Udaipurrific.
As most of you know, I have a tendency to want to tell the tiniest of details whenever I am telling a story. I'll try to restrain myself...
This weekend was the big trip to Udaipur. It started Friday evening with a phone conversation with MOM, which made me so happy. Then Andy and I went to Pure for dinner - the organic, uber-trendy, upscale restaurant in the Taj. It was my first time, which is probably a good thing because I kinda want to go back every night for the next five months. I started off with a horseradish infused vodka basil martini (strangely delicious) and it only got better from there. Three hours later we were full and had a game plan for our weekend.
Wake up call at 3:40am and arrival in Udaipur at 7:40am. Although it was supposed to be 115 (5 degrees hotter than it was in Jaipur), it certainly did not feel like it, and was actually very pleasant. (Don't get me wrong - I was sweating the whole time. But, unlike Jaipur, it didn't make me want to sit completely static in a dark, air-conditioned room). The drive from the airport to our hotel was fascinating because we go to go through the countryside - people everywhere, vibrant colors, carts full of vegetables, and camels...
After about 40 minutes, we arrived at the dock where a small boat was waiting to take us out to our hotel, The Taj Lake Palace. The hotel, gleaming white, sits in the middle of the lake and is quite striking. It's the focal point of the entire city, and really does have a magical quality to it. When we pulled up to the hotel dock, there were a few people waiting to greet us, including a man with a huge handle bar mustache holding an umbrella - an over the top (yet also sorta fun) touch.
The inside of the hotel was stunning...huge stone bowls full of floating gardenias, ornate chandeliers, arch ways leading to courtyards full of lush foliage and trickling fountains. Beautiful. Our room was phenomenal, mainly due to this little seating area that jutted out into the lake. As you can see from the pictures below, our windows gave us a 180 degree view of the lake and the City Palace across the way. The little seating area was so pleasant that we decided to have a bottle of champagne and hang out for a bit before we went to breakfast...which lead to a drunk breakfast and more champagne (only this time, mixed with fresh watermelon juice...delicious!) It was about this time that we realized that it probably wasn't the best idea to put away a bottle and a half of champagne before heading out into 115 degree heat, but by that time it was too late, so we grabbed a few bottles of water and took the boat back to the mainland.
Udaipur is totally what I expected all of India to be like. The streets are small, narrow, and mostly dirt. There are a zillion little shops sandwiched next to each other selling beautiful fabric, Hindu god statues, vases, books, haircuts, massages, and all sorts of other fun things. It seemed cleaner than Mumbai somehow. I mean, still dirty, but the dirtiness was more...organic.
We wove our way through streets, donkeys, and autorickshaws, until we eventually came upon a Hindi temple. The temple was impressively carved with a lot of people milling about and worshipping. One of the highlights of the trip for me was an encounter I had with an old woman. She was seated, sort of tucked away in a corner behind a pillar. As I was exploring, I almost ran into her. She looked at me and gave me this huge, warm smile and offered me what she was about to eat (for lack of a better description, it looked like a soft taco). I declined and she offered once more before pulling it back to her, smiling, and saying something to me in Hindi. I really can't accurately describe the encounter...but you know how you can meet someone and without even talking with them, you know you have a deep connection? We knew each other somehow. And it was beautiful.
More wandering, a really lame museum, an elephant or two...
and we decided to head back to the hotel for some swimming, a massage, a game of chess, and a nap...
After showering, we went back into town to the Jagat Niwas Palace hotel (the place from my poster!) The restaurant had these really cool little alcoves that each had amazing views of the lake. It was sort of sprinkling - just enough to be refreshing, but not too much to be annoying. We ordered some wine and then attempted to order some dinner...only they were out of anything tandoori...uh, you see, their tandoori machine wasn't working...oh, and they were out of the continental menu too...um, and the grill menu, no grill items tonight. So, we were left with the Chinese menu, anything fried, and soup. I went for a parantha and Andy ordered the chicken soup...only they were out of the chicken soup...in fact, they only had one of the ten soups available...French Onion. So, we decided to finish our bottle of wine and head back to the restaurant at the hotel, which turned out to be a great call because the food was amazing. We topped the night off in a loungy area of the hotel, smoking a hooka (Pookie, I still have yet to learn how to smoke a hooka as fabulously as you do).
The next day we slept in and then went for a late breakfast: mint tea, the best mango I've ever eaten...ever, bircher muesli, a banana smoothie and egg white omelets. Some great conversation with Andy: he and his fiance are getting married in September, travel stories, John Wayne, Peoria, dining room tables, et cetera. We sort of debated what to do, couldn't make up our minds, and eventually decided on the City Palace across the way. The City Palace is the largest palace in Rajasthan and a museum. It turned out to be a GREAT decision...mirrored rooms, ancient carvings, and stunning views of Udaipur.
One more quick swim, shower, and we were on our way to the airport. The trip was absolutely fantastic, and I was pretty sad for it to end. Andy is heading back to LA this Thursday, but will return in two weeks. We're planning a triumvirate of trips in July (including the one you've probably all been waiting for)...more details to follow.
As most of you know, I have a tendency to want to tell the tiniest of details whenever I am telling a story. I'll try to restrain myself...
This weekend was the big trip to Udaipur. It started Friday evening with a phone conversation with MOM, which made me so happy. Then Andy and I went to Pure for dinner - the organic, uber-trendy, upscale restaurant in the Taj. It was my first time, which is probably a good thing because I kinda want to go back every night for the next five months. I started off with a horseradish infused vodka basil martini (strangely delicious) and it only got better from there. Three hours later we were full and had a game plan for our weekend.
Wake up call at 3:40am and arrival in Udaipur at 7:40am. Although it was supposed to be 115 (5 degrees hotter than it was in Jaipur), it certainly did not feel like it, and was actually very pleasant. (Don't get me wrong - I was sweating the whole time. But, unlike Jaipur, it didn't make me want to sit completely static in a dark, air-conditioned room). The drive from the airport to our hotel was fascinating because we go to go through the countryside - people everywhere, vibrant colors, carts full of vegetables, and camels...
After about 40 minutes, we arrived at the dock where a small boat was waiting to take us out to our hotel, The Taj Lake Palace. The hotel, gleaming white, sits in the middle of the lake and is quite striking. It's the focal point of the entire city, and really does have a magical quality to it. When we pulled up to the hotel dock, there were a few people waiting to greet us, including a man with a huge handle bar mustache holding an umbrella - an over the top (yet also sorta fun) touch.
The inside of the hotel was stunning...huge stone bowls full of floating gardenias, ornate chandeliers, arch ways leading to courtyards full of lush foliage and trickling fountains. Beautiful. Our room was phenomenal, mainly due to this little seating area that jutted out into the lake. As you can see from the pictures below, our windows gave us a 180 degree view of the lake and the City Palace across the way. The little seating area was so pleasant that we decided to have a bottle of champagne and hang out for a bit before we went to breakfast...which lead to a drunk breakfast and more champagne (only this time, mixed with fresh watermelon juice...delicious!) It was about this time that we realized that it probably wasn't the best idea to put away a bottle and a half of champagne before heading out into 115 degree heat, but by that time it was too late, so we grabbed a few bottles of water and took the boat back to the mainland.
Udaipur is totally what I expected all of India to be like. The streets are small, narrow, and mostly dirt. There are a zillion little shops sandwiched next to each other selling beautiful fabric, Hindu god statues, vases, books, haircuts, massages, and all sorts of other fun things. It seemed cleaner than Mumbai somehow. I mean, still dirty, but the dirtiness was more...organic.
We wove our way through streets, donkeys, and autorickshaws, until we eventually came upon a Hindi temple. The temple was impressively carved with a lot of people milling about and worshipping. One of the highlights of the trip for me was an encounter I had with an old woman. She was seated, sort of tucked away in a corner behind a pillar. As I was exploring, I almost ran into her. She looked at me and gave me this huge, warm smile and offered me what she was about to eat (for lack of a better description, it looked like a soft taco). I declined and she offered once more before pulling it back to her, smiling, and saying something to me in Hindi. I really can't accurately describe the encounter...but you know how you can meet someone and without even talking with them, you know you have a deep connection? We knew each other somehow. And it was beautiful.
More wandering, a really lame museum, an elephant or two...
and we decided to head back to the hotel for some swimming, a massage, a game of chess, and a nap...
After showering, we went back into town to the Jagat Niwas Palace hotel (the place from my poster!) The restaurant had these really cool little alcoves that each had amazing views of the lake. It was sort of sprinkling - just enough to be refreshing, but not too much to be annoying. We ordered some wine and then attempted to order some dinner...only they were out of anything tandoori...uh, you see, their tandoori machine wasn't working...oh, and they were out of the continental menu too...um, and the grill menu, no grill items tonight. So, we were left with the Chinese menu, anything fried, and soup. I went for a parantha and Andy ordered the chicken soup...only they were out of the chicken soup...in fact, they only had one of the ten soups available...French Onion. So, we decided to finish our bottle of wine and head back to the restaurant at the hotel, which turned out to be a great call because the food was amazing. We topped the night off in a loungy area of the hotel, smoking a hooka (Pookie, I still have yet to learn how to smoke a hooka as fabulously as you do).
The next day we slept in and then went for a late breakfast: mint tea, the best mango I've ever eaten...ever, bircher muesli, a banana smoothie and egg white omelets. Some great conversation with Andy: he and his fiance are getting married in September, travel stories, John Wayne, Peoria, dining room tables, et cetera. We sort of debated what to do, couldn't make up our minds, and eventually decided on the City Palace across the way. The City Palace is the largest palace in Rajasthan and a museum. It turned out to be a GREAT decision...mirrored rooms, ancient carvings, and stunning views of Udaipur.
One more quick swim, shower, and we were on our way to the airport. The trip was absolutely fantastic, and I was pretty sad for it to end. Andy is heading back to LA this Thursday, but will return in two weeks. We're planning a triumvirate of trips in July (including the one you've probably all been waiting for)...more details to follow.
posted by Steven | 8:51 AM
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