Octopussy
Trip Start
Dec 26, 2008
1
23
27
Trip End
Feb 06, 2009
Udaipur,
Rajasthan,
India
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The bus was a sleeper bus, but we just had regular seats. The first group of people to pile on were all Westerners - I found out along the course of the trip that they were all with Intrepid, all from different parts of the world and all doing various types of tours.
And so we set off. We stopped after about 15 mins to pick up a lot of locals and that set a theme for the rest of the trip. I'd mistakenly assumed that it was a bus direct to Udaipur, but based on the number of stops we made, it couldn't have been. However, I didn't notice if anyone getting on handed the driver tickets, and it did seem to have a pretty random feel about it - it was very frustrating not to be able to understand what was going on!
But we pottered along. And we pottered along. And then we stopped. This time, not to pick up some more passengers, but to get our brakes checked. Apparently, they were dodgy. Within minutes of pulling up at what looked like a truckers stop, there was a man under the bus with a wrench, and about 20 locals standing around him, telling him what to do.
20 minutes later, we were on our way again.
An hour later, we stopped again - this time outside a mechanics where, again, a man got under the bus to try and fix the brakes. And so it continued. In all, we must have stopped about 5 times, with the sum total being that instead of the journey being 5.5 hours, it was 8.5 hours. So much for having the full afternoon in Udaipur!!!!
Finally, on arrival, Ted struck gold yet again with our guest house - and I fell completely in love with Udaipur. Ted says it's because it's the most westernised of the places we've been; I say because it's cute, it's clean, it's got great shopping and it's small enough to walk around without getting lost. Food was the first order of the day, so we headed up to the rooftop restaurant to admire the view of the Lake Palace, and to indulge in some good homecooked food. Ted is still not feeling up to scratch, and so has been taking the food easy - me, I've been hoovering it up!
A wander around the town took us to the waters edge and a fantastic view of both the Lake Palace (a hotel in the middle of the lake) and Jagmandir Island (where much of Octopussy was filmed). They both glistened in the night at the centre of the dark Lake Piciola. I also managed to snap up a couple of bargains, which I'm very pleased about, and plan to make another day of it tomorrow. As neither Ted nor I are feeling 100% - him with his dicky tummy, me with a chesty cough, we retired to our rooftop restaurant and watched Octopussy, something that most places do every night. Cheesy, but fab.
A lie in today, before we headed to the City Palace. I think it's one of my favourites so far. Lots of bright colours, particularly blues, and geometric designs with Mugal, Hindu and British influences. We bumped into Monica and Jaclyn again, and then we all headed off on a boat tour to take us around the lake and to Jagmandir Island. The lake is actually quite low at the moment, due to it being off season, so it doesn't look quite as picturesque as I imagine it can be, but it was still lovely to do a tour and then indulge in a western meal at the hotel on the Island.
Ted & the girls decided to trek up the Monsoon palace this afternoon, but I took the opportunity to chill out and read my book.
I've fallen in love with this place; it has all the charm of India, but very little of the agressive selling that is so characteristic of the other places we have visited. I am so pleased that we ended our little tour of Rajesthan here, as it's brought the intensity down somewhat, and has made for a more relaxed atmosphere.
But we cannot rest on our laurels for too long as tomorrow brings another journey - this time a flight from Udaipur to Delhi, where Ted begins to wind up his trip and head home, and I prepare for further solo journeying.....
