India, Part Three

Leaving Jaipur early in the morning we took a taxi to the airport and boarded a Jet Airways flight to Udaipur. It was 40 minutes gate to gate and wasn't full. We were in the air about 25 minutes and had coffee and croissants for breakfast on the plane. Unfortunately, we hadn't heard back from the hotel where we wanted to stay in Udaipur, so we had to wing it and see if they had rooms. At this point the drivers insisted we take two cabs for the five of us. So Nicole, Sean and Bob were in an old white Ambassador Nova while Sam and I cruised along in a small Tata hatchback. Udaipur was cooler and a welcome relief from the heat in the other places. We could actually see our breath here and needed jackets and maybe a scarf. I think they said it was 9 degrees Celsius. There were also rolling hills and Sean commented it looked desolate like Cabo. I figured it would come more alive during the Monsoon Season in the Summer. We passed a giant zinc smelter plant. The city is known as the White City and is much more compact and tourist friendly. While it doesn't have any big sights to see, its walkable and full of less touts (as the Indians refer to them). The hotel ended up having three rooms for us and so we had breakfast and dreamed of massages and henna tattoes that afternoon. The hotel's restuarant is outside and sits on the lakeside with views of the White City (Udaipur) on the other side, maybe a quarter mile away. Then there's the floating island, with its fancy hotel. If you remember James Bonds' "Octopussy" then you know this hotel because it sits in the middle of the lake and was where Octopussy lived. Needless to say, its quite a site to see. The lake is calm and peaceful and the only distraction are people bathing and doing laundry in the lake about 10 minutes down the shore. The city is surrounded by rolling hills with an odd castle perched here and there. I was guessing they were lookouts to protect the city from Muslim invaders.
We set out to see the City Palace which was another highlight. The streets weren't full of beggars, touts and honking cars. There were many more cows walking around town and so we had to dodge cowpies on many occasions. Its more castle-looking than a city hall and was started by a maharajah back in the 1500s. The place was built upon by all the subsequent maharajas and now rambles along with ornate wall carvings and great vistas of the city and surrounding coutryside. The best part were the hidden courtyards where you could relax on marble benches under leafy shaded trees and barely here the noise of the city below. There were also rooms made up to look as they did way back when and carriages used during the time to transport people (think sitting in an ornate wooden seat that was carried on the shoulders of men).
We had another great lunch at a rooftop restaurant with views of the city and lake and we could see falcons flying to and fro above the lake and buildings. After we took a leisurely cruise around the lake. We got a closer view of the floating island and plenty of birds sitting on the water, which was sort of clear and full of long leafy moss growing up to the surface. We stopped at another small island, that is a mini-resort with a few villas to rent, a restaurant and bar with amazing views, courtyards and fountains. They were even presenting a free live show of Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure" out under the stars. The day quickly slipped away from us and we enjoyed every minute of the tranquility of our new favorite Indian city. I napped a bit and then watched the sunset in the outdoor restaurant at the hotel and had some local Indian wine with Sean. It was not bad either, but still overpriced. We had a great feast of a dinner and then everyone went to sleep early.
On the last day, I was awake early in Udaipur and had to bundle up to watch the sunset, again at the outdoor restaurant. It was serene sight with the sky shifting from dark, deep blues to yellow and pale blue. No clouds at all in the sky and it reminded me of the recent heat spell in January back in Los Angeles. We lounged around another breakfast and then headed into town to do some final shopping and lament that we never got the massage we wanted, the henna tattoo or the cup of "real coffee" that was advertised. But all was well anyway and I think everyone found and bought what they were looking for. We rushed back to the hotel and showered and headed to the airport. On arrival I realized I had forgotten my return tickets at the airport and wasn't sure what would happen. The taxi driver was nice enough to phone the hotel and eventually they found it and rushed it to me in another taxi. I was very grateful for that. Although another day in India wouldn't have been all that bad, especially in Udaipur.
The flight from Udaipur back to Delhi was quick and painless. Good views of the countryside and then a long and confusing bus ride from the domestic to International terminal. One thing India sure knows how to do is security. The Metro and train stations have metal detectors with lots of men and women in army fatigues holding rifles. The bombings in Mumbai were wo months ago on November 26 and they refer to it as 26/11. At the airport, only ticketed passengers are allowed in the terminal, and then it has to be within three hours of departure. Once inside, you cannot leave the terminal for any reason. I saw flights leaving for Dubai and ALmaty, Chicago and Kuwait. Our flight was at 1135 to Newark and Bob to Jakarta at midnight so we waited awhile, checked out duty free and I spied on all the people flying on Air Astana to Almaty in Kazakhstan.
The flight back was smooth again and we flew very far north, over the tip of Norway and Scandinavia, north of Iceland and over Greenland and then down over Montreal into Newark. Shortly after takeoff we had to take some turns above Pakistan but I couldn't see anything as it was dark the whole trip. We arrived so early in Newark I was sad to leave the comfy business class seat we had all been lucky enough to have on the 15 hour flight. The flight back to Orange County was not for another four hours so got on the flight to LAX, only to have it sit at the gate with a broken toilet. So the good thing about flying standby is that you can hop of the plane and take another one as long as there are open seats. So we did that and flew to the OC.