Hotel Raj Kesar Kota

... by it. So I decided to take the plunge and get a haircut in India. The first step was for me to ask the very friendly and helpful ower of the hotel where I am staying how much a haircut should cost. He said no more than 30 rupees - about 60 cents US. Armed with this knowledge, I went to the aforementioned shop and asked how much a haircut would cost. Looking me up and down and concluding that I look like a man of means, the barber said ...

... as we'll call him, is a 71-year old retired army man married to Mrs. Shivam, a 55 year old woman whom I embarrassingly took to be Mr. Shivam's daughter. They have two sons (in their late 20s) and a 24 year old daughter doing her MBA in Udaipur. Mr. Shivam is on a military pension of 6,000 rupees per month.

He got the idea to do a guest house from a friend and neighbor of his who had been successfully running a guest house for years. They have ...

Arrived in Bundi at a cool 48 degrees at 1600 in the afternoon yes it was completely ridiculous and we couldn't drink enough water. Not surprisingly the lake had completly dried up and we where lucky enough to eat some really disgusting cauliflour curry - on the bright side we discovered the cheese/ garlic Nan and given the heat and the food senario we decided tomatoe salad was the best option for the rest of our stay in Bundi!

Bundi, Rajasthan, India itsnot5star

... clause hitting me round the head with his ticket booklet and screaming at me me in extremely loud Hindi, after a minute or so of ranting I was informed in English by a voice but no face that it was time for me to get out of the conductors seat. not a great journey. Bundi itself was a huge relief, we found a beautiful Heritage guest house, Hadee Rani, with a superb room and cool courtyards to while away the hot ...

... t like the sleeper I had taken between Ninh Binh and Hue in Vietnam. This was a mix of both seats and bunk beds. For a reason I was never told, I was requested to take my large backpack onto the bed! As a result, the bus ride became a nightmare. Had to put half of my body on the backpack, while I put my head on a quasi-pillow made of my faithful brown sweater. Moreover, it got really cold as hours passed and I began to shiver. "Patience" I kept telling myself...

... mumble something in Hindi; collect some money and move on to the neighboring berth. Was she a sorceress? I had never been on a train for this long. It took 17.5 hours to reach Kota. However, I must add that Indian railways work like a clock. The train took off and arrived exactly at the times printed on my ticket. This was the 2nd time it was happening... In Kota, there was nobody at the inquiry booth, only a jacket. 2 gentleman nearby ...

... The staff of the house show me to the room that is situated in its own area with a large 1st floor rooftop terrace adjacent to the main house. The room is very basic with a small doorway that I banged my head on many times, small chunky old wooden doors that don't shut properly and a window with the smallest balcony, but all this adding to the authenticity of the place. The house is not advertised as a hotel but they will (like many more of these homes) open ...

... garden. They hadn't had a guest for 5 days so were pleased to see me and I'd be staying for 2 nights. They said they had internet but that meant that it was available (1 boy and a computer) in a shop (?) at the end of the road. Internet access on my little tour was quite difficult hence the bulk update once I got back to Udaipur. During the day that we were here we visited the famous Baoris Water Tanks and the Bundi Palace which is a very decaying ...

... nejnizsí částka za jednu noc prozatím dělá 180 rupií. Ráno, po snídani na břehu spinavého, na místech plastovým odpadem zaneseného a čpícího jezírka se jdeme podívat do paláce, který jsme viděli jiz včera při příjezdu do Bundi. Massimo mě tentokrát přemluvil k tomu, abychom si vzali průvodce. A musím říct, ze se vyplatil. Anglicky mluvil skoro perfektně a jeho povídání bylo víc nez zajímavé. Palác patřil samoz ...

... to the Palace in the morning where a procession would start after the Ganesh Puja! Yeah! More pictures to take! I waited for a while and for sure all the musicians, dancers, giant Rajasthani puppets and dignitaries made their apparition. They did the puja and someone put a nice flower necklace around my neck. Then one group of musicians with trumpets, a dancing horse and one dancer performed. They were leading the ...