A room with a view

So delighted I decided to stay at Jaiwana Haveli right on Lal Ghat.  I couldn't have asked for a better view!  Both breakfast and evening meals were taken here, and at sunset thousands of enormous bats circled around.

Gardens of Udaipur

On my final day in Udaipur I went on a visit to the Saheliyon ki Bari (Courtyard of the Maidens) which are beautiful gardens with natural fountains fed by the waters of the Fateh Sagar Lake.  These gardens were designed by the Maharana Sangram Singh for his wife and the 48 ladies who accompanied the princess to Udaipur as part of her dowry.  The aim was that the ladies could relax here and spend time away from the political affairs of the court.

The backstreets of Udaipur

It was hot in Udaipur and one day all I managed to do was simply wander the backstreets and take photos!

Sunday lunch at the Lake Palace

When thinking about Udaipur, the first thing most people think of is the Lake Palace (Jag Niwas).  This beautiful place, now a hotel owned by the Taj group, was built in the 1740s by Maharana Jagat Singh as his winter palace.  It was built to face east, so that people could pray to Surya, the sun god, at dawn.  Originally built as a winter palace, it later became used by the rulers as their summer resort.  The palace is made of black and white marble adorned with semi-precious stones.  There are beautiful gardens, fountains and terraces.

Now I'd heard that you could only visit the Lake Palace if you were staying there.  However not to be deterred, I asked if I could come for Sunday lunch.  After a little negotiation, this was agreed and a boat was sent out to fetch me from the Lake Palace jetty.

It really was a lovely experience - one of a lifetime - as former guests have included Queen Elizabeth, the Shah of Iran, the King of Nepal and Jacqueline Kennedy (and now me!).  And as one of the waiters said, "Enjoy your moment!"

Sunset at the Monsoon Palace

Although I've been to Udaipur before, one place I've never been to is the Monsoon Palace, high up on a hill overlooking the city.  The palace was built to watch the monsoon clouds.  It's now under the control of the Forest Department, and it's difficult to get to without your own car as taxis won't drive up there (basically you have to get a minibus from the gates).  The sanctuary is a reserve for reptiles, tigers, deer, wild boars, hyenas, panthers and jackals.

The palace provides a beautiful view of the Fateh Sagar Lake and of the sunset over the hills.  Although it's quite run-down now, it was used for the filming of the James Bond film Octopussy in 1983.

Udaipur

For my last long-weekend in India I decided to go back to one of my favourite places.  I'd last been here in my first year in India and had always wanted to return.  I stayed in a little haveli in Lal Ghat and this was my view each morning and evening.

On my first day in Udaipur I went to the City Palace.  I took lots of photos of this place, and at the same time met up with a woman from Austria who is a professional photographer and she took some photos of me!

At the end of the tour around the City Palace there was a boat ride out to an island in the lake with another palace.  This was a super way to spend the day!

Oh! Calcutta

As this is going to be my last year in India - yes Mumbai Moments is going to come to an end soon - I decided to take the Thanksgiving weekend to see Calcutta and the Sundarbans.  Because it was just a long weekend, I wanted to spend one day walking around Calcutta and one day floating around the tiger reserve.  I was hoping to see a tiger, but I wasn't that lucky!

I went with Bec, a PE teacher from school.  When we arrived at the hotel we had booked there wasn't a room for us (a group had gone down with an illness - likely Delhi Belly I think and had not been able to checkout of their rooms) so we got upgraded to the Oberoi.  That was really lucky!  We had a nice room, a great breakfast and even returned for a wonderful Bengali lunch.

I'd already looked up a list of places to go to and we decided we'd walk between then.  First on the list was the Victoria Memorial which was stunning.  It's a beautiful marble building, built between 1906 and 1921, and it's now a museum.  It was suggested by George Curzon, the Viceroy of India, as Calcutta was at that time the capital, however even before it was finished the capital was moved to New Delhi.  Apparently the entire cost of the building was funded by voluntary donations.

Our walk continued north, up to the Hooghly River and through the flower market.  Calcutta is a much poorer city than Mumbai and we notice a huge amount of poverty.

Kolkata was not my favourite city in India, but it was very colourful and I'm certainly glad we went.

The following day it was a very early start - 5.30 am - to set off in a minibus to the Sundarbans on the Ganges delta.  It's a national park and tiger reserve - with over 400 tigers it's home to one of the largest tiger populations in India.  It's an area of mangrove forest so we had to get around by boat through the innumerable waterways.

The boat ride was extremely relaxing, however we didn't get to see much wildlife, not even very many birds.  However we did get to see the red tailed green tree viper which is very venomous (death in 20 minutes we were told) - I quickly handed my camera to one of the guides to get in close for this photo!

The cruise back to the jetty and our minibus was very slow and relaxing as the sun was going down.

May Day in Goa

A May Day weekend right at the end of the season - and quite literally we were the last people in the resort.  I went with Sharon and we stayed right on Agonda beach in a hut on stilts.  There was almost nothing to do except sit and read, drink and eat, and walk up and down the beach.  We met up with Megan and Cindy a few times as they were staying in the resort next door - and one day we all went out on a boat to watch dolphins.  Sun, sea, sand and of course sunsets!