bicrom abroad

air india had stolen the best part of a day from us and it was jaipur that had to pay the price; we arrived as the sun was setting knowing that we would be gone less than 24 hours later. as it was, the time we had there was more than sufficient.
i'd always thought that the so called pink city was the jewel in rajasthan's crown but it seems very much the ugly sister to jodhpur and, in particular, jaisalmer. modernity has made no concession to the historical aesthetic, and the grubby orange walls and buildings look helplessly and forlornly over broad roads, fully stocked with cars, autos and the rest of the daily detritus india has to offer. the hawa mahal, the city palace were all fairly average when held up against their rajasthani peers and whilst the jantar mantar was amazing we were unable (amazingly, in a city famed for its aggressive touting) to find a guide who might fully elaborate on the astronomical wonders on display. not even the insanely hyperactive dog bounding around the haveli in which we were staying could fully redeem the city.
as it was therefore, we were not particularly disappointed that our visit to jaipur had been a flying one and eagerly boarded our plane to udaipur that evening. we had not actually booked a place in udaipur, thinking that our three night stay would make us every eager hotelier's dream and that they would fall over themselves to offer us plush haveli suites at discounted rates. not quite; every place we tried in our range was booked out, with our three night requirement actually proving to be more of a hindrance than a boon. udaipur was the final straw, the point at which we realised that totally spontaneous travelling, of turning up in a city on a whim and winging it, is dead, strangled by the internet and online booking. from now on we will have to join the hordes who plan their holidays day by day, months in advance. a little depressing frankly, but perhaps i'm lucky to only have to make this concession so late on in my life.
as it was, it was pushing 9pm in udaipur and we were stuck between cheap little holes and sumptous, expensive luxury. after much pondering we opted for the latter and checked into the plush, but exorbitantly expensive, leela palace hotel. more than we can probably afford but for three nights of the most romantic part of our honeymoon it felt like the right decision. looking out over our balcony onto the lake with the famous lake palace floating in the foreground and the city palace behind the decision seems utterly justified; let's see how we feel when the final bill arrives!