Now it was time to explore and show off Rajasthan. I was looking forward to taking everyone to the desert as it is commonly seen as the 'real India'. I booked us into nice haveli's and palaces to invoke the romance of the country and experience a bit of a treat over the New Year.
Udaipur was the first place on our hit list. Our first mistake, was early in the trip when we booked Kingfisher Airlines. We booked these flights months ago before the news hit the papers of problems at the airline. In the days leading up to the flight each of us was peppered with text messages and emails letting us know of delays to the flight or just flat out time changes. So while my husband was happily on a Jet Airways flight that was scheduled to take off about 1 hour after us, we waited another 45 mins and landed about 1.5 hours after him. Kingfisher used a tiny twin prop plane and Jet had a nice 737. I dont' think I'll do this again.... maybe I won't get the chance - hey Kingfisher? To top things off a guy decided he would like my assigned seat more than his own, so with my 18 month old I clambered over him and settled in for the hour or so long flight....... but god bless my child for sleeping.
We arrived safely in Udaipur - commonly described as 'Venice of the East', 'City of Lakes' and home to over 3 million people. We met up with my husband, who had kindly waited for us and drove to the airport (another one or so hours away - this became a theme of our holiday).
Eventually we arrived at Fateh Garh - perched high on a hill and looking magnificent! What a beautiful building, lit up at night in all her glory. We put the bub to bed and enjoyed our first evening out of Delhi. Unfortunately this hotel has problems..... and putting us in rooms above a very noisy kitchen was the main one, we moved rooms a number of times but I will not dwell on the negatives. The food was nice and the company was great, so can't complain. They have also made a lovely looking hotel that invoked relaxation which is what our team was all about.
During our time in Udaipur we visited the Monsoon Palace which is lovely but in desperate need of some love, it could be magnificent. The palace is swarming in monkeys anticipating food and tourists anticipating the sunset. The road up is windy and a little unnerving but worth the journey.
We reached the summit a while before the sunset, so we appreciated the view, had my child stolen from my arms for photos with some locals, dodged some monkeys, smelt the sweet smell of the urinal but then it was time to 'beat the crowd' and head for the car where 'Uncle' was waiting for us. We missed the sunset, however it was time to head to the English Beer and Wine Shop to get supplies.
The next day we visited the mildly insane City Palace......wow it was crazy. It was Saturday before NYE and every person in the Udaipur vicinity was there. We battled through the maze of the City Palace, dodged, ducked and avoided tour groups and families all hustling toward whatever the point of interest was in whatever particular room we were in. I felt claustrophobic and honestly thought I would never escape the 'Palace'. It is a beautiful building and it deserves more than it served up in the holiday time but you do get a magnificent view of the Lake Palace and a window to the magnificence of what used to be.
My best mate and I also enjoyed meandering the streets of Udaipur, a spot of shopping and crossing the lake to enjoy lunch at a lovely lakeside eatery, Ambrai. Unfortunately the Lake Palace is closed to non-guests so we couldn't visit the famous floating hotel. However, Ambrai was a great spot to watch tourists trip around the lake and locals battle with their washing on the banks all in the shadows of the magnificent City Palace.
This was a really lovely day and Udaipur was indeed impressive - pretty yes, Venice not so sure.
Next stop Jaipur...... this was another puzzle of transport - the boys opted for the open road (8 hours), two of the girls took Kingfisher (again with changes in time and delays) and I went via Delhi to collect my sister who arrived that day - Kingfisher again, and again a two hour delay.......
In Jaipur we chose to stay at the 475 year old Samode Palace Hotel...... it is a beautiful old place in the middle of the countryside in 'Samode'. You must be warned however if you stay here it is about 1 hour north of Jaipur and 1.5 hours from the airport (and you must know where you are going!). My driver sadly didn't know these important facts so the drive from the airport took closer to three hours. Needless to say the relationship between the driver and I was slightly fractured by the end of the journey.
But whatever anger or frustration I had died as soon as I walked into this hotel, ordered a G&T and settled my baby into the perfect hotel room for us. She was happy, we were all there safely and life was good again. Samode is a real retreat and it is lovely to relax and chill.
We unfortunately decided to veer off the path of relaxation on one of the days and visited Jaipur (a 2.5 hour journey that ended with me in tears). After an almost comical attempt at asking for directions from locals we decided to call the attempt to reach the Fort to an end and instead find the yummy Anokhi cafe for lunch and regroup. We all needed to get out of the car especially Liz who had the short straw of not having a proper seat! After pulling it together we visited the Old City for a spot of cow spotting and shopping - the boys successfully purchased a poker set and my sister a tablecloth. Plus we did get to see the illusive Cowocerous......
After a long day on the roads we arrived back at Samode enjoyed beer, poker and a dinner in the hotels fancy Indian restaurant.
The next day was travel day and we were all really looking forward to the 4 hour drive on an Indian National Highway (insert sarcasm here.....). We said farewell to the Samode and hit the road. Indian Highways are insane and I want to make sure I travel on them as rarely as possible for the main reason that the massive trucks are driven by what appear to be very small 12 year old boys and the lane lines are merely suggestions. Hence, there are always accidents and I really do not want to be part of one.
The reality of driving on these roads are never far away and tragically the NH8 served up a fair bit of reality on the way home. We witnessed the aftermath of a fatal motorcycle accident.... silent and in shock we drove past the undescribable. I never want to witness anything like this ever ever again, it will sit in my head and linger for a very long time. A very sad end to our trip. Thankfully the rest of the journey for us was safe and we arrived back in Delhi by nightfall.
Following on from our exploration around this part of the world, it's fair to say, like the ads, that India is 'incredible' and I think this is how it appeared to my friends:
incredible bad
incredible sad
incredible amazing
incredible beautiful
incredible WTF
........ but always incredible.
I don't know if they'll be back..... but I think we all have memories of a time together in a pretty amazing place.
A special thanks to our friends for visiting our home, it means alot and we miss you x
Udaipur was the first place on our hit list. Our first mistake, was early in the trip when we booked Kingfisher Airlines. We booked these flights months ago before the news hit the papers of problems at the airline. In the days leading up to the flight each of us was peppered with text messages and emails letting us know of delays to the flight or just flat out time changes. So while my husband was happily on a Jet Airways flight that was scheduled to take off about 1 hour after us, we waited another 45 mins and landed about 1.5 hours after him. Kingfisher used a tiny twin prop plane and Jet had a nice 737. I dont' think I'll do this again.... maybe I won't get the chance - hey Kingfisher? To top things off a guy decided he would like my assigned seat more than his own, so with my 18 month old I clambered over him and settled in for the hour or so long flight....... but god bless my child for sleeping.
We arrived safely in Udaipur - commonly described as 'Venice of the East', 'City of Lakes' and home to over 3 million people. We met up with my husband, who had kindly waited for us and drove to the airport (another one or so hours away - this became a theme of our holiday).
Eventually we arrived at Fateh Garh - perched high on a hill and looking magnificent! What a beautiful building, lit up at night in all her glory. We put the bub to bed and enjoyed our first evening out of Delhi. Unfortunately this hotel has problems..... and putting us in rooms above a very noisy kitchen was the main one, we moved rooms a number of times but I will not dwell on the negatives. The food was nice and the company was great, so can't complain. They have also made a lovely looking hotel that invoked relaxation which is what our team was all about.
 |
| View of Fateh Garh pool |
 |
| The friendly hotel dog that just may have been able to eat my child. |
 |
| A couple of the many vintage cars, common on the property. |
During our time in Udaipur we visited the Monsoon Palace which is lovely but in desperate need of some love, it could be magnificent. The palace is swarming in monkeys anticipating food and tourists anticipating the sunset. The road up is windy and a little unnerving but worth the journey.
We reached the summit a while before the sunset, so we appreciated the view, had my child stolen from my arms for photos with some locals, dodged some monkeys, smelt the sweet smell of the urinal but then it was time to 'beat the crowd' and head for the car where 'Uncle' was waiting for us. We missed the sunset, however it was time to head to the English Beer and Wine Shop to get supplies.
The next day we visited the mildly insane City Palace......wow it was crazy. It was Saturday before NYE and every person in the Udaipur vicinity was there. We battled through the maze of the City Palace, dodged, ducked and avoided tour groups and families all hustling toward whatever the point of interest was in whatever particular room we were in. I felt claustrophobic and honestly thought I would never escape the 'Palace'. It is a beautiful building and it deserves more than it served up in the holiday time but you do get a magnificent view of the Lake Palace and a window to the magnificence of what used to be.
 |
| Maintenance at the City Palace. |
This was a really lovely day and Udaipur was indeed impressive - pretty yes, Venice not so sure.
Next stop Jaipur...... this was another puzzle of transport - the boys opted for the open road (8 hours), two of the girls took Kingfisher (again with changes in time and delays) and I went via Delhi to collect my sister who arrived that day - Kingfisher again, and again a two hour delay.......
In Jaipur we chose to stay at the 475 year old Samode Palace Hotel...... it is a beautiful old place in the middle of the countryside in 'Samode'. You must be warned however if you stay here it is about 1 hour north of Jaipur and 1.5 hours from the airport (and you must know where you are going!). My driver sadly didn't know these important facts so the drive from the airport took closer to three hours. Needless to say the relationship between the driver and I was slightly fractured by the end of the journey.
But whatever anger or frustration I had died as soon as I walked into this hotel, ordered a G&T and settled my baby into the perfect hotel room for us. She was happy, we were all there safely and life was good again. Samode is a real retreat and it is lovely to relax and chill.
 |
| The entrance to Samode |
 |
| Hotel and hills |
 |
| Pool ...... ahhhh |
 |
| Unbelievable...... |
After a long day on the roads we arrived back at Samode enjoyed beer, poker and a dinner in the hotels fancy Indian restaurant.
The next day was travel day and we were all really looking forward to the 4 hour drive on an Indian National Highway (insert sarcasm here.....). We said farewell to the Samode and hit the road. Indian Highways are insane and I want to make sure I travel on them as rarely as possible for the main reason that the massive trucks are driven by what appear to be very small 12 year old boys and the lane lines are merely suggestions. Hence, there are always accidents and I really do not want to be part of one.
The reality of driving on these roads are never far away and tragically the NH8 served up a fair bit of reality on the way home. We witnessed the aftermath of a fatal motorcycle accident.... silent and in shock we drove past the undescribable. I never want to witness anything like this ever ever again, it will sit in my head and linger for a very long time. A very sad end to our trip. Thankfully the rest of the journey for us was safe and we arrived back in Delhi by nightfall.
Following on from our exploration around this part of the world, it's fair to say, like the ads, that India is 'incredible' and I think this is how it appeared to my friends:
incredible bad
incredible sad
incredible amazing
incredible beautiful
incredible WTF
........ but always incredible.
I don't know if they'll be back..... but I think we all have memories of a time together in a pretty amazing place.
A special thanks to our friends for visiting our home, it means alot and we miss you x
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