Venice. Not. - Blogabond

Udaipur. The Venice of the East. Just without the gondolas. Or canals. Or Cornettos. But it's actually quite nice. Fairly peaceful (these things are all relative) and a bit cooler. The focal point is Lake Pichola, and the two man-made islands on it. One is Jagmandir Island, which is home to a royal palace built by the Maharaja in 1620. And the other is Jagniwas Island, upon which stands the outstanding Lake Palace hotel, where one can sip Cristal by a white marble pool underneath a mango tree for a trifling US$450 a night (cheapest room). And impressive enough for parts of Octopussy to be filmed there. And boy do you know about it. Just about every hotel in town shows screenings of Octopussy. Every night. I don't want to rain on their parade, but it wasn't even a good Bond movie. Roger was knocking on a bit. "Bond. James Bond. Licence to suck on a Werther's Original."

The journey here took 6 hours by bus, and I kid you not, three-quarters of it was on a road that was still being built. And it was in its early stages. So essentially it was 4 hours driving on a buiding site. And today I've got 16 hours on a sleeper bus to Bombay. Please can I have some tarmac for that one.

Met up with a great pair of Aussies for dinner the other day and we decided to give Indian wine a bash. A cheeky little number, with shades of balsamic vinegar washing over the palate fused with hints of Dettol and Toilet Duck. Think I'll stick to the Kingfisher from here on in.

written by

phileasdogg on September 25, 2008 from Udaipur, India

from the travel blog: Planes, Trains & Taxiwallahs

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