Getting to Udaipur was a nightmare. We turned up at Jodhpur airport for our Kingfisher flight to Udaipur to be told that the airline had stopped flying to Udaipur and consequently, our plane did not exist! A taxi driver offered to drive us for around £60, but Bill wasn't prepared to spend more of my precious money on luxury, so we took the tuktuk to the train station, no luck, and then to the bus station. We got a ticket for the next bus to Udaipur (5hrs) When it turned up, it looked as if the panels had been stapeled together. I was not happy to be getting on it!! After the worse 9hrs of my life, holding on for dear life and praying in overtime, we eventually arrived in Udaipur. Our first hotel had kept us a room but in was in neighbouring Mona Lisa Hotel. When we woke up in the morning, we realised we'd been given a bad deal. 'Mona Lisa' was positively scary, hovering over us as we used the telephone and holding onto our passports for the best part of the day. We wondered around Udaipur. I was particuarly taken by a glass mosaic factory and their stunning peacock mosaics. I was very tempted to get one shipped. Unfortunately, my husband was there!
We then made our way to our treat - The Taj Lake Palace. A white palace shimmering in an emerald green lake. This magical paradise of a hotel was the highlight of our trip to India.

Travelling on a tight budget, I hardly ever pay more than £6 for a
room, so after I booked this over the internet (whilst rather tipsy!) as
a romantic treat for my hubby, I had many sleepless nights worrying
about the amount of money I'd spent! I paid £260 on hotels.com and used a
10% voucher sent by tripadvisor. It turned out that booking this hotel
was the best decision I made all holiday! If there is any way you can
afford to stay here, just go for it, you will not regret it!
From
the moment we arrived at the hotel's port in our tuktuk, lugging our
tatty, festering backpacks, we were treated like royalty. From the
gleaming white of the staff's smiles to the gleaming white of the marble
floors, everything about this hotel is perfect. The welcome of boat
ride, rose petals, and drink is wonderful. After we had rose petals thrown over us on arrival, I went outside to
pick up petals as a momento. Instead of staring at me strangely, the
umbrella man bent down to help me and then went to get me some extra! Our room was superb with the
most comfortable bed in the world! They even change and clean your room
ready for bedtime. The staff get it just right - unbelievably friendly
but not over the top and they really do treat you like a member of
royalty even if you are in the restaurant obviously scanning the menu
for the cheapest meal deal! They don't expect tips - a welcome relief in
India. In fact the hotel recommends that you do not tip staff
individually. We had an amazing meal at their Indian restaurant. We
couldn't afford to order much, but the delightful staff kept bringing us
free 'tasters' so that by the end of the meal we were full to the top
and had spent less than £30! The hotel tour is definitely worth going
on, especially as they give free sparkling wine at the end of it! The flute serenades from the rooftops in the afternoon. In the evening, we watched some dancers accompanied by free and tasty appetisers.
Words
really can not describe this place. It's small enough to be intimate
but with enough going on to keep you entertained all day long. You just
can't help but fall under its spell. We were no longer filthy and frustrated backpackers, but Mr and Mrs Liu, 1 day Maharaja and Maharini of Udaipur. The perfect romantic getaway. We
just stayed one night but the memories will stay in my dreams forever.
Pure magic.
P.S. And I was staying with a very unromantic husband!!
We caught the boat back to the pier as late as we could and with that we were whisked away from our oasis of calm, back to our Indian mayhem by a speeding tuktuk driven by a speeding, spitting, drug chewing, crazy tuktuk man. Even the wonderful Taj Palace staff looked slightly bemused, despite their best efforts!