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Published: October 24th 2008
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Udaipur
View across the lake from our hotel Udaipur 21/10/2008
Have I mentioned.....? masala chai .... masala omelettes.... , banana pancakes........ , Indian eagles......., the stink of urine and open sewers,........ speed bumps in the road that are enough to break your axle as well as your back.....
throat clearing and spitting........squirrels that look like little chipmonks......cow dung......
Having hired a taxi to get us to Ranakpur, we were then stranded as there was no town from which to get any sort of transport to our next destination, Udaipur. No worries, buses could be flagged down outside the hotel and they were fine, we were told. So we decided to bite the bullet and catch one about 11.30am however at 8.45am we were told that we should really get the 9.30 as the later one could be full and we should really be outside by 9.15 as it could be 15mins early or 15 mins late!! Bang went the plan for a morning swim and a leisurely breakfast. Throw everything in the bags and run!! The said coach arrived 12 minutes early and was almost full. Two boys from the hotel lugged our backpacks on for us at the back and the bus pulled off..... with them
Udaipur
View from Lal Ghat across Lake Pichola to the Palace Hotel still on board!!
Well the bus was, as we feared, anything but
fine, a total wreck with no suspension and a lunatic driver who paid no regard to speed bumps or potholes (or oncoming traffic for that matter) but heck it cost us 60 rupees each for over 100k. I swear this
'express' stopped at every farm and school on the way and the 20mins break at a bus station somewhere near half way was something else. I mean I thought Digbeth coach station was the worst in the world....... but no.
So we arrived eventually, in one piece at
Udaipur and the Mehwar Haveli which is delightful and 'second-line' from the lake with great views of the lake and the palaces from the roof terrace and, if you stand on tip-toe, from a very small window in our room! Udaipur is known as the Venice of India, well there is water but no canals that I can see. Although very touristy we really like the place.
It has a
cable car or
ropeway as it is known, to take you to
sunset point. At 60 rupees return, it must rank as the cheapest in the
world! The
City Palace is pretty impressive as is the temple, though I admit to getting quite shirty with the boy who wanted money for looking after your shoes. You have to take them off so why should you pay someone who does nothing, what sort of religion is this? And another thing....... what's with the temple priests who come up and put a tika on your forehead,
for good luck and prosperity then hound you for money, when the sign outside tells you not to give money to anyone??????? Then there was the one at Ranakpur who called us back to take a photo of the temple god..... a 9 yr old boy!!! Don't think I'll be a Jain!
Day 2 we took an auto rickshaw for the day. Salim the driver was extremely knowledgeable about his city and it's history. He took us to most of the sights. The Ladies Park was really beautiful but
joy of joys at the
Moti Magri a restaurant selling samosas!!He persuaded us not to go to to a
Craft Village that we had heard was good but took us to a textile shop (where we did buy stuff) and
Lake Pichola
Man doing his ablutions!!! an
'Art School' where we had a demonstration of {b]Miniature Painting. The work is absolutely incredible, so skillful and intricate but sadly so too were the prices!! We escaped by insisting we had to see the
Monsoon Palace at sunset, saying we might be back. Not only did the owner phone Salim while we were at the palace but was standing in the road waiting for us on our return, now offering a 20%!r(MISSING)eduction. 20%!o(MISSING)f the price might have been more realistic! We later found out that the driver was on 30-40%!c(MISSING)ommission...... SAY NO MORE!
While we were at the Monsoon Palace there was a big hoo-haa as a group of VIP's arrived complete with servants and half the Indian army in attendance. The rest of us commoners watched the sunset from the ramparts while they were provided with freshly dusted plastic chairs. We we heard it was the Chief Justice Minister but maybe they were just rich!!
Day 3 spent the morning wandering the bazaars. At least you don't get hassled here and it is really interesting to see life as it really is away from the tourist traps. Managed to book a car
Lake Pichola
View across to Sunset Point to take us to Bassi on Sunday then on to Bundi on Monday and a cooking class with
Sashi on Saturday afternoon.
There is much cleaning up and decorating going on in preparation for DIWALI next week.
Spent the afternoon on a boat trip round the lake landing at the Jag Mandir Palace. We thought we could spend a few hours there in the gardens reading but as it turned out, the only place to sit was at one of several very expensive restaurants. Nice coffee frapee but that was all.
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