🙂 The City of Lakes… a much calmer and peaceful feel to this area…
🙁 All good!
Departed Jaipur in a full and chaotic train to Udaipur. We had been missold our seats and were in a communal free for all area! Constant tapping and shouting “Stent, Stent – Hallo, Hallo” aargh… finally got some rest after taking it in turns to guard ourselves from harassment at the top of the bunk.
Train arrived late and we ate samosas and bananas for breakfast. Arrived at midday, not 08h00 as scheduled… Rickshaw took us to the hotel that we had booked from Jaipur but of course no such booking existed and the price had quadrupled from what we were quoted – roll our eyes! Then they were suddenly full but could offer us a tent with shared toilets! Not on your life…we left in a huff. We bumped into an English couple who recommended Shiwas Palace which was acceptable and had a (freezing!) swimming pol. It was a lovely old place but had no hot water. Paul showered and I went on ahead to the Lake Palace to get us a table for dinner which I booked on arrival…when Paul arrived in his hippy attire, the chap took one look at him and sai that they were full … I explained that he was my husband but they would not let paul in dressed like that! LOL. So we went to the local Garden View Restaurant which was actually delightful with lovely friendly owners and we had a great meal for a fraction of the cost! They gave Trent a gift and he just loved them!
We were up at 08h00 the next morning and our rickshaw was outside having pre-empted the fact that we would be sight seeing! LOL. Trent promptly asked him why his teeth stuck out and that his “mommy hated India” – I could have killed him and gave him a stern talking to. Fortunately most of it went over the rickshaw’s head. We really enjoyed the day which was fairly priced. We had a delicious lunch overlooking the Lake. The ghat was peaceful. It had a much calmer feel to it. We relaxed by the pool in the afternoon.
Paul wanted a hair cut and enjoyed a proper Indian Head Massage and his nostrils and ears flamed! They were so lovely and enjoyed Trent tremendously! Paul was a little concerned at first but then enjoyed the experience. It ended with a scalp massage and back pounding … Paul told me that he was charged Rp20 for the haircut and, “as you please” for the massage which is Indian speak for as “much as possible, you rich white bastard!’ LOL.
We then headed over for a meal at the rooftop restaurant across the road. Nice food and the man was SO proud of his new hotel that he insisted on showing us all the rooms – it was actually very nice indeed. We watched a bug procession and band go past which turned out to be a wedding. In the morning we were up for breakfast and relaxed by the pool until it was time for our rickshaw to take us to the station to get our train back to Delhi and then onwards to home – we were looking forward to being back in the UK after exactly 12 months of wonderful travelling!
Go to: India
