A day in New Delhi

Back in Delhi we woke to thunder, lightning and heavy rain on Friday morning (11^th October). The local papers are full of rain and flood stories. This has been one of the longest monsoon periods in India in recorded history.

We all set out through torrential rain and sheets of gushing water over the roads in our van to the Saket district and its massive shopping malls: DLF Place and Select City Walk – home to a completely globalised shopping experience for Delhi’s middle class. There were all the familiar mid level brands here: Mango, Gant, Promod, Zara, Starbucks, Mothercare, Marks & Spencer, Sephora, Hamley’s (the biggest toy shop in the world), Forever 21 and even a Hard Rock Café.

We found a few things to buy in our favourite FabIndia and Rob and I bought a Nike bag that will be useful for overflow purchases on the trip home.

We said goodbye to Wayne and Jennie (for a day or so anyway in our case) at 12.30pm as they left in time to catch their train to Ludhiana  on their next Indian adventure.

We’d had enough of shopping by 3.00pm and by now the skies had cleared (and the roads were miraculously clear of the morning flooding), so we were able to spend a few quiet hours at Amarya Villa – which was just as well as our last night in Delhi was to be a big one – meeting up with Canberra friends of Judy and Jurgen at the iconic Bukhara Restaurant at the opulent ITC Maurya hotel (a Sheraton brand hotel).

 Bukhara, for many years has been known as the best Indian restaurant in the world – hosting many celebrity guests including Bill Clinton and Barak Obama etc etc. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting – it focuses on tandoor oven grills – Punjabi style – so the ambience is rustic, informal and exuberant - and eating with your fingers - Nth Indian style. There are even slightly cheesy escorted visits to the kitchen on offer (I wonder if Obama availed himself of this opportunity?)

The food was wonderful and we ate the smoky platters of spiced lamb, chicken, prawns, lobster, kebabs and endless piles of flaky naan breads until we were “stuffed”. 

Judy and Jurgen’s friends were at the end of a luxury tour of Rajasthan – an Oberoi Hotel package – so they had many travel tales and we could compare notes. Even with their luxury touches they, like us, had experienced a drenching or two in the late monsoon storms and some infections (more than us actually). We all agreed though that we’d loved visiting “Incredible India”.

Some top wines were ordered this night and I was poured (and I drank) the strongest G&T I have ever experienced. It was a great night and a memorable one – but not a cheap night by Indian or Australian standards – lucky for us we’re not cheap! And what about the size of these gulab jamuns?

Udaipur to Delhi

We started early Thursday (10 October) completing check out from the Trident  Hotel by 9.30am and making a decision to do our old Udaipur city walk first thing in order to take advantage of the clear skies while we were lucky enough to have them.

The central market area was much more laid back and open (and cleaner) than any in the other cities we’ve visited and I just loved the splashes of colour, and the liveliness of it all. 

Everybody has to work hard in India - even these little donkeys (why do we feel so sad for them while tending to forget about the many people here who are overloaded with work too??).

As in other market areas, like shops (spices, sugar, snacks, ceremonial goods, laundries, bakeries etc) are clustered together. 

This stall selling blocks of palm sugar was buzzing with hundreds of wasps.

And this was the old Udaipur equivalent of my Ilve oven....... (baking cookies today)

The fresh food market was clean and fragrant (fresh herbal fragrant) and I really enjoyed seeing many more women around participating in the business side of things.

We finished up at the oldest Hindu temple of Udaipur – the fantastically carved Jagdish Temple dating from 1651. It enshrines a black stone image of Vishna as Jagannah, Lord of the Universe. The temple was very busy this morning with a devout crowd of local people chanting in front of Vishna.

We spent some time examining the intricate carvings on the exterior which our guide helped us to interpret - they were all about providing lessons on leading the good life according to the Hindu pantheon of gods and mythology (including lessons for “man and ladies” from the Kama Sutra).

It was a fairly brisk walk out of the narrow old Udaipur lanes to where the van picked us up – then a trip back to yesterday afternoon’s Handcrafts and Textiles place so Jennie and Wayne could pick up the gear they’d had made for them (overnight sewing – and they’re very happy with the fit and the quality!). 

On the way we witnessed the amazing sight of a pair of Jain priests walking briskly along the main street of Udaipur (alongside our bus as it turns out) with an entourage of followers. Devout Jain priests wear no clothes as a sign of their austerity. Yes these men were absolutely naked - Incredible India indeed!!!

Our guide suggested a quiet little restaurant (Aroma Restaurant) for a quick snack and a cool drink before we headed out to Udaipur’s new modern airport to catch our Jet Airways flight back to Delhi at 4.30pm.

At this point we said goodbye to Rinkhu - the best driver in all of India and one of the most serene and dignified - a true gentleman. He had an eleven hour drive back to Delhi from Udaipur ahead of him and we were all willing him a safe drive back. We were very grateful for the way he had ensured our safety and comfort at all times over the past 14 days under some very testing conditions!!

We were pleasantly surprised by our positive experience of internal flights in this part of India. The (small) plane was new and it arrived in Delhi about 15 minutes early. We were also pleased that they didn’t seem to be enforcing the new 15kg check in baggage limits (phew!).

Our early arrival in Delhi meant that our guide and driver weren’t there to meet us. After about 10-15 minutes we rang our tour operator who was quick to let us know they were only 2 minutes away. Apparently Delhi’s peak hour traffic and our early arrival had conspired to leave us to our own devices for a short time – the only glitch so far in what has been an impeccably planned holiday so far. Thank you Mr VP Singh of Legends andPalaces!

We went out to dinner to celebrate our last night together as a group of seven - to the gorgeous and impeccable Imperial Hotel, close to Connaught Place. The Imperial Hotel opened in 1931 as New Delhi's first luxury hotel - and it still retains its perfectly groomed air of colonial grandeur.  I have heard a rumour that this is the the hotel favoured by Ms Cath T (of Topshop fame) when she is on business in New Delhi. Apparently this was the hotel where Nehru, Gandhi, Ali Jinnah and Lord Mountbatten met to discuss the Partition of India and the birth of Pakistan.

We dined in the more casual Daniell's Tavern but it was still starched white service and beautifully prepared food.

Udaipur

Udaipur was founded in 1558 by Maharana (which is one level up from a Maharaja) Udai Singh 11 as the capital of the Mewar kingdom. It's known as the city of lakes, "the Venice of the East", and for its Rajput-era palaces.

We started our tour of Udaipur with a cruise on the main lake, the Pichola Lake. We boarded the flat bottomed boat from the lower grounds of the expansive City Palace, on the east bank of the lake.

The thirteenth James Bond film, Octopussy (made in 1983), was set in Udaipur so some of these buildings may look familiar to afficiandos of that film!!

Under threatening skies we headed north along the lake edge, admiring the weather worn historic buildings along the way.

....and the iconic, domed Oberoi Hotel in its lakeside setting.

We landed at Jag Mandir Island for a short stop over. Shah Jahan (the man who built the Taj Mahal) took refuge here during his extended revolt against his father Akbar. During this time Jag Mandir became a "pleasure island" with fragrant gardens, water features and lots of dancing girls and concubines.

They say this domed structure inspired Shah Jahan in his initial concept for the Taj Mahal.

Back where we started it was a short but steep walk up to the entrance to the City Palace, the residence of the present royal family of Udaipur, and also the site of two heritage hotels and a number of specialty museums.

The series of courtyards, the separate men's palace and women's palace, the meeting areas, the decorative stonework and painting, the mirrored surfaces, the gardens and water features were all familiar to us by now.

This was the Maharana's bedroom - yes that is a mirrored floor!

And a domed roof lined with mirrored tiles.

There was a wonderful collection of silverware in a special display area and this rather amazing palanquin.

And great views of Lake Pichola from the peacock arched window openings - although by now the rain was falling in intermittent heavy showers.

This was my best pic of the famous Lake Palace, built in 1743-1746. Originally built as the royal summer palace it's now operating as a 5 star hotel (under the Taj banner). None of my pics from the morning's boat ride were as good because conditions were so hazy.

We stopped for a light (but quite expensive for India) lunch at the Sunset Terrace Restaurant at the City Palace before stopping to admire the Maharana's Vintage Car Museum (they're all cars belonging to the royal family).  These guys were SO RICH!

Last stop for the day was at the obligatory Arts and Handicrafts Centre. This one was interesting because it had a working studio of painters working on the miniatures for which this region is famous.

These are the raw materials for the paints - ground by hand: zinc oxide, red oxide, malachite, lapis lazuli, sulphur - all ground down fine and mixed to a paste with gum arabic - just as it has been done for the past many hundreds of years.

While we spent some time examining the paintings and choosing more textiles to stuff in our bags Rob and Jurgen sat outside watching Udaipur at work and play - and surviving encroaching cows (with horns) seeking shelter from the teeming rain - right near where Rob and Jurgen were trying to do the same thing.