Eternal India Part 2
India by far stands out to me as one of the most memorable places I have ever been. I feel so lucky that I was able to see so much of it in such a short space of time on the Contiki Eternal India tour I joined in February.
In my first post I covered the first half of my two week trip to India where we visited Delhi, Agra and the Taj Mahal, Ranthanbhore and Jaipur. This post will cover the second half of the week as we made our way through Udaipur, Mumbai and finally Goa.
UDAIPUR
Udaipur or as it’s also known ‘The City of Lakes’ is a pretty special place. Also in the state of Rajasthan, this romantic city is made up of beautiful man made lakes and is often referred to as the Venice of India. Having being told about these gorgeous lakes and romantic vibes I expected it to be much more chill but actually it still had that hectic Indian vibe full of speeding scooters and loud honking sounds.
The accommodation on this part of this trip was some of my favourite in the whole two weeks. I loved the old colonial building we stayed in for the night over looking a beautiful open courtyard. It was pretty centrally located and not a far walk to the main town area of Udaipur.
After an early dinner we were off out the next morning for a day of exploring Udaipur with a visit to the Hindu Jagdish Temple and the City Palace before enjoying free time in the evening for dinner. The Hindu temple was a beautiful experience, my favourite part being the colourfully bright women selling flowers at the bottom of the Temple as an offerings to the Gods. The temples all across India are so beautiful and colourful, and taking an offering to place is a lovely gesture. Just note that as with other religious grounds you will need to cover your shoulders as well as remove your shoes as a sign of respect.
Straight after the temple visit the group moved on to Udaipur’s City Palace for a walking tour of the grounds. As with all other parts of the trip the tickets and getting into the site were are perfectly arranged by Contiki. Our local guide gave us a personal tour explaining the history of the building as well as giving us time to wander and explore for ourselves. To say it was beautiful would be an understatement, but what topped it for me was the view of the city from the palace walls. Not to mention the incredible all blue room which has been kept to a similar condition to how it was when it housed Indian royalty.
THE LAKES
The one thing that makes Udaipur so famous is its beautiful lakes, and it’s easy to see why. After a morning exploring the palace we were given the whole day and night to explore the town, shop the secret colourful passageways and enjoy the views. I had been feeling pretty poorly with a cold since leaving Jaipur so I used the time to enjoy an Ayurvedic massage in the town before pottering around the tiny shops picking up souvenirs.
What I loved most about Udaipur was the beautiful views overlooking Lake Pichola its the perfect escape from the contrasting hectic noise of the city. A beautiful safe haven and an opportunity for some downtime. You can take boat rides along the lake but actually the views from the hotels and restaurants and tiny rooftop cafes in my opinion are way better than the view from the boat.
To be honest having dinner with these views was probably my favourite part of this stay. A few of us went for an early dinner at Jagat Niwas a place I found through one of my favourite travel blogs Flash Anthology. The food was exceptional and the view were truly special, We got a prime spot with a window seat overlooking the Lake where we got to enjoy a pretty magical sunset with the view of one of India’s most famous hotel Taj Lake Palace.
I really loved Udaipur and being close to the water really lifted my mood and I was quite sad to leave but equally I was super excited to finally see Mumbai the next stop on our trip.
MUMBAI
To reach the final leg of this incredible trip we took our first internal flight to Mumbai National Airport before hopping back onto the Contiki coach waiting for us at the airport.
Mumbai was everything I imagined it to be, bustling, hectic, warm, welcoming and metropolitan. Yet equally the amount of poverty is quite astonishing. Over half of the population here lives in Poverty, most of which who reside in the infamous Dharavi Slum one of the largest slums in the world.
On route to our hotel we stopped very briefly to see Dhobi Ghat the 140 year old open laundrette which still services many hospitals, businesses and hotels. Much of the Laundry is still done by hand and the people working there have a unique and organised process of servicing a large portion of Mumbai’s laundry. It was epic to see this first hand!
We had such a short time in Mumbai yet I felt I got a real feel for the place with the unique activities we had planned. In particular the Mumbai by Dawn tour we went on was truly unique and special. Having to be up at 5am isn’t fun, I wont lie to you, but the early start is worth it.
We started the tour at Mumbai’s largest fish market where all the fish caught fresh for the day is sold on to vendors who barter for the goods. It was quite the experience, the smell alone will be imprinted in my memory for a long time (if you don’t like the smell of fish this won’t be the place for you) To me, it was just so interesting to see the buzz and hustle of everyone in this open market setting, trying to make their living.
Straight from the fish market we headed to another area of Mumbai where we watched as thousands of vendors (who are said to be completely illiterate) sort out newspapers of 7 different languages to be distributed. It was here I drank the BEST and I truly mean the best chai masala tea that I had on the whole trip. It was served out of the back of a bicycle in a hot tea pot into little cups. I think often about the delicious sweet and spicy tea.
For me, the most enjoyable part of the dawn tour was definitely the flower market. Rows and rows of beautiful flowers of all different types. Many people coming early to buy their flowers to later give offering at their temples. We also learnt that the national flower of India is the Lotus. The Bhagavad Gita considers it a metaphor for detachment.
I felt so inspired by all the colours on the stalls, the walls and the beautiful women sitting on the road side selling the flowers from their baskets. I just couldn’t resist buying a Lotus Flower, and event though it didn’t make it to the next leg of journey it definitely brought an extra moment of joy into my life.
GOA
For our last two days in India we flew to the beautiful southern coast of India. This was the part I was particularly excited about as I adore the ocean and the beach. We checked into a lovely hotel in a smallish party vibe town Called Candolim just 40 minutes from the airport, there was a nice pool and the beach was just a short walk away.
We spent our first evening enjoying dinner and having quite the farewell party on a little beach front restaurantl. We all drank wayyyyy to much and really let loose after 11 days of early mornings and long days,
By morning time we were able to see the local town in full light and I’ll be honest it really wasn’t for me. It lacked any traditional culture, instead it was full of tacky shops and bars selling English cuisine. The beach was okay but nothing to write home about. Except at sunset which I will say was an enjoyable experience especially when enjoyed with some side stall grilled corn.
In a bid to experience a more authentic side of Goa my friend Katie and I got a Taxi into the main city Panji about 35 mins drive away. I gave directions to a particular place but somehow we ended up the the completely wrong area! It just so happened that this area also was right near the Beach.
We asked our taxi driver to wait in the car whilst we had a walk on what appeared to be a local beach called Miramar. There were kids playing cricket and families having picnics and it was much nicer than the beach where we were staying. More open, less busy and seemingly cleaner, it was much more what I imagined of a beach in Goa. The Rows of Palm Trees made me so happy!
We didn’t spend too long there before getting back in the car and working out the actual location of the place we were looking for. Finally after a lot of using google translate we finally found it. We arrived into a lovely area of the city which had a couple of cute cafes and beautiful art work on the walls on the buildings. We enjoyed a cooling ice coffee before heading back for our final farewell dinner.
In all honesty whilst I loved the last few days in the sunshine I wouldn’t rush back to this area of Goa, it just wasn’t my vibe. I would however love to see more further North into Goa and Kerala even further south in India. But I guess that will be for another trip. It’s actually quite hard to sum up this post and to formulate into words just how wonderful the two weeks I spent in India with Contiki were. Every single place was different to the next, each with their own vibe and personality. The food, the people and the memories are things I will never forget. If you are curious to visit this part of the world I highly recommend looking into the Eternal India Tour, it made this experience so smooth and easy and that is really helpful in a hectic place like India. As always if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below and I will happily try my best to help. I have also created a full Q&A over on my Instagram which covers a wide rage of questions too which you may find useful.
Thank you, as always for reading, speak soon! xo