Travels with Ann: A day in Udaipur - Monday, January 21

Before writing about India, I need to report that for two days I've been unable to access our kmurrah@cfl.rr.com email - a big concern, since most of our mail arrives that way. So if you've sent anything to that address, please re-send to annhicks@mac.com.

The sleep crazies continue; I am so frustrated. I did have coffee with breakfast and tea with lunch, but no caffeine after, no wine, not even any chocolate. I went to bed at 10, immediately after dinner, fell sound asleep, and woke up 3 hours later. Phooey. Maybe the visual stimulation of India equals excessive caffeine!

On to our Udaipur experiences. I should start with our arrival after 9 last night. I thought our wonderful planner had made a mistake in choosing Fateh Gahr when we hadn't reached it after a 45-minute drive from the airport. Then we turned onto a narrow deeply-potholed rural lane, and in 10 more minutes we were here. I remembered it had been designated one of the top 100 resorts in the world when it opened a few years ago, and it's easy to see why. It turns out to be high up a hillside overlooking the city, with extraordinary views, remarkable interiors, a most hospitable staff. (There's a fascinating story about its development, but I'll save that for an addendum; my goal this morning is to be concise and get this out.) We were led to a spacious suite with a perfect window for watching the sun come up.

Recording that sunrise today was followed by breakfast on the terrace, then some exploration of the property - which seems to go down the hill at least five stories with pools, a spa, and more vistas. By 10 we were off with our driver, picked up our guide, and headed to the City Palace for a fascinating tour. Then to a large garden designed for the ladies of the court a few hundred years back. We stopped for lunch at a pleasant lakeside restaurant, then boarded a boat for a private tour of the city's biggest lake. Of course a visit to a shop selling local specialties was required.

Equally fascinating as the historic sites was the going between them. We are so thankful for our excellent driver, who maneuvers our very comfortable Toyota through congestion equal to the worst we saw in Mumbai. I may have broken my 1-day picture-taking record today (386). One reason was that I kept attempting to catch cows, assorted small vehicles that covered the streets like ants, vegetable stands, etc. while we were driving. But that interesting congestion made success almost impossible.