We've been chalking up various destinations and routes to work out the most efficient use of our time whilst not missing out on any of the recommended sites, and now find ourselves on a bus (5 hours) down to Udaipur. Still excited about our cooking experience and a 20 min session of cricket in front of the bus stand we settle in and get smiles from fellow locals...who have been told that WE are the Cricketers...ahh...yes please...thanking you......
For those of you that are not familiar with Udaipur, it is steeped in history, but also known because of its romantic lakes , rooftop restaurants and rolling hills ...that and the fact that Octopussy was filmed here a long time ago, and still central to the tourism of Udaipur.(see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopussy#Filming)
Hugo reminds me of George's email and recommendation of the Mahendra Prakash. I'm on the phone in a flash trying to book a twin room. As always, after a bit of broken dialogue, we work out that there is a room and that we can get an auto from the bus station for about 20P....what no complimentary pick-up??...not a good start...
Upon arrival, we are greeted by the general (old boy in a uniform...security) and escorted to reception, with about 3 guys around us clambering at our backpacks when we have already carried them through to the foyer...a little late boys.
We get a quick tour and take in the plush surroundings. This is by far the most picturesque hotel we have stayed in, with a lush swimming pool and great lawn area. It's a pity that we only have one night here, but at least that will be spent in comfort and the luxury of a little Star cricket, once again.
The following morning we finalise our journey to Ahmedebad , where we are to connect for a flight to Chennai for the 1st Test match between England and India. This is going to be tiring...the bus leaves that evening at 10pm (we've booked our first sleeper seat), then a flight at 6am and straight to Chennai (more about that later).
We enjoy breakfast in the garden and grab a quick dip...the sun is warm at 9am , but it hasn't warmed the water yet, so it's a fresh dip....fresh....!!! We venture up along the road, first cut left, second cut right are the directions to get to the City Palace given by reception, no problems. Udaipur is pleasantly quiter than the other cities and we feel heaps more relaxed and start considering our itinerary for the day...Palace , Lake Palce , Boat trip (potentially??) , Monsoon Palace for sunset....ahh, let's see what happens....oh what about a shave.
Having walked around the Palace grounds and admiring it's grandeur, we get the necessary tourist pics and decide to call it a day on the culture front. All the palaces and forts are now morphing into one...we need to appreciate these.
The Monsoon Palace taken from the City Palace
Okay, we find a rickshaw driver and negotiate a price for a tour of the city finishing at Monsoon Palace - 20 mins outside the city - at sunset.....no problem...how much....15 mins later and we've agreed a price and we're off to the barber.
There are some strange looks from the locals as we take our seats ...this is going to be interesting, no English and trying to explain that we want to keep the burns...we'll see what happens. ..It all goes off smoothly - no pun intended - we get a shave , face and head massage for a whopping 50p...brilliant.
Check the burners.... Time to move on, take our pics and thank the guys...next stop the spice and veg markets.
The spices - can you identify them?
This bustling area has it all. You name and you can find it: sacks of rice, beans, lentils and spices....we pop over to a few and ask questions and finally walk away from a stall with some Kashmiri saffron, all the while getting hurried along by our rickshaw driver because we might miss sunset...calma...calma...fica gelo.... (calm..calm...be chilled...in our Brazilian Portuguese). The vendor is still trying to flog us some Darjeeling and Assam tea, we politely thank him and move on. The fruit and veg markets are colourful and bustling with people - there are loads of strange looking vegetables and between the two of us we struggle to decide what they are...root vegetables of some sort is what we settle on.
The ride up the Monsoon palace is a hairy one, winding road to the top with a lot of horning involved at the turns, but it's worth the wait and the trip as the views are breathtaking. With the sun setting fast, some joker asks us where we are from and when I say SA , he mouths off some word in Xhosa...I am impressed and sucked into a guided tour...for 40p....it's 10 mins and he rushes us along to the best spots with about 3 bits of info about the Palace itself , the Maharaja's shower room, the room where the poker scence in Octopussy is filmed and something about the views....bore off.
Sunset at the Monsoon Palace...how romantic....
The owner of the Mahendra Prakash is there when we come to collect our goods and he talks us through some of his cricketing tales...the photos on his walls with Sachin and Azharuddin in his team, touring English sides and he tells us he played for the 1sts down in Kent for a few years. Hugo asks him if he remembers a George who played for his team about 5 years ago, and this has the man roaring with laughter...he sure does and is soon commenting on George's contribution to the team - 5 years on and impression has been left..good work George.
With the day drawing to a close , it's time to bid Udaipur and Rajasthan farewell. It's been an epic journey and a great introduction to the Indian culture. Rajasthan has not disappointed and is in the memory banks. Next we head into Tamil Nadu........
No comments:
Post a Comment