The day started with breakfast on the roof-top. It was about 10:30am by the time we got up there so I was expecting to be the only one’s there. To my surprise Eric, Cheryl and Irene were still there and in no rush to leave. Again I tried for poached eggs on toast but got fried eggs. Oh well, close but no cigar! Kerry had success getting an omelette which she enjoyed. Eric is keen to understand how the game of cricket works so I picked up on our brief conversation from two nights ago to explain some things in a little more detail.
We were after a pretty light day today as were most of our crew. The only plan we had was to visit the City Palace, just a short walk from the hotel. Through the big red gates we went where at the oicket booth just inside we purchased our Palace grounds passes (30 rupees each) and our Palace Museum passes (300 rupees each). To get to the museum one needs to walk a long steep road or, alternatively for 50 rupees, take the little pretend train. We chose the latter and were up the top in five minutes.
At the top we were swamped by official tour guides who wanted to help us get a better understanding of the history of the Palace and life therein. Briefly, the City Palace is one of three built by the Mewar dynasty rulers over the last 470 or so years. The other two being the Lake Palace in Lake Pichola and the Monsoon Palace up on a distant mountain top.
The Palace is indeed grand in proportion and opulence. Without a human or audio guide by our side we followed the well signposted route that takes one through the Palace. One just needs to observe the audio listening point signs on the walls to know where to stop to read about what one is looking at. And there are plenty of them along the route. Marble is the predominant building material used to construct the Palace. There are so many rooms, both big and small, along the route joined by countless narrow passageways and even more narrow flights of steep stairs. The Mewar dynasty must have all been quite short people as most of he doorways are barely 5ft 8” high. We both had to duck our heads numerous times to avoid being clocked on the head by a big marble lintel. The tour notes and commentary on the walls are really informative and well written. Plenty of artwork adorms the walls and the rooms and corridors contains glass cabinets that hold many interesting artifacts collected from across the reign of the Mewar. The elevation of the Palace provides stunning, panoramic views across Lake Pichola towards the Aravali mountain range to the west and the city to the east.
After a couple of hours of wandering we found our way to an open are cafe adjacent to the Palace’s large main square. Here we sat for light lunch and a cool drink. Not cheap, exactly as one expects them to be, but convenient with good service. We caught an electric golf cart back down to the gates and then continued further down the Palace Road in search of an entrance to the Saijan Niwas gardens. After two failed attempts to find a gate that was open we headed back to the hotel, stopping to gather some provisions for tomorrow’s train journey. It was now 4:00pm, too late to start anything new, so via our WhatsApp group, we organised dinner at a nearby restaurant. At 6:00pm Kerry, Cheryl, Eric and I wandered down to the Virsaat restaurant for dinner. The owner/manager was very attentive as we sat in his lush, green courtyard in the open air away from the noise in the streets outside. We all tried something a little different based on the advice of the manager and none of us were disappointed. Even dessert got a run this evening!
After our meal we were back at the hotel in five minutes, settled our account with the Concierge and went upstairs to prepare for tomorrow’s very early start.
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