Thursday 20^th and Friday 21^st Feb 2020

India is vast! This city of Udaipur in Rajasthan is noisy, dirty and chaotic but picturesque and with its own charm topped off by the very impressive City Palace that took many hundreds of years to complete.  We visited it for about 4 hours on Thursday with our guide but could have spent much longer. 

After stopping for lunch directly outside the palace we visited the Jagdish temple, from where a Tuk Tuk ride came to a temporary halt when two locally registered Mercedes Maybach saloons – each costing over £300,000 in India – prevented the hordes of scooters, other Tuk Tuks and pedestrians from passing through the narrow street.  A start contrast between the few Haves in their air conditioned cocoons and the very many Have Nots out in the noise and the dirt.   

A car museum was next – where Mum and Dad looked at a pair of Morris Minors and recalled theirs from many years ago.  Steve was even carried to Portugal and back in it before he was born!  Then followed an art gallery where Grandad purchased a beautifully detailed painting for grandma of a peacock painted on silk, and then a clothing and fabric shop where Steve bought himself a gorgeously soft Kashmir wool winter pashmina as a birthday treat.  Pairing with his very smart winter coat, Grandma has taken it back to England as there’s not much use for it in Colombo!

In the evening we returned to the walls of the palace to watch the sunset over the Pichola lake – beautiful.

The next day we took easy, spend morning at the hotel and then with our guide, visited the Princess botanical garden, a Silver shop, and we three girls had henna done on the back of our hands.  Again in time for sunset, we took a boat ride on the Pichola lake around the Lake Hotel (made famous in the James Bond Octopussy movie) to an island called Jagamandir.  That was beautiful.  Dinner at the hotel again, this time with nearly-birthday boy Steve being the centre of attention with a chocolate cake, a gift of two elephants and a bouquet of flowers all with the compliments of the hotel.

Sleep was easy, again!

Pictures are in the order they were taken over the two days.

Rennie