This is our third visit to Bundi and the Haveli Katkoun guesthouse which sits directly below the palace. In 1945, the grandfather bought what was then a stable for elephants from the Maharaja of Bundi for 2500 rupees. It is now a four-story guesthouse with three generations of the family also living in it.

Rudyard Kipling spent time in Bundi and supposedly wrote part of Kim here. He describes the 15C palace as the ‘work of goblins not men.’ Sitting on the side of the hillside it does almost seem to grow out of the rock.

On our first visit we were very impressed by the turquoise-and-gold murals and intricate stone carving.

This time, we were underwhelmed by the palace, but the murals are still extraordinary, some of the best in India.

Online, Bundi is described as being off the beaten track and it’s a relief to be away from the traffic and crowds of Udaipur. But we are surprised at the lack of tourism.

In 2013, Haveli Katkoun was bustling with guests, gathering at night in the dining room on the fourth floor overlooking the palace. Not the case when we arrived this time. We were offered a choice of rooms and picked one in the back to minimize the street noise. (There are still plenty of motorbikes here.) The lack of direct sunlight is compensated by our room’s direct view of the palace, which is lit up at night.

Although the town isn’t a major destination, it had managed to support tourism with its historic palace and fort. Then why are there so few tourists now?

The guesthouse owner says it’s a combination of factors: a new bypass road that means you no longer need to drive through the town second, the town has not live up to the levels of cleanliness expected by the new Indian tourists and third, covid hit the town hard. Many died.

The remaining merchants who serve the tourist trade are desperate, all offering the best chai or the finest miniature painting. A young man with a shop boasting of filtered coffee, tries to lure us in talking a mile a minute. With no one to serve, he’s high on too much of his own caffeine.

On our second full day here, we walked away from the area immediately surrounding the palace, down the narrow streets to the market vibrant with activity and color: saris, bangles and men with enormous Rajasthani turbans.

We stumbled on the best chai stall in Bundi. The chai wallah set up an immaculately clean spot beside the street, grinding fresh ginger and spices with a smooth flat stone, to make the most amazing masala tea.

Another walk took through the lanes to the edge of town. We passed houses with decorated walls similar to those in Varanasi and other parts of India but these designs are peculiar to Rajasthan.

This barber has eliminated rent and is passing the savings on to his customers.

The universal game of chess played on a quiet lane.

Just outside Bundi, there is the 18C Sukh Mahal, built beside a lake. Once a picturesque summer retreat for the Maharajahs, Kipling spent two days here as a guest of the ruler. Now the monkeys call it home.

For the third time, Bundi has fascinated us again.