Hotel Udai Niwas Udaipur

We got up around 8:30 in the morning and had our breakfast up at a nice corner table in the rooftop restaurant at our hotel. It's such a nice, pleasant experience...sitting there on comfortable pads, surrounded by pillows and looking down on the city below as people get up and going with their day. You see cows walking around everywhere. The human:livestock ratio here is much higher than in B-M. There are cows, goats, sheep, donkeys, elephants (we've only seen one so far) and horses. We've al...

We arrived in Udaipur at around 7:30 AM on Tuesday. I was tired and cranky and also quite glad that we had arranged for a rickshaw to pick us up instead of having to deal with the ocean of rickshaw drivers who would've hungrily and aggressively vied for our business. They will tell people things like 'your hotel is closed/under renovations/full/burning down' just so they can sway you over to a hotel where they will get commission for bringing in tourists. We paid RS$30 for our ride and were d...

We all got up quite early as we wanted to make the most of our day. We had our breakfast and then asked the reception to call a car for us. They have been incredibly nice to use here. One of the workers speaks Hebrew and has a brother who married an Israeli girl so he and Yaarit have really hit it off. The rooms here are incredibly clean and so is the place in general. We didn't get a room with A/C and have actually been quite fine without it. The fan is more than enough to keep us cool durin...

After leaving Kumbhalgarh, we drove for about an hour or so before stopping at a little village to get some beverages. The midday sun was hot and everything was just so dry. Yaarit said she felt like the moisture was being sucked from her eyes and most of the drive was made in silence...as talking was also a way to lose moisture. We were also just engrossed in the scenery and didn't feel the need to talk. The few times Robyn tried to ask the driver a question...he gave very short and monosyll...

Yaarit and I woke up around 8:15 AM so we could get all our things packed and ready. We had to check out at 10 AM but our bus didn't leave until 9:30 PM. Marc and Robyn were nice enough to let us store our big bags in their room during the day. At breakfast, I decided to have the banana/honey oatmeal. Marc and Robyn had both eaten it before and said it was delicious. Indeed it was. I ordered a pot of coffee for myself as a starter. I usually shared one with Yaarit, but she was still in the ro...

Our 13 hour trip to Udaipur was quite an adventure. Our first 6 hour bus was a local one which stopped all along the way picking up and dropping off and carrying various commodities (no chickens though!). We were the only westerners on this and the later bus we took. The roads in India are quite rough and busy with traffic and stray animals and the bus drivers spend the whole time tooting their horns, swerving and yelling. The buses have lousy suspension too! The second bus which took some 7 ...

Arrived Udaipur mid afternoon after a very hot bus journey. Started out ok early morning but as the day went on it got hotter and hotter and the air coming in the window was also hot. Not the best. Got a nice hotel called Udai Niwas, it was brand new a couple of years ago so was nice and clean and had tv (and we know how I like a tv in my room!). Didn't do a great deal in Udaipur. Second morning I went on a boat trip on the lake with the girls from Jodhpur, that was good. According to the Rou...

No podria comenzar a hablar de Udaipur sin mencionar el viaje en autobus desde Jaisalmer. Vaya experiencia! 14 horas en una especie de "ataud" en lo alto, a modo de cama, para Lorraine y para mi. Soportamos todo tipo de baches y saltos, la bocina escandalosa en medio de la noche y las ventanas abriendose cada dos minutos. Pero no paramos de reirnos... y fuimos recompensadas con un hotel estupendo a nuestra llegada (y recibidas por las pujas de madrugada). Nuestra estancia fue mas bien corta, ...

I arrived in Udaipur this morning off the sleeper train from Mumbai. I had planned not to do a great deal today, other than familiarise myself with the area and maybe a spot of shopping (window of course). I was doing just that when I happened upon a couple of chaps painting on silk these very beautiful minatures which are very popular in this area. I stood watching them for a while when I noticed a sign saying that you could have lessons. The artist invited me to sit with him and in the spac...

I went to an art school yesterday where they teach the painting I was talking about earlier. I think I may have forgotten to mention that the specialty of the area is mini painting made with very very fine brushes. I was told they are made out of squirrel hair. Yesterday at the art school the guy was demonstrating all of the colours and brushes and he said "this one is made from Squirrel hair, we don't hurt the squirrels we give them food then trim some hair. This brush is made from camel eye...