What we did: arrived in Udaipur by bus, chatted with family, New Year's Eve party
Budget: 3500 Rupees/$70; Spent: 3860 Rupees/$77
Another terrible bus ride. Sigh. This time, it wasn't the cold that killed us, it was the reckless driving and the uncomfortable beds. We felt like pinballs all night long as the driver swerved this way and that, presumably around traffic, pedestrians, and miscellaneous wildlife. On more occasions than is right, I thought the bus was actually going to tip over.
We arrived in Udaipur at 6am, entirely unrested and unhappy. We grabbed an auto-rickshaw and were at our hotel in a matter of minutes. Thankfully, a hotel worker answered the buzzer and we were even given our room early. We would have been absolutely miserable had this not happened. We had essentially worn the same clothes on the bus as we had on the camel safari, and we were tired of smelling like camels. We each took hot showers and then climbed into bed for a short rest.
At around 9:30am, Jeff called his parents over Skype. They had just taken Chris to the airport a couple hours before. It had been several days since Jeff had talked to his parents and they had a lot of catching up to do. It was great to speak with them and see them again!
Patty joined the conversation around 10am. After the call, we had breakfast. Jeff was able to eat a bit more today, but felt sick again after eating. He should really learn his lesson! We spent much of the morning researching places we wanted to see in Udaipur, where in India we could meditate, and generally just recovering from the previous night.
In mid-afternoon, we decided to leave our hotel to look for a place we could celebrate New Year's. We had called our first choice and they said they were full, but when we went there in person, they said they could reserve a seat for us. Unfortunately, a $10 cover charge per person was to be applied to our bill. We didn't have to leave a down payment, so we thought we would check out some other places in town.
We walked to a touristy area in search of one place in particular. The restaurant was inside the palace, which is a major tourist site here. The meal itself is 10,000 rupees per person, or about $200. Too bad it was full. We were both totally in the mood to drop nearly three days' worth of budget on a meal.
After we discovered this, a crazed group of monkeys randomly scared the hell out of everyone standing around the entrance to the palace. One monkey even jumped down what must have been more than 15 feet onto the top of a car and another into a group of people. People were screaming and scattering in all directions. No one got hurt, but it was a pretty aggressive display from those things. We will definitely be wary of those monkeys from now on!
We wandered back down the winding streets to our hotel where we wrote a couple blogs, until it was time for dinner. When we arrived at the restaurant we had been to earlier, basically we were told that we would have to come back at 9:30pm, even though we were told specifically to show up at any time. He even had the audacity to look annoyed and say we were wrong and that he had told us to arrive at 9:30pm. We think the server knew he screwed up but didn't want to look bad in front of his boss. We are learning that in the restaurant industry in India, the customer is always wrong. It's really annoying. We left without making too much fuss, but wish we had made more of a scene. There's always next time.
Actually, being turned away from this restaurant turned out to have probably been the best thing that could have happened to us. We went to another hotel recommended by our book and its rooftop restaurant was starting to fill up with both foreigners and Indians. They had a buffet meal an awesome DJ and a nicely decorated rooftop all for 450 Rupees, which is not a bad deal, especially considering we were going to have to pay 500 Rupees just for the privilege of experiencing New Years in the other place.
We met two guys from Switzerland at the party who were quite nice. The first guy we met, named, we think, Alois, talked like a parrot and pretty much ignored Patty, so she sat by herself for a while, until his friend, Joel, happened to come by and they started chatting. We ate dinner with them and other people they had met, although we didn't exchange too many words with anyone else. The music was very loud and it was hard to hear anyone who wasn't directly next to us.
[pic]
After dinner, the Indians took the floor and were showing off their moves. The way Indian guys dance is pretty hilarious. Their dancing style would be considered pretty feminine in North America, but they sure enjoy themselves. They were dancing for hours! Patty and I joined in at some point in the night. It was really fun, actually. One guy in particular would encourage us to dance in a more Indian style, which is not something traditional as you might think, but really just going crazy to music and doing whatever comes to mind. Patty also had a good time danging with several Asians who were going crazy to the music.
As midnight neared, we could see fireworks being launched from the tops of buildings all over town. Some were big, others small. Even the hotel we were staying at was sending up fireworks from another level above us. Once midnight came and went, the music stopped and the celebration began winding down. We hugged strangers and wished them happy new year. We left around 12:45am and just headed back to our hotel. We were invited to go find someplace else that was still open, but we weren't really interested. Bed sounded much better! Man we're getting old. We need some inspiration from the Chihuahuas, they keep us young.
Budget: 3500 Rupees/$70; Spent: 3860 Rupees/$77
Another terrible bus ride. Sigh. This time, it wasn't the cold that killed us, it was the reckless driving and the uncomfortable beds. We felt like pinballs all night long as the driver swerved this way and that, presumably around traffic, pedestrians, and miscellaneous wildlife. On more occasions than is right, I thought the bus was actually going to tip over.
We arrived in Udaipur at 6am, entirely unrested and unhappy. We grabbed an auto-rickshaw and were at our hotel in a matter of minutes. Thankfully, a hotel worker answered the buzzer and we were even given our room early. We would have been absolutely miserable had this not happened. We had essentially worn the same clothes on the bus as we had on the camel safari, and we were tired of smelling like camels. We each took hot showers and then climbed into bed for a short rest.
At around 9:30am, Jeff called his parents over Skype. They had just taken Chris to the airport a couple hours before. It had been several days since Jeff had talked to his parents and they had a lot of catching up to do. It was great to speak with them and see them again!
Patty joined the conversation around 10am. After the call, we had breakfast. Jeff was able to eat a bit more today, but felt sick again after eating. He should really learn his lesson! We spent much of the morning researching places we wanted to see in Udaipur, where in India we could meditate, and generally just recovering from the previous night.
In mid-afternoon, we decided to leave our hotel to look for a place we could celebrate New Year's. We had called our first choice and they said they were full, but when we went there in person, they said they could reserve a seat for us. Unfortunately, a $10 cover charge per person was to be applied to our bill. We didn't have to leave a down payment, so we thought we would check out some other places in town.
We walked to a touristy area in search of one place in particular. The restaurant was inside the palace, which is a major tourist site here. The meal itself is 10,000 rupees per person, or about $200. Too bad it was full. We were both totally in the mood to drop nearly three days' worth of budget on a meal.
After we discovered this, a crazed group of monkeys randomly scared the hell out of everyone standing around the entrance to the palace. One monkey even jumped down what must have been more than 15 feet onto the top of a car and another into a group of people. People were screaming and scattering in all directions. No one got hurt, but it was a pretty aggressive display from those things. We will definitely be wary of those monkeys from now on!
We wandered back down the winding streets to our hotel where we wrote a couple blogs, until it was time for dinner. When we arrived at the restaurant we had been to earlier, basically we were told that we would have to come back at 9:30pm, even though we were told specifically to show up at any time. He even had the audacity to look annoyed and say we were wrong and that he had told us to arrive at 9:30pm. We think the server knew he screwed up but didn't want to look bad in front of his boss. We are learning that in the restaurant industry in India, the customer is always wrong. It's really annoying. We left without making too much fuss, but wish we had made more of a scene. There's always next time.
Actually, being turned away from this restaurant turned out to have probably been the best thing that could have happened to us. We went to another hotel recommended by our book and its rooftop restaurant was starting to fill up with both foreigners and Indians. They had a buffet meal an awesome DJ and a nicely decorated rooftop all for 450 Rupees, which is not a bad deal, especially considering we were going to have to pay 500 Rupees just for the privilege of experiencing New Years in the other place.
We met two guys from Switzerland at the party who were quite nice. The first guy we met, named, we think, Alois, talked like a parrot and pretty much ignored Patty, so she sat by herself for a while, until his friend, Joel, happened to come by and they started chatting. We ate dinner with them and other people they had met, although we didn't exchange too many words with anyone else. The music was very loud and it was hard to hear anyone who wasn't directly next to us.
[pic]
After dinner, the Indians took the floor and were showing off their moves. The way Indian guys dance is pretty hilarious. Their dancing style would be considered pretty feminine in North America, but they sure enjoy themselves. They were dancing for hours! Patty and I joined in at some point in the night. It was really fun, actually. One guy in particular would encourage us to dance in a more Indian style, which is not something traditional as you might think, but really just going crazy to music and doing whatever comes to mind. Patty also had a good time danging with several Asians who were going crazy to the music.
As midnight neared, we could see fireworks being launched from the tops of buildings all over town. Some were big, others small. Even the hotel we were staying at was sending up fireworks from another level above us. Once midnight came and went, the music stopped and the celebration began winding down. We hugged strangers and wished them happy new year. We left around 12:45am and just headed back to our hotel. We were invited to go find someplace else that was still open, but we weren't really interested. Bed sounded much better! Man we're getting old. We need some inspiration from the Chihuahuas, they keep us young.
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