FromDC

CC: thanks, I read your TR over and over while planning our trip. Who knows about the Rifamixin, DH has a very weak stomach, it could have been anything but I think it kept him healthy for the remainder of the trip. And yes, the Varanasi-Agra flight made things easier although I was nervous because I had read other TRs about those flights being cancelled. Arvind and I worked on Plan B just in case that happened so we had a contingency all worked out.

BTW, hope you get in touch with Yukari for your Tokyo stay, she was fantastic.

FromDC

Udaipur. Many months in advance, I booked a Spice Jet flight from DEL to Udaipur around noontime, Arvind confirming that it would be doable from Agra. In late December, I was browsing the Spice Jet website and saw that the flight was changed to 5:40AM, obviously there was no way we would do that. So we cancelled and booked an Air India flight for 2pm but we still had to leave the hotel in Agra right after breakfast. Although the highway is good between Agra and Delhi and it takes less than 3 hours, there is the extra hour (almost) to get to the airport. Flight left on time, we arrived in Udaipur after 3, picked up by the local C&K rep and driven to Oberoi Udaivilas.

We were to stay three nights here, I was most looking forward to this place as it had won awards as being the best resort in India, etc, etc. What a wonderful arrival, as we were dropped off at a pier on Lake Pichola and taken by boat to the lakeside entrance to the hotel. In the meantime, Krishna was driving to Udaipur, a very long drive for him (with our bags, we took only a small carryon). Udaivilas is a magnificent property, the architecture and gardens are really stunning. We had a room facing the main pool, very spacious with a wonderful patio. We walked around the exquisite property a bit, it is quite large and we had a little trouble getting oriented. We decided to have dinner at the Promenade restaurant which is right on the lake, a beautiful and romantic evening setting. Bottom line, the food was dreadful. The setting was knock your socks off. Oh well. The next night we went to Ambrai, which was excellent.

In the morning, Krishna and our guide picked us up for our tour of the standard Udaipur sights, the Hindu temple, the City Palace and a boat ride on Lake Pichola. We went to the “living craft village” outside of the city and on the way passed a couple of wedding processions. We loved our guide and asked if he could meet us the next day for some “off the regular circuit” touring for a half day. He was happy to comply and we had one of the best of our sightseeing experiences of the trip on the second morning, going to the Sas-Bahu temple and to a small village to walk around and get a sense of “real” local village life. We were followed around by the children, all wanting us to take pictures of them, welcomed to peek into the small mud homes by the sweet ladies of the village. They rarely get tourists coming by so it was a great excitement for everyone to have us looking around. The village was very poor, we saw electricity but almost no other infrastructure.

Arriving back at the hotel, there were other wedding activities, with elephants and dancers and musicians at the hotel entrance. We enjoyed watching and listening, so colorful! After a quick change, we went shopping for some miniature paintings, one of the specialties of Udaipur. We went to one of the stores recommended by the hotel, had a brief demonstration of the techniques, saw a nice selection on different media and bargained off the original asking price by about 1/3. The two pieces we bought were delivered to our hotel in the evening after being framed in town.

For dinner that night, we decided to try the Indian restaurant in the hotel because it looked lovely. It was our least favorite Indian meal of the entire trip and the musician who played was loud (his favorite seemed to be Doe, a deer from Sound of Music because he played it two or three times). We finally understood why the restaurants at Udaivilas were practically empty even though it is a fairly large hotel. Although I highly anticipated our stay at Udaivilas, I was more disappointed with it than another other place we stayed. I found the service not nearly as warm as other places we stayed and I've already reported on the food. But Udaipur is a beautiful place and I'm glad we were able to get there.

Craig

Nice report. We've been to all of the places you have covered so far. Loved Amarvilas, balcony room and its Indian restaurant. Looking forward to hearing about your experiences at Ranthambore as it has been 10 years since we were there.

FromDC

Shahpura Bagh. This was one of the highlights of the trip. We knew that we didn’t want to drive from Udaipur to Jaipur in one day and Arvind suggested Shahpura Bagh. We absolutely loved it. If I could make one change in our itinerary, knowing now what I do, it would be to spend two nights at Shahpura Bagh. Upon arrival we were greeted warmly by one of the owners and shown to our very spacious suite in the back building. Really lovely, all the modern amenities, super comfortable. There was a gorgeous pool on the property so we walked over and had a snack for lunch and enjoyed the serenity of the estate. Before long, a local artist who had been called by one of the owners, came by to show his work to a group of 4 or 5 British ladies who were staying there. He had some lovely things and I bought one, what serendipity.

Shahpura Bagh is a small facility, no more than 10 rooms if that many, on a lovely property with a lake and gardens. Owned by the royal family of Shahpura, it has become a B&B, which employs people from the town of Shahpura and surrounding villages, and the owners do a great job training the staff in the various aspects of the hospitality sector. The owners arrange a couple of excursions for guests, including a farm and village visit in the mornings, and an afternoon trip to the Dhikola fort, about half an hour away. We went on that one and it was really special - - the fort is now abandoned but the family used to live there and later it was a school for several years. It is a hike to the top of the fort on crumbling steps but very much worth it for the lovely views. On this excursion, the staff brings wine, beer and other drinks to the top of the fort where the guests mingle and have sundowners. Some of the family come along and talk about the family, the village, the history of the property, etc, they are wonderful people. This was a very special evening for us, a beautiful sunset, great conversations with other guests and then the grand finale - - on the return to the hotel, we were driven back with one of the other guests and passed through the village just at the time that a wedding party was about to start. Our driver stopped the car and the three of us got out to observe. We were greeted so warmly by everyone, they kept pulling us into the center of the gathering, taking pictures of us and asking us to take pictures of them. The groom was especially happy about taking pictures with us and there was lots of laughing and smiling. Everyone genuinely wanted us to be part of the gathering but we left after about 20 minutes and got back to the hotel a few minutes later. The dinner was delicious, with fresh ingredients and lots of wonderful dishes. We ate at a table just for the two of us, it wasn’t a shared table although everyone ate in the dining room.

In the morning, we took a long walk around the property, really quite lovely. We dawdled as long as we could and were very sorry to leave. But I knew almost nothing at all about Shahpura Bagh before arriving, blindly followed Arvind’s recommendation to stay there (I vaguely remember looking at reviews on TripAdvisor) and so glad we did. It is a really special place.

jacketwatch

Still following and am sorry to hear your meal at Oberoi was substandard. This must have been very disappointing. That class of hotel should provide better fare. Also glad to hear Shapura Bagh was such a good experience. It sounds idyllic.

Kathie

Enjoying your report! I'm finally catching up (I'm on Kauai).

Just a quick question about the saffron - did you get saffron threads or ground "saffron"? We saw lots on turmeric being offered as saffron when we were in India.

FromDC

Saffron threads, of course!

Kathie

Great! Glad to hear it.

FromDC

Jaipur: It was about a 3-½ hour drive from Shahpura Bagh to Jaipur. Here we stayed at Samode Haveli in the old part of town. We had an enormous suite, which included a walled in patio in the front. It is a great location if you want to be in that area of Jaipur, the hotel was recommended by Arvind and it was a good place for the location. I honestly had no idea that Jaipur was such a large city (4 million?), in retrospect I might have enjoyed staying outside of the city because by now, driving in and out of cities was getting a bit old. We would have had to gone into the old city once to see the City Palace and the observatory, but staying in the old city meant driving in and out twice. We arrived in the mid afternoon and just relaxed, sat by the pool. Dinner in the hotel restaurant was good, very good service as well. We opted to eat in the outdoor area, warmed by gas heaters, lovely set up.
The next morning we met our guide who took us to Amber Fort (we were “told” so many times by various agents that we were going to take an elephant ride and every time we would say - -“no elephant ride”, and when our guide finally got the message he said “good, you’ll save at least an hour”). The drive up to the fort is on very narrow streets, of course Krishna did a great job getting us there. The fort was really terrific - - much more impressive than I imagined. After that we went to the Observatory, which was one of the most fascinating things we saw on the trip. While we were there, there were some school children (probably 6th or 7th grade), on a class trip and a few times they came up to us and wanted to explain things (sorry, we do have a guide). Finally a group of girls pleaded with us to take their picture with me in it and then gave us a little hand made brochure explaining some of the instruments… it is one of my favorite souvenirs of the trip.

By early afternoon, we were done with sightseeing, said goodbye to the guide, then had Krishna drive us to Anokhi where we bought some things, mostly cotton tops and a few odds and ends. We definitely did not do justice to Jaipur shopping I am sorry to say but I was feeling pretty overwhelmed by the size of Jaipur. If I’d been traveling with someone who is a great shopper and loves shopping (not DH’s forte), I know I would have bought more textiles and home goods. For me, one night would have sufficed in Jaipur. But for shoppers……I can see why others love it.

jacketwatch

Still following and we took that elephant ride. Big mistake.

FromDC

JW: we probably would have done the elephant ride if we hadn't done one in Thailand. After seeing the long lines of tourists waiting for their turn, then watching the elephants walk up the hill to the fort, I was really happy about our decision. I know that other posters have enjoyed the experience.

jacketwatch

That was our first and last time. It was slow and boring but as you say others do like it. Just not for us.

jacketwatch

BTW if you ever get back to Delhi do see the home of Indira Ghandi which is now a shrine to her life and death. It's very moving.

FromDC

Final Installment:
Rathambohre: In the original planning of the trip, I purposely avoided a stop here. From everything I read, it seemed like trying to see tigers is the main reason to stay here and seeing one is a low probability event. But as I wrote in the beginning of the report, the last three nights (including our 35th wedding anniversary) were supposed to be spent at a special, small resort, halfway between Jaipur and Delhi but in late December, the staff went on strike there. When I found out about the strike, I began working frantically with Arvind to get Plan B laid out, including the possibility of a substantial itinerary change and going west to Jodphur. But the places we were interested in staying were completely booked for the dates we needed so as the last alternative we picked Oberoi Vanyavilas even though it meant a VERY long drive back to Delhi at the end of the trip - - what I was hoping to avoid in all my planning….and tiger safaris. I was very disappointed about the change but felt we had little choice with only 2 weeks before our departure.

On the way to Rathambohre from Jaipur, we stopped at a very small place on the road with a few rug stalls and bought a small dhurrie. I was reluctant to buy there, not too many things I liked except one but now it looks great in our bedroom. Well, you just never know what the next stop will bring. It turned out that our stay at Vanyavilas was our favorite of all (well…maybe tied with Amarvilas at Agra but if forced to pick one it would be Vanyavilas). Our “tent” was luxurious and the manager told us that they specially reserved one of the two tents by the lake, so we had our own little viewing bench to watch the birds. The grounds are gorgeous and the staff is just remarkable, absolutely the best staff of any hotel or resort we have ever stayed in, by far. We arrived in mid afternoon, had a snack by the pool, relaxed and then walked around the property and up to the top of the observatory. At the very top, there was a small chest - - in the drawer was a pair of binoculars and below was a fridge with cold towels and water. Hmm, very thoughtful. Well, everything was like that at this property, the staff anticipating your needs and taking great care of you. We went to the naturalist talk at 7:15pm, which gave us a better understanding of what we might see. Dinner was really excellent, we had a choice of sitting inside the dining room or outside with a bonfire (which of course is what we did).

Arvind had asked that we book the safaris in advance so we booked two private safaris and two shared safaris. The routine is that the morning safari begins at 6:30 when the park opens, so the hotel asks that you come to the lobby at 6:15 to wait for your car. They have coffee, juice, muffins etc. Then people get called when their jeep arrives. Each jeep has a driver and a guide. We were told that the jeeps are randomly assigned to an area of the park for that day. The first morning, our jeep didn’t come until about 6:45, we were one of the last to leave. Just to jump ahead on the routine, the safaris return between 10 and 10:30am and you then have a full breakfast (one very sweet touch, when you return from safari the two resident elephants are at the entrance to greet you, they raise their trunks and then you feed them some sugar cane). Unlike the safaris we were on in Africa, the afternoon safari leaves in the early afternoon, not in the late afternoon. So at 2:15, you need to be back in the lobby for the second pickup. After our first morning, we decided to cancel the shared safari we had for that afternoon and to change the shared safari we booked on the third morning to a private one. The jeeps are completely open and have two bench seats for passengers. The shared safaris are for 6 people, which would be very cramped. The drive is very, very bumpy so if you have a bad back or hemorrhoids or get motion sickness, you should not do this (or if the trip would be ruined for you if you don’t see a tiger).

We had no expectation of seeing a tiger and we didn’t on our first drive. We saw lots of deer and peacocks, some interesting birds and the most disgusting toilet I have ever seen at the station for our park area. After hearing about the number of tigers in the park and how many square kilometers per tiger and seeing the terrain, we understood why seeing a tiger was unlikely. Rather than have another bumpy afternoon ride, we decided to cancel the afternoon safari and enjoy some of the activities at the hotel. What a good decision because we had two wonderful experiences at the hotel that afternoon. Once a week, the chef does a “Spice Talk” and I was lucky enough to be the only participant. He set out a table in the garden outside the dining room filled with bowls of spices, oils and other ingredients, and spent almost an hour and a half talking with me about the most important spices used in Indian cooking, cooking techniques and demonstrated how to smoke meat. It was certainly a highlight of the trip. Because the chef knew that we were having a special dinner that evening for our anniversary, a set up in the mango garden, we also talked about the menu and he decided what to prepare especially for us. Later a snack at the pool, a bit of relaxing and then a guided nature walk through the property. Another wonderful highlight! The head horticulturalist has a masters degree in botany and spent about an hour and a half explaining about the plants, pointing out birds and taking us on a tour of the gardens. She was really terrific and we learned a lot about taking care of some of our plants at home (and when we were checking out she presented us with a pretty little bag full of kaffir leaves and thyme from the herb garden, so sweet and thoughtful). Dinner that night was quite amazing. There were probably 50 lights set up in the garden and lanterns on the trees, the staff was terrific and the food was exceptional. The chef came to see us several times to be sure everything was fine…I felt bad that he might be neglecting the other guests but he seemed so genuinely concerned that everything be perfect…and it was. There was a special cake made for us and when we returned to our room, the bathtub was filled with rose petals, Happy Anniversary was written out in marigolds at the entrance to our room, and towels in the shape of two entwined swans on our bed.

To top off a pretty perfect day, we saw a tiger on our morning safari the next day. We went to a different part of the park (we liked the terrain better as well) with a different guide and driver, the tiger we saw was Romeo, a great beauty of a beast, just lying peacefully under some trees. We were one of only two jeeps to see him that day.

Our final afternoon was quiet, by the pool, another walk around the property, Krishna took me into town to do some shopping for souvenirs, and then another outstanding dinner. Our final morning safari was in the same area as our first one, again lots of deer but no tiger and a final drive by a small lake, then back to the hotel where we sadly finished our packing. Much of the staff who we spent time with turned out to say farewell, we were so sad to leave.

We were prepared for the 7+ hour drive to the Radisson Blu hotel close to the Delhi airport (with sandwiches and drinks from the hotel). Thank goodness we had Krishna’s great driving and his delightful company. We slept for about 4 hours then Krishna picked us up at 2am to take us to the terminal, where is was very difficult to say goodbye to him. He was an important part of what made this trip special.

Thankfully, we had an uneventful flight to Abu Dhabi, but a three hour delay for the flight to Dulles and we arrived in a snowstorm. Fortunately, we had another good driver who got us home safe and sound!

rhkkmk

fantastic trip

thursdaysd

Sounds like a really great anniversary!

Kathie

What a wonderful trip! Thanks for sharing.

wkwb42a

Sounds like a truly wonderful journey. Thanks for writing an enjoyable TR.

jacketwatch

Looks like you got home none too soon. .

Thanks for the great TR. It was very well written and an easy read.

FromDC

Thanks, everyone, your help with our planning and comments on my TR. I'm already working with Fodorites on the Australia/Pacific forum for our next trip to Australia and New Zealand in October/November.

But bottom line on OUR trip to India - - we had an awesome time, it wasn't as "difficult" as I expected (I think lots of reasons for this including time of year, expectations, relatively slow travel, fabulous driver, great hotels, responsive agent in C&K). Many people have said before "less is more" in India and I completely agree.