But before we leave Ahmedabad Leslie would like me to share with you the interesting list of rules in the lift at the Hotel Cama, noting Item number five.
And I don't think Leslie mentioned several exciting (read hair raising!!) tuk tuk rides through the Ahmedabad traffic ... although just crossing the road was more or less the same. The trick, as someone explained to me, was to think like a cow!! Its a Hindu country after all - so in impossible situations ... when you are crossing a packed honking road to spin a U-ie, or travelling the wrong way against the traffic for more convenient access to the hotel entry - the traffic does, just magically part, greased by a great deal of honking. Our bus had a very fancy horn tune, with alternative sharper bursts. In the hurley burley of city traffic, that seemed useful. Going down a narrow country lane, when employed against an elderly gent peacefully riding his bicycle, or a lady carrying her water supply on her head, it seemed a but much!!
Enroute to Ahmedabad we stopped for a snack at a fancy Indian roadside cafe, where the manager eyed us off very suspiciously - or at least we didn't mange to raise a smile. I couldn't resist something called "chowpati kulfi" ... which was actually a very pleasant milky ice cream on a stick.
Our accommodation, just outside Udaipur at the Royal Retreat was by far the most luxurious of our stay - after all, we were now in Rajastan, state of the Maharajahs. Although relatively new, the buildings were finished with antique building materials, and everywhere, including guest rooms, were lavishly furnished with the most amazing antiques from the Raj. Bewildered for choice for interesting detail pics I thought the toothy lion won the cuteness stakes.
On our first afternoon we and our bus went into central Udaipur for our first sight of Lake Pichola and a boat ride across to the Lake Palace Hotel ... lovely views back to Udaipur palaces on shore, across the lake to the beautiful Lake Palace Hotel and into the hills as the sun set - but Leslie's camera also caught the Savage Garden Cafe!
We were greeted at the Lake Palace Hotel by phalanx of life sized marble elephants - which magically by the time we left had acquired striking red and white vestments. The views across the lake on our return were as magical as the ones going over. Udaipur really is a very beautiful city ... It is also a tourist mecca and, as far as I could discern, a desirable holiday haven for India's own well to do. Some of the local housing looked seriously expensive.
More on Udaipur tomorrow. We visited the City Palace Museum, home to the Mewar rulers from the 16th century, which was not minimalist in its decor ... we celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights, on our last night, the local farms were a picture of medieval neatness, so there is more to tell.
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