December trip to India

LINKS TO SMALLER BLOGS RELATED TO THE INDIA TRIP EMBEDDED HERE

Day 1 -

Ford Angila

I left home at about 5:30 am to the Singapore Changi International Airport. I got off the taxi and entered the best airport in the world. Before I checked in, I saw the Harry Potter display at the airport.

At Terminal 2, there was only one display. There was the display of the Ford Angila of the Weasleys' in Harry Potter which had crashed onto the Whomping Willow (extract of book 2 - Chamber of Secrets). I went around and took pictures.

Bed at Plaza Premium Lounge

After I checked in and went past the security check, it was about 6:45. I ate a quick bite at McDonald's and then went into the gate of my Air India flight, AI 381 to Delhi, a B787 Dreamliner.

The flight was a bit delayed. It was scheduled to take off at 8:20. I watched Incredibles 2 and some Netflix on the plane. They had some Aloo Parotha and Upma for lunch. I slept for an hour during the 6 hour flight.

As I landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, I went to eat a sandwich at Cafe Coffee Day. I had a connecting flight in about 7 hrs to Udaipur. I looked around and saw a place called Plaza Premium Lounge. It was a lounge with a bed and a bathroom that you could rent. I was very tired so I rented it for 3 hours.

I slept and also took a shower over there. At 4:15, I left the lounge and headed for the domestic terminal. I was taking SpiceJet airlines. The SpiceJet queue for check-in was crazy long! There were only 3 counters. The security-check went very fast and smooth.

SpiceJet Propeller aircraft

My flight, SG 8733 was at 6:55 pm. I had time. As I knew I would be arriving pretty late in Udaipur, I bought a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. 

The SpiceJet flight was a Bomardier Dash 8 which was a propeller plane. It was probably the first time I was travelling in this plane. I knew it would be fun. The SpiceJet plane took off as I slept off in the plane. I woke up only after the plane had landed.

Delhi from the flight

As I walked out of Udaipur airport to the cab, I could feel the coolness of the air outside. The cab took us to a place where I had to change into an auto. This was because in my hotel area, four wheelers were not allowed.

The auto driver dropped me off at my hotel, Hotel Sarovar on Pichola. 

As I got into my room, it had a scenic view of the beautiful Lake Pichola. I could also see one of the main highlights in Udaipur which was the City Palace. I had a sandwich and Appy fizz before I slept of after a long day.

Day 2-

I woke up and refreshed. I went upstairs for breakfast in the hotels' rooftop restaurant called 'Shamiana'. I had poori, vegetable and some mixed fruit juice for breakfast. I had booked a driver for a day trip. 

Breakfast at Hotel Sarovar

I first took a 15 min drive to a place called Dudh Talai. It was previously a place where cows used to be milked. 'Dudh' is milk and 'Talai' or 'Talab' is river in Hindi. This was located in a pond which is now covered up. I also took a cable car up to the Karni Mata Temple on another mountain. 

View from Dudh Talai

The cable car ride had amazing views of the Lake Pichola, City Palace and Lake Palace. The temple had a beautiful deity. There were also white mice in cages. I had a quick bite.

I next went to Monsoon Palace or Sajjan Garh. It overlooks the Fateh Sagar Lake and Lake Pichola. It is named after Maharana Sajjan Singh, a king from the Mewar dynasty. There were few monkeys around the outside of this palace. It was up on a mountain so I felt a bit carsick.

Monsoon Palace

Mud hut at Shilpgram

I also went to Shilpgram which had many arts and craft activities. There were houses made of mud and clay which felt so cool as soon as I went inside. I also bought some clay made items like cups and cooking vessels. I saw a man making these clay cups. It was just amazing!

I went to the cultural show organised. They had very traditional people who were playing instruments and dancing to the melodious flute songs. I really enjoyed. I bought a number of products from the Shilpgram.

Cultural show at Shilpgram

Maharana Pratap Statue

I was getting really hungry because it was past 2. I then saw a nearby cafe called Amantara and had some chocolate ice-cream there. 

Sunset at Fateh Sagar

After the delicious treat, I headed to the Moti Magri where the memorial of Maharana Pratap statue with Chetak was located. It had great views and was very close to the Fateh Sagar Lake. 

Zucchini restaurant

Then I went on a slow boat ride on Fateh Sagar Lake. The people were very slow and I was about to get my money refunded. Luckily after sometime, more people came and so I went. On the way, I also saw an astrological center in the middle of the Lake. The boat ride had nice views of the sunset and lasted about 30 mins long.

I then went back to our hotel to rest. At my hotel, we decided what place I would go for dinner. Out of all the restaurants I saw, I picked 'Zucchini', an Italian restaurant. I had lasagna, spinach ravioli and zucchini cheese balls. It was really good!

I went back home by auto and slept. 

Outside Eklingji temple

Day 3-

I had a good nights rest as I woke up and went for breakfast - Bread with butter & jam and Upma, a South Indian dish.

I first headed off to Eklingji temple, a famous temple of Shiva and had 108 idols of him. I was not allowed to take pictures inside but, I could take pictures outside. It looked very beautiful and the people were standing in queues even before the temple opened.There was also a golden representation of his bull, Nandi, facing him.

After going around the Eklingji temple, I went to the Nathdwara temple. In the Nathdwara temple, people rush in like crazy unlike the Eklingji temple. I had a tough time going in and everyone was blocking my view of the deity. Photos were not allowed here - Phones had to be kept in lockers.

Chetak Smarak

I passed through Haldighati, a historic place where the war of Akbar and Maharana Pratap happened. Akbar did not come himself, he sent his general. ( For more info, please visit The Battle of Haldighati blog post)

On the way to the Maharana Pratap museum I was going, I stopped at the Chetak Smarak, a memorial for Maharana Pratap's horse, Chetak. It was like a pole with a miniature of Chetak.

I then stopped at Natural Perfume Home which had perfumes made of different natural extracts like Rose and Saunf. I bought some of these amazing smelling perfumes. 

Outside Maharana Pratap museum

Outside the Maharana Pratap museum where I was now, I bought an Orange ice-cream for the coolness. Then, as I entered the museum, I witnessed incredible statues carved beautifully. I was asked to watch a short movie on the history of the Haldighati war.

Sound and Light show

Then, the specialty of this museum was the Sound & Light show. They had built status where sounds would come as if they were speaking. The light falls on them while this is happening. This Sound & Light show was amazing! I loved how they did this.

Now, I was getting REALLY hungry. My driver recommended me to go to a place called Chetak restaurant. I asked the Paneer Makhani to be non-spicy, but it was still so spicy! I somehow managed with a lot of water.

Saheliyon ki Bari

I then visited the Saheliyon ki Bari, a garden built for the royal people. There was a place where the queen would bathe, etc. I really 

Queen's bathing place

enjoyed this place as it had a huge photograph opportunity.

Later, I went back to the hotel and relaxed. 

Lady with 10 pots

I then went to Bagore ki Haveli where I watched a cultural program which included dancing and puppetry. It was located right next to Lake Pichola. It was so amazing. The man with the puppets was amazing! There was also a 73 year-old lady who balanced 10 pots on her head! Genius!

For dinner, I went to a place called Sun & Moon restaurant. I ordered Alfredo pasta and mozzarella cheese sticks. I loved this place. It had a great view of Lake Pichola and City Palace. 

Lake Palace

Day 4-

Breakfast

For breakfast, they served the same thing as day-before-yesterday. 

I did not go by the car today. Instead, I went walking to nearby places. I first walked a bit to get a view of the Lake Palace. Lake Palace is owned by the Taj Hotel Group. It costs $1100 USD per night! It is more expensive than Marina Bay Sands in Singapore! It is in the #20 hotels in the world. 

I then walked to Jagdish temple which had stunning carvings. I really enjoyed this temple. This was another place I saw from the Sun & Moon restaurant yesterday.

Carvings at Jagdish Temple

City Palace was the main highlight that day. I could see this palace from our hotel. It was really amazing (click City Palace Udaipur for more) 

City Palace

I went for lunch at a restaurant called Neelam Restaurant. It was a rooftop, but covered restaurant. I had excellent Paneer Mattar (not spicy this time!) and butter naan. I loved it so much I posted a review on Google Maps.

Udaipur is very famous for sweets. So, the Neelam Restaurant recommended us to go to JMB (Jodhpur Mishtan Bhandar) which had a variety of sweets. Over there, I bought a sweet called Ghevar, shaped like a donut. 

Dinner

I then took an auto to Forum Celebrations Mall where I went to Max, and ate at Baskin -Robbins in the food court (chocolate fudge flavor ice-cream). I also went to Big-Bazaar to get some food supplies. After all of this, I took an auto back to the hotel to relax.

This was my last night in Udaipur. As it was late, I went to a nearby place called Amber, which was a Spanish restaurant. I had quesadillas and Spanish rice over there. It was very cold as it was next to Pichola. Later, I walked back to the hotel.

At Chittorgarh

Day 5-

I woke up and packed for the day. For breakfast, I had baked beans on toast. I checked out of the hotel and took an auto to the cab.

My flight was scheduled to leave at 7:15 pm. With my suitcases, I headed off to Chittorgarh. Chittorgarh was the only place Maharana Pratap could not rule. This was because of the Mughals. (click Chittorgarh for more details)

Sandwich on flight

After my time in Chittorgarh, I went to the Maharana Pratap airport (Udaipur airport) and waited for my Indigo flight, 6E 2299 to Delhi. I was quite early so I had to wait to do my check-in. 

The security check was very fast, but the flight was delayed by 35 minutes. Finally, I got on the plane. Very hungry, I had a cucumber-lettuce-cheese sandwich made by Indigo.

La Sagrita room

After about 1.5 hours, I landed in Delhi. I walked to the international airport for Mega Cabs to my hotel, La Sagrita. It was a fantastic place, at my first sight. They were so nice, they even gave me some cookies! I reached at about 10 in the night, so I fell asleep very quickly.

Day 6-

Qutub Minar

For breakfast, I had baked beans, fruit, stuffed potato and yogurt. The cafe to eat was very nice. Then I called an Uber and left to Qutub Minar.

There was a lot of traffic getting there. I bought my ticket and went in. The beautiful tower built by the Mughals looked gorgeous! (Check QUTUB MINAR for more).

I took an auto to a South Indian restaurant called Naivedyam. Over there, I had mosambi juice and tomato utthapam.

Lunch

After roaming around that area, I went to the Air Force museum. There were many types of planes, missiles, ammo and weapons. (Click Air Force Museum for more)

Then, I went back to the hotel to take 

Air Force museum

a break.

Later, after a snack, I went to Connaught Place in which I started off in the Oxford bookstore. I bought few books there and went to McDonald's for dinner where I ate the McVeggie burger with a Coke float. It was delicious.

I walked around and went to a grocery store called 24 SEVEN. I then called an Uber and went to the hotel.

Day 7-

Breakfast

I had bread, stuffed potato (so good!) for breakfast. I checked out of the hotel but left my suitcases behind.

I walked to National Zoological Park. Click National Zoological Park for more.

After this, I walked to Purana Qila. I saw the monuments in the there like the Sher Mandal (click here for more).

McDonalds

I then took an auto to Connaught Place. As I was not very hungry, I had the lightest lunch - McDonald's again. After my lunch, I walked to Naturals, an ice cream store to have a fruity treat. 

I took an auto to India Gate. There, I snapped a few pictures and moved on with our journey back to La Sagrita. I packed up my suitcases and took an Uber to my grand uncle's house.

India Gate

After I reached there, I spent time, talked with him. For dinner, I had ordered in from a Thai place called Bercos.

It was a long day so I just went off to sleep.

Day 8-

After I got ready, I had a cheese omelette for breakfast. I then took a shower and went by car to the National Rail Museum (click here for details).

Crowd at Sarojini Nagar

Later, after spending about 2.5 hours, I ate lunch at Burger King in Sarojini Nagar. It was crazy crowded! I had to quickly run and get a seat.

After my lunch, I went to the National Gallery of Modern Art ( see more here). It was getting dark so I went back to the house. I ordered Domino's pizza for dinner. I watched a movie coming on TV and went to sleep.



Day 9-

I got ready, had toast for breakfast and went to Duke to exchange a shirt. After I came, I left to the Delhi International Airport for my flight to Mumbai. I went to the domestic part of the international terminal. I was flying Air Vistara (UK 933). My flight was at 3:15 pm.

Food on Vistara flight

I ate lunch at Vaango's (South Indian restaurant) and had a Mcflurry at McDonald's. Then, my flight took off. There was a meal given on the flight. About 2.5 hours later, my flight landed in Mumbai. I took an Uber to my house. There was a lot of traffic.

Trolleys at Mumbai airport

As I reached I played, had Upma for dinner and slept.



I didn't do much in Mumbai, but I'll tell you the main things I did.

• Jijamata Udyaan - Click HERE
• Dr Bhau Daji Lad museum - Click HERE
• Mahatma Gandhi Sangrahalaya HERE

I also went to the Tarapolevala Aquarium and Gateway of India but there isn't so much to talk about.



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