I woke up this morning to a massage appointment at the hotel spa. Apparently, they had booked to full capacity to make sure all of us were able to experience an Indian Ayurvedic massage. We had to strip down until we were completely nude and lay on the table with no sheet or separating curtain. It started out with just me and Darlene, and we figured, what the hell, nothing to be ashamed of; we'll just end up seeing more of each other than we thought. However, by the end of my massage, there ended up being five of us in the room at one point, with four of us butt-naked. Haha! It was quite the experience. But the massage was great, even though they tend to be a little more rough on the muscles, and they rub pretty much EVERYWHERE on your body. No spot is too personal. Some other group members had chosen to take an extra outing to the Marble Pavilion for one last yoga session. I wish I could have gone but I was concerned about making it back in time for my early appointment.
After the massage and breakfast, Blair and I headed out to do some shopping. Today was a free day for all of us, so we were allowed to roam the streets of Udaipur on our own. Blair and I decided to spend our time getting souvenirs for others, as we really hadn't had much time for shopping. We must have gone into ten different textile stores, and we found a really great home decor store. The man who owns it said he used to live in Portland, OR and worked for Pier 1 Imports. So I was getting fairly expensive knick knacks for about an eighth of the price in the U.S. It was nice. We met up with Landin at the Savage Garden restaurant for lunch. Then more shopping, until we had to go back to the hotel to pack up and leave. Blair introduced me to Dilip, who works at a travel agency right next to the hotel, and we have remained friends through facebook ever since. He's really the only person from India that I keep in touch with besides Singhji and Ranjeet.
We left the hotel and headed for the train station. From here, we were to take an overnight sleeper train back to Delhi. That means we had to say goodbye to our drivers, who had been with us the entire trip, and had become part of our family. Especially Ranjeet. That man was so kind and fun to have around. As for the train ride, I went into this with unrealistic "Darjeeling Limited" fantasies in my head. But, sadly, there were no Wes-Anderson-saturated-hues, vintage decor and gorgeous fabrics. No sexy trio of brothers in suits with matching luggage. But it was still fun. We were four to a compartment and Landin, Blair, Laura and I shared ours. We ate train station snacks and Landin & I watched episodes of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia on my laptop. Sleeping was difficult, with the train constantly jerking back and forth and those incredibly hard beds. But I managed to sleep part of the night, and we woke up the next day in the Delhi train station.
After the massage and breakfast, Blair and I headed out to do some shopping. Today was a free day for all of us, so we were allowed to roam the streets of Udaipur on our own. Blair and I decided to spend our time getting souvenirs for others, as we really hadn't had much time for shopping. We must have gone into ten different textile stores, and we found a really great home decor store. The man who owns it said he used to live in Portland, OR and worked for Pier 1 Imports. So I was getting fairly expensive knick knacks for about an eighth of the price in the U.S. It was nice. We met up with Landin at the Savage Garden restaurant for lunch. Then more shopping, until we had to go back to the hotel to pack up and leave. Blair introduced me to Dilip, who works at a travel agency right next to the hotel, and we have remained friends through facebook ever since. He's really the only person from India that I keep in touch with besides Singhji and Ranjeet.
last yoga session on the marble pavilion [jennifer turner]
cows [jonathan dipratna]
and more cows, lining the bridge with peggy [jonathan dipratna]
and even more cows...they rule udaipur [blair stirek]
rooster in doorway [michael lu]
udaipur [michael lu]
octopussy, playing EVERYDAY [jonathan dipratna]
alleyway [joel kraut]
jewelry shop [jonathan dipratna]
homeless dog outside of hotel - we named him gus & fed him toast [blair stirek]
getting some ranjeet love [blair stirek]
We left the hotel and headed for the train station. From here, we were to take an overnight sleeper train back to Delhi. That means we had to say goodbye to our drivers, who had been with us the entire trip, and had become part of our family. Especially Ranjeet. That man was so kind and fun to have around. As for the train ride, I went into this with unrealistic "Darjeeling Limited" fantasies in my head. But, sadly, there were no Wes-Anderson-saturated-hues, vintage decor and gorgeous fabrics. No sexy trio of brothers in suits with matching luggage. But it was still fun. We were four to a compartment and Landin, Blair, Laura and I shared ours. We ate train station snacks and Landin & I watched episodes of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia on my laptop. Sleeping was difficult, with the train constantly jerking back and forth and those incredibly hard beds. But I managed to sleep part of the night, and we woke up the next day in the Delhi train station.
saying goodbye to the drivers: makesh?, arun, manesh & ranjeet, minus ragu [jennifer turner]
i taught ranjeet to call landin his "brotha from anotha motha" - he liked that
we miss ranjeet! [blair stirek]
our train [jennifer turner]
michael, laura, me & blair (with our indian magazines) [jennifer turner]
jennifer, amandy & kathryn [jennifer turner]
peggy, michael, jennifer, amandy, jonathan & johanne [jennifer turner]
me, in our already trashed compartment [blair stirek]
landin, with all of our train station junk food
train station [jennifer turner]
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