see it leave :) We were becoming quite used to the sights along the streets in this typical rural village: cows, goats, swine, hawkers in shanties and on carts and tractors, designs on plaster walls, gateways, curious kids following us or playing in makeshift playgrounds, farm equipment, and many derelict houses with endless piles of rubble. The local people were very friendly and loved to pose for photos. Some statistics calculate that there are over 10 million street vendors in India.