The Grand Laxmi Vilas Palace Udaipur

... Pearl Palace — but decorated with plates of coloured glass.


The Palace Museum
The older portions of the palace complex have been converted into a museum, a must-see for all. You can, however, lightly pass over the first rooms, which are devoted to Maharana Pratap’s exploits. There are a few artefacts such as the rana ...

... In a terrific mood, I sauntered back thro’ the town, calling in at The Squirrel art shop to gasp at more Indian miniature paintings. Udaipur is famous for its artists, here, and many belong to various (internationally renowned) art schools. Because of the unquestionable love of Indian miniatures (I’m their biggest fan!), many adopt similar styles and paint the most phenomenal copies or comparable Mughal scenes (altho’ there are a whole group of ...

... warm morning turns to and unacceptable hot afternoon. Glad that we have our own personal oasis to return to, we arrange to meet Rampal at 7 PM for the trip to the Sajjan Garh monsoon palace on the outskirts of the city. Rampal arrives on time and we head out of town and up the hill to the Sajjan Garh Palace. This palace is built on the top of a hill, more than 1,000 higher than the city. Maharana Sajjan Singh built the ...

... them to quiet down. I lay there for about 10 more minutes before getting up, showering (trying to wake up) and getting myself and all my personal belongings downstairs to the lobby, then into a cab to the International Airport. To the end, the hotel staff said repeatedly to give the driver 400 rupees. He asked for 500. I basically said sorry and walked away. Besides, I gave him a tip, whatever remained after the 11 rupee airport toll...

... close to Lake Pichola and the views from the roof are stunning. Udaipur is a little less hectic than some of the other towns and we really enjoyed it here. There's colourful markets, the City Palace and the lakeside to explore ... the beautiful Lake Palace hotel is only accessible to paying guests now. As we were in Udaipur for 4 days, we went on a day outing to Dungapur by local bus - its nearly 3 hours each way ...

... yet another beautiful building though we didn't go into the museum   Jagdish Temple- pretty building on the outside with women selling flowers on the outside steps for praying   City Palace museum- gorgeous building with great views of lake (we found a nearby school with an amazing overlook of lake and town). James Bond - since Octopussy was filmed here we spent a bunch of time finding buildings/places that were in the film- (gracias a goyo ja ja)   Lake Palace Hotel - used ...

... rather nice. However, it became apparent as silence fell onto the room that Mukeesh sought payment for the necklace and the one Hannah had chosen as well. How much did they want for it I asked? "550 rupees" Mukeesh's wife responded. My jaw dropped. The air in the room became tense, as the silence that greeted her response smacked of disbelief and disapproval. I was appalled that the cheap bit of plastic I wore around my neck would ever ...

... were 22 vehicles housed in individual garages presented in a horseshoe. A guardian opened each door one at a time, every time building suspense and then unveiling another funky automobile. There was a 1934 Rolls Royce and a 1938 Cadillac plus Morris Minors, Chevy trucks, old Fords, hunting safari and polo Jeeps, solar powered rickshaws (a very good invention) and the Phantom that was used in the film Octopussy. The town just keeps on cashing in on that one. I ...

... the "Golden City" because of the sandstone used for the buildings. actually passed Jaisalmer and carried on into the desert for an overnight camnel trek! We rode the camels out into the desert and slept under the stars. I've never seen so many stars in the sky before, it was pretty breathtaking, not to mention sunrise and sunset. We then carried on through the towns/citys (see the map ...

... 16th. A late start, breakfast and an easy morning before we pack up, check-out and put our bags into storage. Norah was, thankfully, feeling no serious effects from yesterday's fall, apart from a slight headache. During the morning another band of bugle, large horn and drums parades a horse to and fro in front of the hotel. At 1pm we set off on our last visit here, to the 'Monsoon Palace or Sajjangarh', on the top of a hill, 5km out of the city. The palace is now inside a ...