Fri 2/9/18 (Best Marigold hotel) Ravla Khempur - Khempur
We had a 7 hour ride today. The scenery changed dramatically and en route we went from rolling plains to mountainous hills to narrow country like roads. We stopped in Ranakpur to visit an ancient Jain temple for about an hour that had over a thousand pillars and amazing intricate carvings. Jon and I had a blessing by a priest, and took lots of photos. We arrived at our hotel around 5. It is the hotel featured in the The Best magnificent marigold hotel. I do not mind rustic, but is actually is dirty, and our first room was like a dungeon, dark and depressing. We were moved to a much smaller sunny room, but were requested by a yoga group not to interrupt them because they were practicing right outside our door gggrrrr.... Not a good start. I met an Interesting man, Matthew, from England who is the paid companion to an older woman whose husband remains In England. He told me about a 300 year old temple across the path, so I went with him about 7:00 PM and we rang the bells, prayed, and welcomed the sun setting with a local priest and boy. A bit surreal as we were the only two there. We then met Matthew's gal. She is actually Austrian, and an absolute hoot ! Her husband is from an old royal Indian/ British family and she knew all the who's who of India and was full of very entertaining tales. We had a home cooked meal, then met the horses from the stable who are from a long line of champions called award a horses" Tommorow we are up early to meet our guide for a tour of Udaipur.
We had a 7 hour ride today. The scenery changed dramatically and en route we went from rolling plains to mountainous hills to narrow country like roads. We stopped in Ranakpur to visit an ancient Jain temple for about an hour that had over a thousand pillars and amazing intricate carvings. Jon and I had a blessing by a priest, and took lots of photos. We arrived at our hotel around 5. It is the hotel featured in the The Best magnificent marigold hotel. I do not mind rustic, but is actually is dirty, and our first room was like a dungeon, dark and depressing. We were moved to a much smaller sunny room, but were requested by a yoga group not to interrupt them because they were practicing right outside our door gggrrrr.... Not a good start. I met an Interesting man, Matthew, from England who is the paid companion to an older woman whose husband remains In England. He told me about a 300 year old temple across the path, so I went with him about 7:00 PM and we rang the bells, prayed, and welcomed the sun setting with a local priest and boy. A bit surreal as we were the only two there. We then met Matthew's gal. She is actually Austrian, and an absolute hoot ! Her husband is from an old royal Indian/ British family and she knew all the who's who of India and was full of very entertaining tales. We had a home cooked meal, then met the horses from the stable who are from a long line of champions called award a horses" Tommorow we are up early to meet our guide for a tour of Udaipur.
Sat 2/10/18. Best marigold hotel
I woke up with Delhi belly again, uugghhh.. I powered through a day of sightseeing in Udaipur. We met our guide Sandy, then toured the Udaipur City palace, followed by a tour of a huge collection of crystal. Next we took a boat ride aroubd Lake Pichola which was really beautiful. Next stop was to see a collection of old antique cars. Jon was not happy that 3 of the cars were from 1946, and were being referred to as old ! Our last stop was for a snack before we drove the hour back to our hotel. On route I really started to feel worse so we stopped to see a Dr. At a family clinic. She did not have the injection I usually get that settles my stomach down, but did give me three prescriptions. She did not charge us for visit. We then went to pharmacy where my prescribed drugs cost a total of 97 ruppies which is about $ 1.30. We got back to hotel around 4, then spent an hour trying to re pack for our flight tomorrow to balance our suitcases out so we can meet the weight limit. Hard to believe we have only five more sleeps in India. The rest of our trip is is in Southern India which will be hot, a lot more laid back with lots of R and R.
I woke up with Delhi belly again, uugghhh.. I powered through a day of sightseeing in Udaipur. We met our guide Sandy, then toured the Udaipur City palace, followed by a tour of a huge collection of crystal. Next we took a boat ride aroubd Lake Pichola which was really beautiful. Next stop was to see a collection of old antique cars. Jon was not happy that 3 of the cars were from 1946, and were being referred to as old ! Our last stop was for a snack before we drove the hour back to our hotel. On route I really started to feel worse so we stopped to see a Dr. At a family clinic. She did not have the injection I usually get that settles my stomach down, but did give me three prescriptions. She did not charge us for visit. We then went to pharmacy where my prescribed drugs cost a total of 97 ruppies which is about $ 1.30. We got back to hotel around 4, then spent an hour trying to re pack for our flight tomorrow to balance our suitcases out so we can meet the weight limit. Hard to believe we have only five more sleeps in India. The rest of our trip is is in Southern India which will be hot, a lot more laid back with lots of R and R.
Sun 2/11/18 CHG Earth Casino Cochin
Today was a travel day. We left our hotel around 10:00, flew to Delhi, then Delhi Cochin . We decided to fly business class which was a good decision as the flight was over three hours from Delhi and the plane was packed. Our new driver, Renjit met us at the airport. We arrived at our hotel in Karala around 9:00 PM. We had a couple of drinks then went to bed.
Today was a travel day. We left our hotel around 10:00, flew to Delhi, then Delhi Cochin . We decided to fly business class which was a good decision as the flight was over three hours from Delhi and the plane was packed. Our new driver, Renjit met us at the airport. We arrived at our hotel in Karala around 9:00 PM. We had a couple of drinks then went to bed.
Mon 2/12/18 Greenwoods Thekaddy
We were up and off about 9: 00. We had an almost five hour ride through the mountais and arrived in Thekaddy around 2:00. We left at 2:30 for a river safari cruise in Periyar national forest. We saw some wild elephants, and various Deere, birds, bison etc..... The most entertaining animals were the monkeys, three different types. One type was pretty aggressive and kept trying to steal things from the tourists. I really enjoyed watching one monkey with a newborn. We found out the area was dry as in no alcohol so our driver drove about 20 minutes the government store where we were able to buy more "Old Monk" rum. We met a guy from Ausralia who told us about The Old Monk rum and we all love it. Our other choice has been Kingfisher beer. It comes in 5% alcohol and 8 %, they are the same price so no brainer on what our choice is. We returned, had some drinks, ate dinner then off to bed.
We were up and off about 9: 00. We had an almost five hour ride through the mountais and arrived in Thekaddy around 2:00. We left at 2:30 for a river safari cruise in Periyar national forest. We saw some wild elephants, and various Deere, birds, bison etc..... The most entertaining animals were the monkeys, three different types. One type was pretty aggressive and kept trying to steal things from the tourists. I really enjoyed watching one monkey with a newborn. We found out the area was dry as in no alcohol so our driver drove about 20 minutes the government store where we were able to buy more "Old Monk" rum. We met a guy from Ausralia who told us about The Old Monk rum and we all love it. Our other choice has been Kingfisher beer. It comes in 5% alcohol and 8 %, they are the same price so no brainer on what our choice is. We returned, had some drinks, ate dinner then off to bed.
