A dose of reality

Our time in Udaipur seriously took a sharp turn that we did not expect.
Upon our arrival we were incredibly excited and easily convinced to try out one of the wonderfully described restaurants that was mentioned in our guidebook. And after not having eaten much on the bus that day we well deserved what we were getting ourselves into.

As it turned out we walked ourselves right into one of the slickest and most beautiful hotels in town (aside from the Lake Palace, of course). The guidebook mentioned that they had delicious food on offer there but we really had not expected what we were seeing. The place was amazing. We made our way to the rooftop restaurant, with candle lit tables not a stones throw from the aqua blue swimming pool. We all looked at each other in disbelief...could a place THIS beautiful really be in our price range? Hmmm...good question. It most certainly was not the sort of place that we made a habit of frequenting BUT the prices were not at all that high. So then, we spent a beautiful evening together, the three of us, eating, drinking and talking romantically about anything (it was hard NOT to be romantic in a place like that). And after all said and done I believe that the bill turned out to be around $10 each.
Sometimes you just gotta splurge and we did it well that night.

The next two days we spent walking around, checking out the palace and hiring bicycles to tour the lake area and other disgraceful establishments (Im so sorry, Jasmine, about Shilpgram, you know I am) that we can laugh about now.
Udaipur is FAMOUS for starring in the highly entertaining James Bond film, Octopussy. Therefore, Jasmine and I could not resist ourselves when we found out that our guesthouse was showing the film NIGHTLY in the rooftop restaurant. I have to say that I found myself doubled over in laughter and completely swooned by Mr.Bonds' smooth charm.
We were shocked by the sight of the palace itself when you see the Majestic authority it holds over the city, so much wealth, so much power. Quite a contrast to the other...not so regal cities that we have visited in India.
After the day of bicycling Guillaume was starting to feel ill again. We thought that he had gotten rid of it in Pushkar but we were seriously mistaken.

His condition worsened by the minute. Relentless fever, cramps, diarrhea and loss of appetite were the main symptoms plaguing the poor guy. It actually got so bad that ended up admitting him to a hospital for testing and further care.
So, we spent the next four days, in a hospital room, Guillaume on a drip diet and satellite television.
Lucky for us, we were smart little kids and bought travel insurance before leaving home (you can hear the sigh of relief from where you are sitting).

After a few days we heard news for the cause of Guillaumes illness. A nasty little bug who goes by the name of E.Coli. Something that can be passed along from person to person with some help from his little friend 'bad hygiene'. Thank goodness that we caught it when we did because it was causing havoc to Guillaumes system.

So with the hospital visit behind us, and few days of rest and relaxation in the hotel room (a few trips to the nearby pasta joint), Guillaume felt ready to move along, get things rolling again and head upwards and onwards to Gujarat.

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