Our last two trips to India have meant early flights out of Heathrow so we've driven and stayed overnight at the Hotel airport, leaving the car there and taking the cute little 'pods' to our terminal.
This time we had an evening flight, 2050 hrs so we took a taxi direct to the airport - much more relaxing for David. Because of the uncertainty of M25 traffic we left mid afternoon 'just in case' but got a really clear run and ended up kicking our heels for several hours. We landed at Mumbai 1115 hrs local time and then got an internal flight to Udaipur at 1415 hrs arriving 1545 hrs.
I have to say the Mumbai airport has changed enormously since our last visit. Getting from International to Domestic terminals is now a doddle and the new Domestic terminal has had an amazing make-over. It is beautifully decorated and has some lovely statues, antiques and modern art - I photographed some of the sections as we walked through but my pictures don't really do it justice as I kept picking up reflections and glare ... the scale of the displays is amazing.
Its like looking round a museum or contemporary art museum - kept me amused anyway.
Flight time was just under 9 hours from London to Mumbai and from Mumbai to Udaipur was around 90 minutes. The time difference is 5½ hours - India being ahead of the UK.
The city of Udaipur was founded by Maharana Udai Singh II in 1559 around a series of artificial lakes famous for its lavish royal residences. Its known as the City of the Lakes, or the Venice of the East and is set amongst the Aravali Mountains of Southern Rajasthan
We're staying at the Hotel Udaigarh, a heritage hotel in a restored 150 years old haveli which is accessible only by auto-rickshaw. Haveli is the term for a traditional mansion or townhouse. Ours overlooks the lake Pichola and Udaipur Palace and has a lovely rooftop pool/terrace where you can sit and enjoy the sunset.
Our room is enormous (often the case with these restored houses/palaces) but I think it might be a bit noisy. The shutters and doors are really solid old wood but don't fit precisely and we seem to have a disgruntled cow or two somewhere on a nearby street that has been lowing and mooing non-stop.
We arrived at 5.30 and dropped our bags in our room and went to have a beer on the roof terrace to watch the sunset.
This is the view across to the Lake Palace (or floating palace) in the centre of the lake. The pigeons and parakeets like the railings round our pool
and the view across the pool looking back towards the town (in daylight)
another beautiful building on the lake ... the pigeons really seem to like this one
Such a peaceful scene as the sun goes down (sunset was around 5.45pm)
The Lake (floating) Palace
This is the outside restaurant area. We had an early dinner (curry of course) tonight as we're both exhausted and couldn't be bothered to go far afield tonight.
A few pics taken from the restaurant area once the city lights were turned on.
So that's it for tonight. I know its a very long post but we have wifi and David is zzzzzzing so I thought I'd get off to a good start.
Now I'm flagging ... so time to sign off for the evening
This time we had an evening flight, 2050 hrs so we took a taxi direct to the airport - much more relaxing for David. Because of the uncertainty of M25 traffic we left mid afternoon 'just in case' but got a really clear run and ended up kicking our heels for several hours. We landed at Mumbai 1115 hrs local time and then got an internal flight to Udaipur at 1415 hrs arriving 1545 hrs.
I have to say the Mumbai airport has changed enormously since our last visit. Getting from International to Domestic terminals is now a doddle and the new Domestic terminal has had an amazing make-over. It is beautifully decorated and has some lovely statues, antiques and modern art - I photographed some of the sections as we walked through but my pictures don't really do it justice as I kept picking up reflections and glare ... the scale of the displays is amazing.
Its like looking round a museum or contemporary art museum - kept me amused anyway.
Flight time was just under 9 hours from London to Mumbai and from Mumbai to Udaipur was around 90 minutes. The time difference is 5½ hours - India being ahead of the UK.
The city of Udaipur was founded by Maharana Udai Singh II in 1559 around a series of artificial lakes famous for its lavish royal residences. Its known as the City of the Lakes, or the Venice of the East and is set amongst the Aravali Mountains of Southern Rajasthan
We're staying at the Hotel Udaigarh, a heritage hotel in a restored 150 years old haveli which is accessible only by auto-rickshaw. Haveli is the term for a traditional mansion or townhouse. Ours overlooks the lake Pichola and Udaipur Palace and has a lovely rooftop pool/terrace where you can sit and enjoy the sunset.
Our room is enormous (often the case with these restored houses/palaces) but I think it might be a bit noisy. The shutters and doors are really solid old wood but don't fit precisely and we seem to have a disgruntled cow or two somewhere on a nearby street that has been lowing and mooing non-stop.
We arrived at 5.30 and dropped our bags in our room and went to have a beer on the roof terrace to watch the sunset.
This is the view across to the Lake Palace (or floating palace) in the centre of the lake. The pigeons and parakeets like the railings round our pool
another beautiful building on the lake ... the pigeons really seem to like this one
Such a peaceful scene as the sun goes down (sunset was around 5.45pm)
This is the outside restaurant area. We had an early dinner (curry of course) tonight as we're both exhausted and couldn't be bothered to go far afield tonight.
A few pics taken from the restaurant area once the city lights were turned on.
I must say I'm looking forward to having a look around tomorrow. Our hotel isn't accessible by car as its on a very steep and narrow, winding cobbled street bordered with little shops and houses. The taxi from the airport brought us as close as he could then we had to transfer to a tuk tuk (with a maniacal driver) ... what we could see of the area during his death defying drive this afternoon looked quite interesting.
So that's it for tonight. I know its a very long post but we have wifi and David is zzzzzzing so I thought I'd get off to a good start.
Now I'm flagging ... so time to sign off for the evening
Wow, Sue, I don't know about your actual hotel room but the views are spectacular as were photos of the airport.
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoyed the beer and the curry - looking forward to seeing more when you get the opportunity! Have a great time!
Wow the airport looks amazing. I especially like the painted columns and the elephant. Your pictures as usual are terrific and the sunset is lovely. The floating palace reminds me of one featured in The Jewel in the Crown. Did you ever watch it? Also love the view of the city at night.
ReplyDeleteWe have avoided Mumbai airport for 20-30 years - used to be a nightmare to change to domestic flight connections ! --Looking at your pics I might have to try it at-least once!
ReplyDelete