We used our own bags of Earl Grey tea this morning before going down to a slightly later breakfast at 8:30. Not so much fruit this morning, and we were not tempted by the hot buffet, so opted for a masala omelette again with our papaya, curds and mango smoothie to start.
A large pot of Tea and toast arrived and fortunately both tea bags were Earl Grey, it’s easy to make a mistake because both EG and Lemon bags are yellow. We met up with the Australian wild life pair who will be spending 5 days here after a rather hectic transfer at the height of the Diwali celebrations last night.
We also saw the honeymoon couple who had a most enjoyable meal and Diwali party with an Indian family , but found the return trip by tuk-tuk to the hotel rather exciting, as many of the streets were closed . They were also mightily relieved as they have at last discovered that they have a room for their last night here, as their tour company ( not Audley we hasten to add) had failed to book them a room for tonight.
We called into reception after breakfast to print our boarding cards for tomorrow and to clarify our checkout time which will be 10:00. We also asked about tipping the restaurant staff as last night they had been rather insistent that the service was not included and they would not receive tips left at the hotel. Reception disagreed, insisting that tips left in the box would be shared with the restaurant staff!
We went back to the room and Pete worked out the location of the nearest ATM (courtesy of Google Maps), while Alison sorted out all of the suitcases and prepacked as we would not have much time tomorrow morning. Packing done and room sorted, we then ventured out in the general direction of the pedestrian bridge, following our route from yesterday’s tour, with every shop we passed inviting us in, very politely.
Devi, from the shop where we bought last night, invited us in for a chat , take our photos and to give us his business card. We carried on over the bridge and found an ATM much closer than where Google Maps had indicated, and behind a glass door for privacy and security.
Transaction done, we retraced our steps, exchanging Namaste 🙏 with one and all and headed to the bar for lime sodas, before relaxing after all that excitement by the pool.
We handed our key into reception and asked about the tuk-tuk that Pratap had asked them to organize for us yesterday. They said the tuk-tuk was outside, but it wasn’t, so after a bit more explanation they phoned for one which arrived right into the courtyard and took us to Amba Pol where our driver was patiently waiting. The tuk-tuk driver was very talkative and told us that he was in the exotic marigold hotel programme and had taken Boris Johnson’s father for a ride!
We weren’t sure how long it would take to and from the Monsoon palace, so we had booked our dinner slightly later at 8:00pm. However, we soon arrived at the entrance gate and we gave Mr. Madan the money for our tickets and the vehicle entrance fee.
We were soon climbing up the very steep and winding hill up to the Fort, where we arrived shortly before 4 pm; we told our driver that we expected to be back by about 5:15, as we were not sure what was up there to look at. We climbed up the steep steps and were most pleased to see a cafeteria, for a sit down, soft drink and sandwich, which was ordered at a servery, but brought to our table. There had been no mention of a cafe in any information on the Fort.
We climbed up to the rather decaying palace, which had some pictures, video displays and biodiversity information, but more importantly amazing views of Udaipur and the surrounding region. There were very few foreigners there and everyone was really friendly, wanting to know where we were from and would we pose for selfies with them? The younger children were particularly keen to practice their English.
We walked back down the steps, where our driver was of course waiting for us and he took us quickly back to the tuk-tuk rendezvous point, where a driver took us through the narrow bumpy streets and through the back gate off the hotel, normally closed.
Our driver had confirmed our pickup time of 12:30 at Amba Pol for tomorrow, but we are not quite sure if any rep will be at the hotel or airport.
We hope to add photos to our most recent blogs once we get to a faster wifi area at Delhi, so do look beyond the next installment
Back in good time for blogging, looking at pictures before dinner with plenty of residual fireworks 🧨 We arrived for dinner and the waiters were most attentive showing us to our special table overlooking the lake. We ordered our drinks, but before they could take our food order, some strange liquid seemed to be falling from the sky… our first rain shower! We were moved to a table with some shelter and our order taken; the rain stopped as quickly as it had started, so we were moved back again to our original table; after a rather long wait, our main course arrived, closely followed by our soup and the popadoms we were supposed to have had with our drinks!
Nevertheless the food was tasty, even if in the wrong order and we enjoyed a meal with no further breaks for rain.