Oooooh, so THIS is what it's like living in a palace!

February 22-25th, 2012

This is the longest blog written yet. Please be patient and take the time to at least see the photos. You won't regret it. There are many photos from this 3 day journey but they tell a great story and allow you to see a beautiful city.

We headed from Ranthambore and onto Udaipur. I had only seen photos and had no idea what to expect. What we did know is that we had a 6 hour car ride ahead of us and we were sore from all the jostling around in the jeep safaris in Ranthambore and all the stair climbing and walking in Jaipur. No complaints here because we have memories to last forever and I took some great photographs. Plus I was able to enjoy great food and still lost 2 lbs. If you do a vacay right, it can be so good for you. Here are some photographs of our car journey towards Udaipur. There aren't many as we were just too exhausted. I took some with my cell phone so I will add those in too.

The Oberoi, Udaivillas is where we stayed. It is another top world hotel and #1 in Asia. When we drove up, I was blown away. All the photos in the blog are from all the days we stayed there. There will be a lot, but that's because this place was like staying at a palace. It is huge and magnificent! We were going to stay at the prestigious Taj Lake Palace, but we decided to save a bit of our money. One night there is twice as much as The Oberoi, Udaivillas. We saved some money and honestly, I feel that it was a better treat to stay all nights at the Oberoi than any where else.

The palace was beautiful out on the lake though. It's called the Lake Palace because it once was the Lake Palace to the King of Udaipur. To me there is that thought, of sleeping and walking the grounds, dining and looking out over the lake from your room, just as Kings and Queens did long ago. Maybe some day we'll get that opportunity again and we'll stay there.

The day we arrived, it was night time so we had dinner and then got some much needed rest and sleep. We woke the next morning, had breakfast, for once not a buffet. I had some delightful french toast with raisins and honey. After breakfast, we headed out to a park which is in the middle of one of Udaipur's Lakes. The lake is called Fateh Sagar. You take a boat to get to the little island park and the views are spectacular. Hills surround the city of Udaipur. Udaipur is where a lot of mining takes place. It's most known for mining Zinc. Udaipur is close in size to Jaipur, but it doesn't have the hustle and bustle like Jaipur. It stays busy in the shopping areas, tourist areas and more rural parts, but it's not as populated as Jaipur. This leaves you with the feeling that you are in a much smaller town and there's a little extra breathing room or elbow room, whichever phrase suits you best. Ranthambore was even smaller and even less populated. I mean imagine one of those country towns in Texas that if you drive through and blink, you almost miss it. Well, Ranthambore was much like that. We're not in Ranthambore though, we're in Udaipur, so check out some of the park photos and enjoy. Next, I'll tell you more about our journey, short, as it ended up being.

Murals etched and painted onto the sidewalks at the park in Lake Fateh Sagar.

No idea when they were painted, but they feel as if it were quite some time back.

Each side and corner have viewing and shade areas. They are beautiful in design.

On the top of the hill is a Hindu Temple. People will trek their way to the temple for worship.

The restaurant at the park. It's a real boat that is elevated out of the water. 

People can even take a boat to get to it. Pretty cool looking I think.

One of the many ornate benches throughout the petite park.

A small silver cup lays on the ground with water for the wandering animals at the park.

Beautiful statue of an Indian woman with her hands together. 

A way for the park to say "Namaste" to it's visitors.

My favorite flower, Osteospermum Asti.

View of the park from the road.

It was so warm at the park that it literally drained us and we decided that Udaipur would be our laze about part of the vacation. We still planned to see things and enjoy the sites, but given the immense size of our hotel, how amazing it was and how much we love our naps, we were going to sweat anything in particular. So after getting back from the park, we headed back to the hotel. We wandered around a bit and photographed parts of the hotel, then we had ourselves a scrumptious lunch. After our lunch we headed off to tour the City Palace.

A very popular form of decor in India. You will see this mostly in the north but it is found in other parts of India as well. What makes this dome shiny inside it the millions of small glass (sometimes crystal) tiles placed inside. It was used many years ago to help create more light when it was getting dark and at night time. They would light candles and the light from the candles would bounce off the tiles, helping the illuminate the room they were in. Some rooms even had them on the walls. This was the dome inside the room that The Oberoi called, The Candle Room. It was magnificent. Later in the blog you will see photos of the candles lit in the room. They would intentionally leave the light off in this room at night and it would only be lit via the candles and the tiles in the dome.

Seating in the candle room. They are very unique. It's one piece of furniture. Two seats. One seat faces one direction and the other faces the opposite direction. It may seem odd, but once seated with someone next to you, you realize it makes for very easy conversation without straining your neck.

A decorative sun dial. 

View of the Udaivilas.

View of the Presidential suite at the Udaivilas.

Old arms of war decorate the path ways to the rooms.

Our wonderful comfy room at the hotel.

The vanity in the bathroom.

Another amazing claw foot tub. 

Shower, one of the best ever.

TV in our room. 

Lovely patio and furniture outside our room, facing the beautiful manicured and decorated lawn.

A beautiful view as you enter the hotel. There are many spots with water to give 

this breathtaking reflection. It made for some great photograph opportunities and I 

definitely took them. You will see many more. There is much greenery, as well, throughout the grounds.

It is so very easy to laze about and hang around the hotel. Because of that we enjoyed the time too much so when we did arrive at the City Palace, we were immediately told we only had a short time to take the tour. What we didn't realize is when it closed. So once we got there, found a guide, bought tickets, we were whisked quickly through the Palace as our guide tried to tell us everything he could. It all went so quickly as we only had 30 or so minutes. It was still a lot of fun and I got plenty of photos.

Another view of the park on Lake Fateh Sagar. It was on our way to the Palace.

 A woman, taking a break from washing clothes in the lake.

Entry into the actual Palace, just after the Palace Gate/Wall.

King's Crest

Mural painting

A statue of the Hindu god Ganesh, inside the City Palace. The statue is mounted onto the wall. Garlands of fresh marigold flowers are draped upon it.

Small statue of the Hindu god Shiva. Shiva is known as a powerful god. The statue

is mounted and enclosed behind glass because of how old it is.

A different Ganesh statue in the Palace.

A place to offer tribute for good fortune. We tossed in a little bit.

Never can take chances when it comes to luck. 

A view from the City Palace. You can see the Lake Palace down below in the lake.

Stained glass and marble. The windows and walls were decorated in beauty.

The bird room. This room was for the royals' carrier pigeons. This was basically the post office back then.

Simply put, this is just below a marbled etched design. It is the Hindu symbol for 'Om'. Om is said to be the sound of the universe. It's used in meditation. It is a sacred symbol in Hinduism and other religions as well.

A view of the city of Udaipur, from the City Palace.

Numerous bee hives hang from one of the towers. 

Ancient piece of art that once was on a column or wall of the palace. 

Now preserved here for the visitors to see.

This room has colored glass and metal. This is similar to what I mentioned about the glass tile in the dome at the hotel. When it became dark, candles would be lit and the reflections of light would light up the room.

An old fan that belonged once to the king.

A view of our hotel, The Oberoi Udaivilas, from the City Palace. 

It spans a total of, approximately, 32 acres.

The Taj Lake Palace. A palace that once belonged to the king of Udaipur.

One of the king's wheelchairs. I think that is the most comfy wheelchair I have seen yet. I wonder if they have them in leather and if they can recline. (just a lil teasing)

Oh yes, the photo tour would not be complete without seeing the toilet

that was once used by the king. Many, many years ago.

A balcony for the king.

Looking back towards the place we exited the palace.

After leaving the place we did a little shopping at some nearby merchants. There was one in particular that was my favorite. They made nothing but bound notebooks and journals. They were in leather and cloth. The paper was recycled paper inside. I'll try and post a blog later with some of the great finds that I have found so far on my travels.

After our short shopping jaunt, we headed back to what was becoming our favorite retreat, our hotel. We wandered the grounds again of our hotel and took some photos while the sun began to set just on the other side. It presented some beautiful photographic moments for me to capture. After that, we headed back to our room and ordered in room service. We enjoyed as they brought a table into the room and set up the meal for us. It was wonderful to take our time with our food, conversate about whatever we wanted and relax before heading to bed to get a good nights rest. See photos below of the hotel at sunset.

Door just as you enter the hotel lobby. The fountain has fresh flowers every day.

The chandelier inside the first dome you see, just as you enter the main entrance to the lobby. The dome is painted with real gold paint. Later in this blog you will see an even more close up photo of the dome itself and the bold gold paint.

A gold design in the fountain. It's supposed to be a lotus flower.

Suites with semi private pools. I would have loved to have stayed in this room.

A view of the restaurant from higher ground.

A small little sitting area on the grounds of the hotel. There are different ones. 

This one happened to be on the path going towards the lake near the hotel, Lake Pichola.

Closer view of the restaurant's outdoor seating. I loved having breakfast out here every morning.

A little seating spot in the restaurant's outdoor seating area. 

It's just next to the exit that has a path, which leads to the lake.

Hammocks are everywhere on the grounds. 

There is basically one near every room that has a view to the grounds.

Sunset at The Oberoi Udaivilas.

There is a small pond on the grounds and it and the lake are separated by a concrete designed area for guests to view the beautiful hotel or Lake Pichola.

A view of the Taj Lake Palace on Lake Pichola.

Bright red boats passing by. They had taken tourists to see the temples nearby.

Taj Lake Palace

Ah, here is The Candle Room with the candles lit.

I think this is my favorite spot in the whole area of the hotel.

The domes remind me of Cinderella's Pumpkin carriage.

The next morning, we got ourselves up and ready, headed down for another phenomenal breakfast and then decided to drop by the hotel's very own wildlife reserve area. It wasn't much, but there were many things that made it special. It is a tower, that was once owned by the King's of Udaipur. This tower was one of many along a hunting path for the Kings. It was also used to keep watch for enemies. The most special part of this place was the grounds keeper. He was an elderly man, I think in his 80s. He had his walking cane and was dressed in uniform. He was absolutely one of the sweetest people I've met yet and his smile was so infectious that you couldn't help but smile back. He was happy to have early guests arrive and that we were eager to hear all the amazing stories he had to tell us. His father worked for the thing, as so did his grandfather. He too, once worked for the king too, and even would at times sit by the king's side. He was a spry man and for his age, surprisingly held so much knowledge. I wished I had only had a video camera at the time. He spoke some English but it wasn't always clear. He was happy to know that Vikas spoke both Hindi and English so Vikas would translate at times for me. There was a good feeling around this man. Sometimes you can just tell a good soul when you meet one. As for the wildlife part, you could see the normal birds and such, but there is feeding time just outside the fence and deer and wild boar come to feed. That part was interesting but the groundskeeper and the tower itself were more intriguing to me. I was however, amazed at the number of hawks that await the feeding times. They wait for the deer and wild boar to finish or take a break and they take what they can for themselves. I've never seen so many hawks in one place. After that we left and took more photos of the hotel, headed off for a bit of shopping then back to the hotel to relax and spend the last day enjoying our room and good food and the beauty of the hotel.

A view from the wildlife conservatory tower, of a temple on a hill.

View of the hotel from the wildlife conservatory.

Painting inside the tower. If you stand on one side, his hands, feet and eyes face one direction, and if you stand on the other, they turn the other way. His eyes follow you. Ooooo spoooky!  It's a great work of art. 

The grounds keeper standing next to the painting. He was/is the sweetest man. 

He had some great stories to share too.

Another view from the tower.

A painted depiction of a temple.

Lookout area

Indian Parakeets

Numerous hawks waiting for their breakfast.

Hawk soaring overhead

Deer eating the greenery that's been tossed out for them.

Wild boar lazing about after eating a bit. 

Statue of the Hindu goddess Kali, the destroyer.

Tapestry. A curtain that hangs in the Candle Room to 

cut out some of the sun's harsh rays, keeping it cooler.

We woke up the next morning and had breakfast then wandered around a bit and took even more photos. We went back to our room to catch a short but much needed snooze and then took the BMW with driver, the hotel offers with your stay, to the airport to catch our flight back to Bangalore. 

Tulip on a tulip tree.

Garland of marigolds hang on a marble statue

Closer view of the gold painted dome. The paint really has gold in it.

The view of the dome inside the bar, called The Library. All the Oberoi hotels 

have a bar and they call it The Library at all of them, I believe.

View of the hotel from The Library.

Artwork on the wall, made of glass tiles with silver behind them. Another 

version of art that helps light up a room when it's night and candles are lit.

A dahlia in a clear bowl with water to decorate the table in the bar. 

India should be called the land of the beautiful flora. 

They use it to decorate every chance they can. I love that.

Cart in the bar. I don't mind if I do!

Seating in the bar, The Library.

Closer view of the glass tile dome in the Candle Room.

This was another room, with a dome also, but the dome was not the special view. 

A chandelier hung and the lights create a magical vision on the floor. 

The light sparkling like stars on the floors which have stars in the pattern. 

Another view of the floor without the angle of the lights reflecting back.

A beautiful bowl of flowers in water sitting on a table near seating for guests to rest in the hotel.

The arches in the hotel had the beautifully created peacocks, bowing their 

heads, and painted in such a soft cream color, for serenity.

This just reminded me a bit of the 'om' symbol.

Once again, gold paint.

Beautiful etched glass globes down every corridor.

I know it was a long blog. It was covering 3 days of a lot of wondrous things. I hope you made it all the way to the end. Feel free to leave me comments. I always love to answer questions and hear about what you love most about the blog or the place I'm blogging about.