cc - your TR has moved India up on ours - thanks!

DAY 5

This was our free day - our last - at DG, no guide or driver. First true sunny day. Started out with our last amazing DG breakfast. The servers told us that they had phoned the night before because we were no-shows and they had planned to surprise us with the signature DG event – dinner in a private area of the palace. We humbly apologized and promised we were in for that evening. Then the chef sent a message that he wanted to get up early the next day before our 5:15am departure to prepare a special dosa to be delivered to our suite. We reluctantly agreed, but ended up canceling after we had our evening feast.

LOCAL TEMPLE
We planned to walk to Eklingi, an 8th century complex of 108 marble and sandstone temples about 5-8 kilometers from DG, depending who you ask. Our guide and driver had said that it would be a great walk along the main road and it would be easy to find a rickshaw to take us back. But when we told the DG staff about our idea, they seemed horrified and said it was too far. We explained that we go on much longer walks/hikes at home, but they were clearly not fans of the plan so finally we chickened out and decided to go with the DG driver.

The place was awesome, the real deal. Take off your shoes, no photos allowed. Arrived right before a service was beginning…with music, singing, offerings and lots of bell ringing. We were the only tourists present.

Down the road are a few stands with pilgrimage-type souvenirs and snacks – great lentil chip assortment plus the famous potato-stuffed fried chiles. Also fabulous prices on leather slippers (Rs 450=$8), spotted elsewhere for much more.

RELAXATION
Back at DG safe and sound (BTW, it looked as it would have been perfectly fine to walk to Eklingi, all downhill on the way there, lots of locals were doing it with large branches on their heads), Mr C took a nap. I read at the pool, then swam for 45 minutes. Pool was the perfect temperature for me, might be too warm for real swimmers.

YOGA
We had booked our free yoga and meditation session for 5pm. The turbaned teacher met us on the lawn near the garden suites, where he had set up mats and brought water. He previously worked at an ashram in Rishikesh and was right out of central casting for gurus. We warned him that one of us (not Mr. C) was the least flexible person in yoga-obsessed SoCal, and requested at least ten minutes of pure meditation. The guy was on a higher plane – took one look at us and said he knew exactly what we needed (beginnerish floor poses plus an excellent guided meditation). We felt the burn and the benefits for days.

VILLAGE VISIT III
We were drawn back to the village to bid farewell to Akhtar. One of his 12-year old protégés summoned him immediately (by carrier pigeon?)and we all went to the construction site of a new temple to get a view of the sunset over the fields, then to the home of the silversmith. The 16-year old daughter was learning to cook and showed us the curry she was preparing. Her mom then appeared with a silver sequined sari. I thought she wanted to sell it to me (wish I could have bought it), but in fact she just wanted to dress me up, including bindi and nose ring. (A big hit as my profile pic on FB!) Then her husband demonstrated his ancient fire blowing method - made a copper ring for me and refused to accept payment until we absolutely insisted. So sad to leave this village.

DRINKS WITH NEW FRIENDS
We arrived late for our sunset date with an Aussie/British couple living in Hong Kong we had met during our camel ride. Ordered tea because our yoga guy had told us to avoid alcohol for an hour. (This didn’t matter – we were still high from the meditation.) Shared travelers’ tales with the expats, who were on the last leg of a stellar itinerary - They had stayed at the Lake Palace where they were upgraded to the presidential suite. And they raved about Mihir Garh, a desert equestrian oasis outside of Jodhpur (Google it: looks sublime AND offers off-season rates)

PRIVATE DINING EXPERIENCE
Soon it was time for our private-venue dinner in the Sheesh Mahal, the most enchanting space in the palace. We were seated on cushions surrounded by faded frescoes, ancient mosaics, lots of glowing candles and a musician using a felt-covered stick to play a dozen metal bells (anyone know the name of this instrument?).

Found out later that the manager, who had joined us for drinks on the second day, had arranged this at no extra cost. Not sure how we qualified...but WOW!! We each had our own divine veggie thali (with different specialties than the previous thali in the most romantic setting ever. If someone from DV is reading this, I apologize for napping on the cushions between courses – had to be the swimming and the yoga, because we never did get to go on that walk.

NEXT: VARANASI

It sounds marvelous, crosscheck! And I'm now going to google Mihir Garh.

awaiting varanasi

just looked at DG on TA - a "little" out of our price-range sadly, but I suppose i can dream!

Annihig, not far from DG is Heritage Hotel in Nagda, Eklingi (which crosscheck mentions ).
1/3 the price of Devi Garh, which indeed sounds fantastic. Thank you for the wonderful trip report, CC.

I don't think you have to be staying aAT Devi Garh to visit the village.

Re prices at DG not going thru the roof.... Alas, the current $400/night is already though the roof for me unfortunately.

Thanks, calinurse - I did see that there were other options on TA that wouldn't break the budget [which for me is approx £100 per night per room].

Wow - I guess off-season IS the way to go. The rates have indeed gone through the roof, but you're looking at high season. When is your trip, annhig?

Wish I had a screen shot of all the deals and offers that were available for September. On the Preferred Resorts site, the garden suites were $163 (4 nights for the price of 3 package).

http://preferredhotelgroup.com/prefe...pur/devi-garh/

Palace suites which was slightly more (I think about around $220 as part of the same package). That's what we ultimately booked through Louise's people. Definitely worth it for the views, Other guests we met had been upgraded from palace to araveli, not sure if they routinely upgrade from garden to palace.

Yes, of course anyone can visit the village of Delwara. Just ask for Aktar (Mr. C says I've been spelling his name incorrectly) and he will take you around. Part of the appeal, though, was to be right there and pop in and out.

Wow - I guess off-season IS the way to go. The rates have indeed gone through the roof, but you're looking at high season. When is your trip, annhig?>>

in my dreams as yet, cc! The dates i was looking at are in the next few days - obviously no late minute deals! How far in advance did you book, CC? for our September/october trip to SL we booked in March and the impression I got is that i got some good deals, but I'm not sure as i didn't follow the costs thereafter.

thanks for the link - looks as if it might come in useful!

Kathie - We heard about several other magical rural Rajasthan heritage palaces with village interaction: Rohet Garh (sister hotel of Mihir Garh) and Rawla Narlai, near Ranakpur, favorite of the literary crowd.

But Devi Garh has the added bonus of being close to Udaipur.

Also, not in Rajasthan, but still very much on our list is Ahilya Fort on the sacred Narmada river in Maheshwar near Indore. Beloved by both dogster and Louise, who knows the owner. One of our guides, who takes people all over India, said it was his favorite destination.

And, not a heritage place, but MANY people we met were headed to Ananda in the Himalayas, a destination spa next to Rishikesh (which also had phenomenal off-season rates). One couple from Spain was going for their third visit, said it was life-changing.

Thanks, crosscheck. The off-season rates are irresistible! India has so many wonderful heritage properties. We stayed in lovely former royal guesthouses when we were in Sikkim. Nowhere near as luxe as DG, but lovely and atmospheric. We are starting to think about where to go next year and India is high on our list (as is Sri Lanka). We got 10 year visas, now I just have to get mine transferred into my new passport.

Awaiting your report on Varanasi.

annhig, We had lots of scheduling issues and work situations that kept changing - booked our intl flights in late May for September, but didn't finalize hotels until late June/early July.

Other than DG and Amarvilas (our big splurge, but worth it), our hotels all showed rates of under $150 a night.

The only hotel that I was concerned about booking early was Suryauday Haveli, the guest house in Varanasi because I wanted a particular room there.

We usually don't have a third party book for us, but I think Louise's people got some us good deals plus VIP treatment and bonuses like late checkouts and spa discounts. They presented us with just one price for the whole trip which seemed quite reasonable at the time, and extraordinary now considering the level of service we had.

It sounds like a magical trip and I am keeping Louise's info for future use(I hope!) and look forward to the next installment.

cc - i've started a new "bookmark" folder for india and louise's details are at the top!

DAY 6

EASY JET
It was an emotional farewell at DG. I was truly sorry to move on. We hadn't climbed the mountain to the mother temple...or flown kites....or consulted with the village astrologer....or tasted the customized breakfast dosas....Seriously considering a return visit, adding Jodpur and some of the other rural heritage places.

5:45 departure for 8am flight on Jet Airways from Udaipur to Delhi, then Delhi to Varanasi, arriving at noon. Flights were brief and punctual. Airports were modern. Security was efficient but complex (separate genders, inspection tags for carry-ons, re-screening before second flight). Otherwise, not a lot different than flying on two short flights in the US, i.e. from Phoenix to San Francisco, connecting in LA. When we arrived in Delhi, to our surprise a handler was waiting to provide support during our 60-minute layover. The kind soul escorted us to our new gate area and made sure we got new tags for our carry-ons before we went through security.

A smooth, worry-free trip before all hell broke loose.

GANGES: CLOSED FOR BUSINESS
On the plane we sat next to a curator from the Getty Museum who lives just blocks away from us. He and some British museum people were on their way to consult at Sarnath. He broke the news that because of high water levels, the Indian government had just that morning banned boat traffic indefinitely on the Ganges. And the river walkway connecting the ghats was under water, big time.

Mr. C was unfazed because he had done no research and didn’t realize that the whole deal in Varanasi is going on a sunrise boat ride and then on a sunset boat ride. I, on the other hand, was not a happy camper. We had abandoned our original idea of Ahilya Fort, whose river was not flooded, so we could see Varanasi…how could we miss the iconic cruise and stroll along the ghats?

CRUMBLING IN VARANASI
We were met by a driver and an extremely personable local rep who confirmed the terrible news in the most upbeat way possible: Indeed all boats were banned because of a huge storm, he said, but he assured us that our amazing guide would make up for it.

The rep was so entertaining that we forgot our worries and took in the vibe of Varanasi, which didn’t appear as smelly or crowded or morbid or even as chaotic as expected.

Yes, it is loud hornwise...very loud. Yes, there are serious waste management issues. Yes, there are herds of wandering beasts that are far from potty trained. But something about the energy draws you in immediately and soon you realize you’re in for the ultimate travel high. Far from depressing, it’s a sacred, colorful, ancient Busytown with surprises around every corner. It's still civilization, just a different realm, like a vivid dream. Probably the wackiest, most fascinating city I’ve ever visited.

SURYAUDAY HAVELI – WHERE THE WATER BUFFALO ROAM
To get to our guesthouse you have to park on the main drag, then stroll through the serpentine alleys for five minutes until you reach a herd of water buffalo and their naked rustler. Then turn right – the haveli is directly on....make that in....the river. It didn’t take a naval expert to verify that the Ganges was very, very high. The ghats seemed to be about half as tall as they look in photos, and the water was the shade of a café con leche.

The rooms at Suryauday are arranged around a charming courtyard. The reception staff greeted us with beverages (different and delicious at all hotels), a Bindi ceremony, and gifts of silk scarves. After rejecting one river view room which had been occupied by smokers, we fell in love with 103 – a corner room with a terrace and windows windows on both sides, providing views of Ganges, the water buffalo....and the empty boats.

This room could probably have fit into our bathroom at Devi Garh, but it was so cozy and welcoming that it should win feng schwei awards. Who said 48 hours was enough? I would return in a heartbeat (with a better zoom lens) and spend a month. (Make sure you ask for a first floor river view…second floor windows are tiny, like submarine windows).

LUNCH WITH A VIEW
Assi Ghat was like going back in time to my backpacker days. Market stalls with hippie hobo bags, falafel places, yoga schools, hennaed Dutch people reading Lonely Planet guides. Ended up ordering thalis (regular portion size) on a terrace at the Hotel Ganges View (which had some charm and some decent rooms, but without the authentic ambience of our ghat). Here there were even more docked boats, making the river seemed even more deserted. After lunch we returned to our room and napped soundly, overwhelmed by the turn of events.

KING OF GUIDES
When we woke up (were we really awake?), our guide was waiting for us and started off with these words of wisdom: “Rajasthan is for the eyes, Varanasi is for the soul.” The coolest character ever. Scholarly, charismatic…and oh so well connected. Deserves to be written about by dogster. For starters he has a PhD in archeology. He’s also a priest, an astrologer, a palm reader and a big shot on the tourist board. Plus he was the tour guide for a US president, the silk consultant to an Oscar winner, and performed a Hindu marriage ceremony for a major international celebrity couple (treated us to photos in his phone). Quite the powerful dude, but he couldn't say for sure that we'd get to go for a ride on Mother Ganga.

AARTI
We were whisked off by foot and Innova to the evening prayer ceremony at Dashashwamedh ghat. The viewing platform was ridiculously crowded, probably because half the audience is usually in boats on the river. There were no extra chairs, just throngs of people on tip toes trying to get a glimpse of the enchanting fire worship ritual. We, however, didn't have to deal with the crowds. Instead our guide led us into the musicians’ cage where we were seated inches away from the tabla player, as close as you could get to the intensity of the fire, bells, incense and wondrous melodic chanting and dancing by the talented priests.

We later asked our guide how he had arranged our VIP seating and he responded with the universal answer: “I’m on the Committee.”

Returned via bicycle rickshaw and a several other methods of transportation. Downtown Varanasi was hopping - should have spent more time there. Had a light dinner (great soup) at our hotel. Were joined by some French travelers whose guide had said there was zero chance that the water would go down within the next two days.

Would take nothing short of a miracle. But luckily we were in a sacred place, so there was hope.

NEXT: DOWN THE GANGES OR NOT

Who is this amazing guide? We want him in February!!!! Please share!

I just have a feeling a Varanasi miracle is about to happen...love, love, love your report.

I'm loving this report!

Wonderful! Wish you had been entrusted to scatter dogster on the Ganges. I know he would prefer that to being held captive in a box in Australia.

me too [loving it that is].

I'm agog to see if you get your miracle.....