Glorious India. Time to leave

Heading very fast to our last couple of days in India we fly to Mumbai. Just to make our exit as memorable as our entrance the Taj supplied a car (complimentary) to take us to the airport. Ceremonial umbrella carried again to the boat and two members of staff to say bye bye we set off across the lake for one last time. 😟. Then an uniformed driver made it to the airport in 30mins as traffic was light.
When you arrive at airports in India you have to show valid tickets, and passports in our case, at the
first door then you are allowed into the building. So even when you arrive only passengers (and staff) allowed into the building.
Off to security and as we got to through the scanners on if the security guys picked up Keith’s ukulele in its cover and asked Keith what it was. Then very jovially asked Keith to play it. Ha ha standing in security playing a ukulele provided everyone with a bit of light entertainment and sort of explained India. No matter where you are in any situation there is an adventure to be had.
Arriving in Mumbai and staying at yet another Taj hotel we were again treated to a garland and a magic during of something we never really sure of.
Nice room which was very modern overlooking the sea and a busy city. Really looking forward to meeting up with our dear friends George and Nisha also Meyer. Had dinner on the roof top with a spectacular view of Mumbai. Decided to play it quietly for a couple of days hanging out round a beautiful pool in our last bit of warmth before heading home to the cold.
Valentine’s Day was our last day and hotel was full. Lovely there were roses every where. Meet George and Nisha joined us in the bar after getting stuck in Mumbai traffic for quite a while.
So nice to be with these guys for our last night. Nisha tell us about her (and her daughters) forth coming trip to Everest going higher than base camp. Also about their new puppy who turns out is a little rogue 😉with many shoes disappearing !!!.
And so ended our 8 weeks visit to India.
What can I say about this place ???? Keith and I love the diversity of this huge country. There are so many gods that are worshipped in so many different ways with ceremonies full of colour, music, devotion, mystery and excitement. Weddings are a spectacular array of noise and people usually running over three days. Markets are wondrous with little shops and stalls packed with stock which you wonder if they every sell out. You can wander down alley ways for hrs filling your senses with  the smell of spices. There is such diversity from ladies, in saris, cleaning the streets, village people sitting making clay pots and washing in streams to the other extreme of massive palaces of riches. The country is spectacular in its make up from sleepy back waters in southern Kerala, hectic chaotic towns and cities to spectacular mountains filled with forts and palaces in the north.  Traffic like you have never seen with not one bit of so called “road rage”. It flows in way you could never imagine with rules of the road in the form of whites lines and junction totally ignored. The only thing that upsets this system is when a very unseeable police man, or lady, stands in the middle of chaos blowing a whistle!!! There are sacred cows every where right in the middle of everything just roaming around. How they ever find them to take their milk we never found out.
We have roamed around from south to north and never once have we have threatened but completely the opposite. We have been invited in homes, weddings, temple parades and had so many selfies we lost count. School children have asked us questions usually states with “which us your country”. We have climbed over rubbish, walked round villages, sat by camp fires, driven through chaos, woken up to spectacular views and lived in palaces.
Take India as you find it with all its diversities and fill your senses with adventure and you have a country you will return to again and again just like us. Already looking at a three year visa !!!!

Our special palace on a lake

Driven through the town of Udaipur and a huge gateway with the usual uniformed security we were defiantly getting excited to see our next residence for three days. The Taj Palace Resort starts off its greeting by taking you on a boat across Lake Pichola. What a lovely approach. Meet by a turbaned gentleman caring a ceremonial umbrella and accompanied by a sari dressed member of staff we were escorted from the boat with a shower of rose petals coming from the roof. 😍.
After a guided tour of the hotel we were shown to a beautiful room overlooking the lake. Magic. The Taj is a beautiful old palace built to give the royal family somewhere to go away from the city to spend time relaxing and was so called a pleasure palace. The Royal family still own it and lease it to be run by Taj hotels. The attention to detail is outstanding with beautiful furnishings and every thing managed to perfection.  Even down to the gentleman who brings to your room, at around 6 pm every evening, little chocolates to enjoy. Yummy. Certainly going to enjoy our three night here.
On to the little boat the next day to explore. As we still had our driver we went off around the city. First visit were the local gardens where we looked forward to the walk and maybe visit the zoo. Sad to say the walk was the best bit. Gardens are a bit neglected but did have a rose garden to look at through a fence. Zoo was shut due to new buildings going up. Ahh well exercise was much needed. Next off to what they call the “Rope Walk” (cable cars) up to sunset point. Fantastic views across the city and surrounding area. Fun seeing their system of dealing with visitors using a cable car bearing in mind we are experts due to using to them skiing.
Now off to see the other lakes in the area and we let Virendra guide us to a place for lunch. Great choice having a lovely view and nice people. During lunch we had been looking over to a Palace situated on a mountain in the distance so ask driver if we could go there. Off we went up a steep bendy road through forest for 3.5k up to Monsoon palace. This was never finished and is a little run down where they are making starts at renovation but the views from here were spectacular. Looking over miles and miles of rugged hillside dotted with small villages. Well worth the drive.
Returning to the Taj we now said goodbye to Virendra.
Next from the Taj we went on a sunset boat trip taking in the huge wedding venue situated on the lake where various pop stars come to perform. Then back to hotel for musical entertainment and dinner. What a day carnt wait for tomorrow.
New day new Palace 😀😉.
Off to the “City Palace” to explore the Museum. Part of the palace is still lived in by royalty and the museum is a place where they have put a lot of effort in and is now a prime example of of the epic history of the area. Excellent. Hired an audio guide as we find this is best for us as you can creep around at your leisure and not be pushed around in a guided tour. We spent over four hrs in the fascinating place where we had a memorial learning experience. Little crowded but our fault we should have dragged ourselves away from our palace earlier!!!. Off for lunch in the palace grounds to a little place that sold a golden pizza for £100 and a gold coffee for £20. Needless to say we had the basic ones. Had a bit of entertainment as a photographer was taking pics of tourist dressed in full ceremonial dress. Good business by the number he did.
Back to our palace where we went into the 27degree pool for a swim and then onto the roof for afternoon tea (of course with biscuits) and watched huge catfish swimming in the lake.
We were booked into the “Indian Cuisine” restaurant for a complimentary “Tali” so off we went. Now a “Tali” is a large dish with little pots of tasty Indian food. It has a starter and dessert within this dish and is usually accompanied by Naan bread. Well not the one at the Taj Lake Palace. It was five courses including the plate of assorted Indian food (not little pots either). The meal was fantastic the service was excellent and of course the company was first class 😉🌹😍.  What a way to end our stay.