Udaipur
Trip Start
Oct 10, 2007
1
16
78
Trip End
Jun 26, 2008
Udaipur,
India
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Contented man with book and beer
!Our hotel (the Panorama Guest House) is gorgeous, we've a peaceful, airy, lilac-and-white decorated room on the first floor, with views out to the lake and ghats on the other side, and further roof-tops all lit up with fairy-lights and floaty fabrics. It's like a holiday resort here, much cleaner than anywhere we've encountered so far, and the shimmering waterfront gives the place a Riviera feel. Our hotel room opens out onto a large and private courtyard with a swinging chair for relaxing and reading, and narrow steps lead up to a rooftop restaurant with amazing views out to the lake, the floating palace, and the spectacular red sunsets. We have discovered that the food there is pretty foul; first night we ordered a mutton curry and were confronted by a bowl of greasy gloop with what i can only describe as a valve looking up at me like a fatty tube of disgustingness. Breakfast the following morning did no better, they managed to turn Andy's boiled eggs a rotten shade of grey and my muesli was soggy cornflakes, so we have resolved not to eat there again; however it is perfect for a cold Kingfisher to accompany the sunset.
We've had a couple of blissful days really relaxing for the first time, either chilling out in our room under the fan reading, or venturing out for a bimble (shops are great) and a coffee and cake somewhere
Lakeside Palace
. Bloody tourists! It does feel like a holiday within a holiday though, and a welcome respite. We plan to hire a pedalo over the next couple of days to paddle out into the middle of the lake and circle the island, on which is built, in glamorous and shimmering white, a palace which is now a swanky hotel but which was once used for a scene in the Bond movie Octopussy; so i expect there will be embarrasing re-enactments of key scenes in which we attempt to scale the palace walls. Funnily enough they show the film here in most restaurants nightly, staggered from 7pm - 8pm (so wandering the streets at this time you hear the same chase scenes several times), and the place we ate yesterday turned the film off just before the end so that we wouldn't be subjected to the risque final romantic scene. This is also a place where random things happen, and where turning the corner to be confronted by an elephant is not uncommon; last night we were cornered into a narrow alleyway to let past a procession which consisted of a man and 6 children in an Ambassador car, several blokes in fancy-dress band outfits crashing cymbals and banging large drums with no concession to tune or melody, followed by 6 people each carrying a large illuminated crystal chandelier (and staggering under the weight), followed by a cow covered in paint and marigold strands, followed by 2 bored-looking youths pushing a cart with an enormous and noisy power-generator to keep the lights going
Elephant and Tourist size each other up
. No idea what all this was in aid of, and all the participants looked entirely glum, but it drew quite a crowd until they disappeared into the night and people went about their business as if this was quite normal.Andy has also had his first sitar lesson here, which he seemed to enjoy, and has the callouses to prove 90 minutes hard work, so i think we're closer to making a purchase of our own; apparently Calcutta is the place to go for the best ones so may have to have another trip out to India at some point. Will remember smelling salts, perfume, a double sheet and plenty of immodium for next time!
Em and Andy xxx
