Unique Udaipur

After a few days of madness in Mumbai and we leave for Udaipur. We haven't yet got into backpacker travel yet and decided to fly there. This, however in itself was an experience. We got stopped by security just trying to get into the airport (however, I'm starting to think that this is an 'Em-thing' after getting stopped going toi Newcastle a few weeks ago!! - It's a good job that I look like a good, honest, upstanding citizen!!) wanting to see our tickets and passport. As we had e-tickets, this kind of confused the guard and we had a bit of a hard time trying to convince him to let us in!

We finally get our little plane to Udaipur for the one hour journey (which impressively included a meal!) ...don't believe everything you hear about Indian airlines!

The funniest part of the journey was landing at the airport to find no-one was moving..it then suddenly dawned on us after about five minutes that it was going on to other destinations! It was a good thing we didn't stay seated any longer or we would have ended up in Jodhpur! We missed the terminal bus so had to walk across the runway to the airport amidst some strange looks from the guards! Even funnier was trying to find an ATM machine...we ended up in army grounds next to the airport! (Em swears blind that it was nothing to do with men in uniform!!)

However, nothing in India can surprise you....aimlessly wandering cows, donkeys, oxen and children in the street, a shop offering "pain free ear and nose piercing" on a sign underneath a window full of knives, people having a bath with soap (not sure it is worth it!) in the most dirty lake you can imagine, regularly having to jump (literally!) out of the road before a tuk-tuk runs you down, or perhaps the stories of everyone you speak to who is "coming to England for an art exhibition and would like to show you art"


We've started to get quite hardened to the endless stream of traders wanting to give us a tour or show us their wares - almost to the point of being rude!! That's that role that I seem to have at the moment!! - Em walks off whilst I end up telling the person harassing us 'where to go'! :-) Now I know why Em invited me!! ha ha

Anyway, it's all an experience and one I would not have wanted to miss.

We arrive at the gorgeous Jagat Niwas Palace Hotel where we have splashed out twenty pounds each (Bargain!) to stay in a lake facing deluxe room which is quite literally breathtaking. We have a large window seat where we can sit and watch the world go by.

For dinner we head to Ambrai hotel across the lake for a meal...where the views probably surpass that of our hotel. We sit on a mosaic terrace with wrought iron tables and chairs in candlelight looking at the view of the City Palace which is completely lit up and reflecting in the lake. For indian prices, the seven pounds each we paid was probably a premium, but you have to laugh if you consider how much it would cost in the UK.

We end up leaving the restaurant at 10:30pm and get slightly (only slightly mind you!!) lost as by that time the shops had mostly shut up so most of Udaipur was in darkness. Ironically Em neglected to bring her ONE candle power torch - actually that's probably being a bit generous!! However, even at that time of night we had to fear for our lives - the motorcyclists and tuk-tuk drivers were using Udaipur as a practice circuit for the Indian Grand Prix!!

We're now heading for Jaipur, but the forward travel plans have not quite gone to plan. We have tried to book a train in advance for Jaipur but the only sleepers available are the cheapest non-airconditioned beds. So, we decided to rough it (which we're guessing it will be) and ride with the experience.


By the way, in case you haven't spotted it we've been geeky (ok I've been geeky!!) and have set up a Picassa web album - you can see previews of all of the rest of our pics on the right hand side of the blog.