Blogs from Udaipur, Rajasthan, India, Asia

All too soon our last Ashwini day arrived. After a final breakfast of nutella banana dosa (that well known Indian delicacy) we said a sad farewell our lovely home for the past month. 3 standardly hair-raising hours later we arrived at Kalicut airport, possibly the most underwhelming in the world. About 97 boarding pass checks later and we were on the way to Mumbai which proved far more satisfying. The novelty of air conditioning, actual bona-fide (well, almost) queuing systems and general Westerisation was almost a bit too much. Definitely so for the woman in front of us on the escalator who seemed to initially be concerned that the stairs were going to be the height of her knee and later that the stairs might disappear without warning so decided to take about a 4-step leap ... read more

A day which has earned an entry all of its own. We began the day with what shall forever more be remembered as the ‘sweat death breakfast’ on the rooftop of our guesthouse. Turns out when there is no breeze it is rather warm in Udaipur, even at 8am. If only someone had warned us it might be hot. Oh wait…After ten minutes of alternating between using the menu as fan, hat and elbow mat to prevent frying our elbows on the molten metal table we surrendered to the shade to finish our sweat droplets with muesli fruit curd-the incredibly appetising Indian term for yoghurt. We have managed to, with a combination of extensive gesturing, saying the same sentence repeatedly in increasingly louder and with varying inflections and haphazard missing out of selected words (as has ... read more

Yesterday... which i would guess was Sunday... but who could be sure.. we spend part of the day in Bombay and the flew to Udaipor. In the morning we started the day walking to the Gateway of India (that's the big arch built in 1911) and we took a boat to Elephanta Island and Caves. Travel in the Arabian Sea we passed a lot of tankers from Saudi Arabia and Iran (boo) bringing oil which is refined off shore and then goes to the mainland. When we arrived on the island there is a small toy train which one takes to the start of the stairs which we climbed to the caves. The caves had statues carved primarily to the god Shiva. There is a great deal of history to Hinduism and there are almost 300 ... read more

Well now, like a couple of naughty school children, we're only now just up to date with the blog. Honest sir, it's 'cos the wifi's been rubbish. We're in Udaipur, something of a turning point for me, as I feel the vibe here is something more akin to what I was expecting/hoping for. It's a bit less intense, less hassle, more beautiful than we've had previously. Delhi is a sprawling black hole of traffic and car fumes, terrifying to get lost in, and Agra revolves around the Taj Mahal, and felt corrupted slightly by tourists (hypocritical, I know). Now I think I am coming to terms with India, not only her ways, people and heat, but I have bought a new mosquito repellent cream, and I pray that the walking buffet I had become is a ... read more

Udailpur Day 1 The sleeper bus ride was pretty smooth. It was my first sleeper bus in India and it was so different then other buses I had taken. It was a double floor bus with seats on the bottom floor and on the top there were beds on the one side there were single beds and on the other double beds. We bought the double beds tickets berths. It was one cool sleeper bus experience. We reached Udaipur at around early morning and the bus dropped us off at a random location. We had to take a taxi to the main hotel area and find a place to stay for one night. We reached the area where the Nukkad hotel was and for our benefit there was a room available and even better they had ... read more

Udaipur We woke up to the most beautiful view from our room. Our hotels often seem to be in less than salubrious areas and we know we are on a budget but once inside they are fine, excepting the last one which was amazing! However this morning when we opened the curtains and saw the view we realised why we were here. The lake is outside and we can see the beautiful buildings mirrored in the lake. A late start this morning so after a leisurely breakfast we drive to the palace and take a boat around lake Pichola. We are pointed out the residence of the Maharani called that because he was the only 'king' not to succumb to the British. Some of this palace is now a hotel rather like the last one we ... read more

We arrived in Udaipur in the afternoon. After a short walk through the Sahelion ki Bari Park, where there are nice fountains and a lot of colourful flowers, we drove into the city. Our hotel was close to the city palace, so first we took a walk through some of the streets and into two temples (one of them offering a wonderful view of Lake Pichola, on which the city is located. Then we took an evening boat trip on the lake and had a great view of the huge City Palace. On the tour, we also stopped on one of the islands in the lake, Jag Mandir. There is a wonderful luxury hotel on it with a nice garden and of course a stunning view of the lake side of the city. When getting back ... read more

I traveled by road to Udaipur . With lots tourists and local crowded around side of the Udaipur Lake. Boating in the lake with lots fun and watching tall palaces & buildings built like forts along the both bank side had the lot surprises to see the culture & the life of people of rajasthan . Amazing.... read more