Moooudaipur

Our last day in Udaipur is crammed with visits to more of the sights.  The Monsoon Palace was originally built as a hunting lodge and stands on a high mountain overlooking the lake and Udaipur below.  The views are amazing with the city on one side and the desert and mountains on the other.

 Monkeys are used to having the Palace to themselves and run amok whilst we clutch our cameras for fear of the critters grabbing them.   The monkeys are brazen and whilst we watch, a group of Indians have their lunch stolen by the hairy muggers who disappear over the walls into a ravine below.

The Monsoon Palace is somewhat neglected and the interior comprises a tatty natural history display and we feel particularly sorry for the fish inhabiting a tank with panes covered with green algae who start out myopically.  The road up is a mass of hairpin bends and we are grateful that we did not opt for the long walk.  

The Palace is set in a small nature reserve that supposedly boasts leopards and pythons although luckily for us the worst we had to grapple with was a card board cut out.

As we head back into town I am amazed at the numbers of cows effecting informal traffic calming. The cows are afforded maximum respect, although this does not prevent the frenzied horn blaring of frustrated drivers in a futile attempt to get them to shift.  Oblivious, the cows are perfectly content sitting in the middle of the road or grazing, usually on cardboard (no wonder their dung is used for fuel), on the central reservation.

A visit to the Maharana’s vintage car collections includes a delicious vegetable thali for lunch. Served in a purpose built steel tray with compartments for the various dishes, dhal, rice, chapattis and chutneys we tuck in and our tray is re-filled on a regular basis - the meal cost us about £1.

The vintage cars are stored in individual garages and range from the Rolls Royce Phantom used in Octopussy and driven by Roger Moore to the more mundane Morris Minor and Traveller and a Triumph Herald in crème and red livery.  The star of the show however is a bright red 1946 MG sports car which the Maharana used to race.  Every Sunday the cars are driven to keep them in tip top condition.

A quick stop at the Sahelier Ki Bari revealed a small, well kept park with a lovely lotus pool surrounded by vivid bourganvillia

The Ropeway turned out to be a cable car ride to the top of Machla Magra hill – the views over Udaipur are supposed to be tremendous although we don’t know as, much to John’s disgust, I refuse to board the cable car as my fear of heights rises its ugly head again.  The Health and Safety aspects do not appear up to scratch and besides, the last time I went on a cable car with John he rocked the car so much I was in fear for my life.

We’re sorry to be moving on - Udaipur has been a friendly and relaxing stop and the Hotel Jaiwana Haveli has been a comfortable stop. The brothers Harsh and Yass have an easy way about them and go out of their way to help their guests.  The only downside as it turned out was that Harsh is a Chelsea supporter and has pictures of the RS hanging on his walls – John has agreed to send him some more appropriate replacements!