June 30 - July 1 : Days 51 - 53 : Ahmedabad – Udaipur, Udaipur Barring a fairly average, crowded stretch getting out of Ahmedabad city, it was an excellent road to Udaipur, and we made good time to reach the city by early afternoon. Of course, too much of dependence on Google Maps provided a bit of a dampener towards the end, and we had our fair share of adventure getting to the ‘finishing line’, so to say. The normal route to reach the Leela Udaipur where we were staying is to get to a boat jetty after which it is a nice, comfortable 10 minute boat ride over the picturesque lake Pichola to get to the hotel. Our ‘googla’ though, simply took us through the road route all the way, which involved about 7 kms of driving through some of the most winding, narrow and busy lanes and by lanes that we would have come across so far! So after covering almost 100 kms in the previous hour, it took us the next 50 minutes or so to do this 7 km stretch....And after being used to driving mostly on nice, broad highways, this was literally baptism by fire for young Rohan – negotiating the lanes, the traffic, the constant ‘advice’ from his mom and his dad, a few glares and many honks from other vehicle drivers, a few admonishments from the traffic policemen around (our extra cautious approach on the roads was blocking traffic...) .......All in all, it was a fairly nerve wracking time before we finally drove into the hotel parking lot. ...whew....that was incidentally, the last time we drove the car in the city itself, preferring to use the standard practice of having one of the hotel’s professional drivers get the car to and from the jetty whenever required..... Anyway, all’s well that ends well, as they say! A (much) more experienced driver in Rohan, and a relieved family finally checked into the lovely hotel – in one piece (and in a dent/scratch free car, more importantly), for some well deserved rest, and a great stay to follow. After the hectic travel of the last few days, it was nice to have a few days at a single location. In fact, instead of 2 nights at Udaipur and 1 at Jaipur, we decided to stay on at Udaipur and do a long home stretch, straight to Delhi on July 2. So it was a nice, peaceful, relaxed time in Udaipur (barring a few hiccups at the hotel itself, which fortunately got sorted out finally) – lazing around, reading, swimming, ‘gymming’, shopping (guess who went shopping – but of course!!??)..... As Arun stayed back in the hotel one afternoon, Punita and Rohan moved out into the city, and among other things, Rohan had a wonderful time at the garage housing the Maharana of Udaipur’s lovely and extensive collection of antique cars...more of that in the pictures section.... The day before we left Udaipur saw all of us move out together – an excellent tour of the City Palace, the Royal Residences, the local museum, and the amazing Crystal Palace. An awesome experience – full of the richness of the history of the area and of the rulers of the princely state, the splendor of the place itself, the amazing views, the vastness and the beauty of the huge collection of paintings, the crystal, the silverware, and so many other artifacts....the royal stables with their impressive thoroughbreds, and overall, a peek into the unique cultural and the historical heritage that we have, but largely (and sadly) are not really much aware of, and do not take enough pride in either.....some learnings in that for the future.... Day 53 then, was a day to enjoy the history, the art, the culture, the heritage, and the immensely beautiful surroundings of the picturesque Lake Pichola and within/surrounding it, the Palaces and the impressive hotels. On our way back to the hotel, we got some stunning views of the lake and various structures in and around it, amidst the waters shimmering in varying hues and intensities and in the light of the sun as it started to set...do check out the pics.. Back to the hotel, it was time for a leisurely dinner, packing – for the last time on this trip, some light hearted banter, and of course, the excitement that the next day around the same time, we would be back....to home sweet home! It was on that positive note that the Nagpal family retired for the night.....53 days on the road.....and just one more to go!
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 08:20:34 +0000
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