Udaipur

I'm definitely ending India on a better note. I had decided to go to the city of Udaipur and I'm so glad I did. It's a cute town on the shores of Lake Pichola. A James Bond film and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel were filmed here. There are rooftops all over the place with wonderful views. The people are nice and not as bothersome as in Delhi and Jaipur. The food has been pretty good and I got some solid runs in. Overall, wonderful, and I could have stayed there for weeks.  

Rooftop view.

I arrived super early after my awesome night bus experience. A few of us decided to walk from the bus drop off. A perfect example of rickshaw trying to rip us off, was them offering an exorbitant amount of money to take us the 6 kilometers to our hotels, when in fact it was little over a mile. Totally walkable. And we made it with no troubles. I had to wait a bit for my room to be ready, but since I was very early, I was patient, even though I really wanted a shower. I needed to work with my friend on getting my replacement phone set up and activated, so that was my actual priority. Which I will get on Saturday when I meet her here in Vietnam. I'm excited to see her, and to get a working phone. It'll be nice to have a handheld device again, instead of pulling out my tablet when I need to refer to my location via GPS. I try not to pull out too often as I don't need any extra attention outside of my white skin. 

I met so many people at the hostel I was staying at from all over, including the US. I haven't come across too many other American travelers. A lot of Australians and Europeans, so it's nice to chat with fellow Americans every once in a while. Most everyone was in a similar sort of mood of hanging out and relaxing. There were a ton of cafes and rooftop restaurants that served this purpose very well. I walked around a bit to explore, but primarily tried to catch up on things and took it all in. The owners of the hostel were very friendly and I definitely recommend their place to anyone visiting Udaipur (Bunkyard Hostel). It's fairly new and they have some improvements to go, but definitely worth it. A welcoming place to meet like-minded travelers. 

Drinking with new friends.

I got a few runs in, which was great since India isn't seeing too many miles. I did an easier run one day and actually got a tempo in the following day. I haven't done a tempo or speed workout recently. We'll see how this bodes for the marathon that's in less than 5 weeks. Since I haven't been doing any tempos, let alone any longer tempos, I decided to do mile repeats. I feel like I should try to do more, but why push it at this point. I managed to get progressively faster for each mile. Which I was pleased about. I was also pleased since I saw another female runner and a few others walking for exercise. That makes me happy. 

Post-run stretch on the rooftop.

One night a group of us went to check out the nearby puppet show. It wasn't only puppets though. Actually, only about 10 minutes. There was some traditional dancing, a story acted out and some balancing acts. Possibly a bit more targeted to kids, but it was entertaining nonetheless. The following day, I actually got my own private show while I was getting some printouts for my Vietnam visa. The daughter of the woman who owned the shop (and gave me a henna tattoo), wanted to show me what she has been practicing in dance class. She was pretty good. I would have loved to have seen her practice some more and maybe learn a few moves, but I had to make my way to the train station for my overnight train back to Delhi. Once you get past all the people trying to sell you things, you can meet some genuinely nice people and have some good experiences with the locals. It's just hard to get to that sometimes. 

Dancing with fire.

The sleeper train was an interesting ride. So I didn't realize there were different classes for the sleeper train, so I just paid for the regular class. Which isn't super nice but doable. I was prepared though as I got the lowdown from some fellow travelers. I made sure I had locks ready to attach my bag to my seat, shoelaces to tie them to myself, a blanket to sleep with, and my scarf in combination with my backpack to use as a pillow. I did wake up several times, especially when my neighbors got off (who I was got to know before bedtime) and some young kids got on. I wanted to be sure no one was stealing my stuff, so was keeping somewhat of an eye on them. No one did. I tell myself that it's not the end of the world if someone takes my bag, but it would definitely be a huge hassle to deal with replacing it. It's always better to be safe than sorry. And seeing the Indian family lock their stuff up is reassuring. It's not just paranoid foreigners who are worried. 

Sleeper train neighbors.

So I had one full day in Delhi to finalize my trip. And I didn't do too much. But the city did redeem itself just a bit in my eyes. I saw a few other parts of the city, including the metro, and can see how people live there. I still couldn't do it. But if I had grown up in India, that is probably where I would have ended up. Riding the metro was actually nice and if there's one sort of transport that I know, it's a subway system. There were a few local neighborhoods that I walked through with people doing there daily routine. And when I checked out Central Park, people just were sitting around, relaxing in the sun. No one was bothering me and left me to relax as well. 

Before I heading to the airport, I walked around the Main Bazaar again, got a few Kingfishers in Connaught Place, and ate some Indian food and dessert. I wasn't bothered too much by rickshaw drivers, but there was one that stood out. I was walking over the bridge to the metro, and this guy kept yelling Madame at me. I turned and laughed at him since he expected me to hurdle a fence to get onto the road and ride his rickshaw. What a joke. He continued to bother me as I walked along. He finally left me alone, but jeez. 

Delhi's Central Park.

I made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare.Good thing as I didn't want to repeat what happened in Sri Lanka. Oh but wait. I make my way to the departure area and get stopped at the door to show them my ticket. Which I don't have yet. I did check-in online, but never received my ticket in my email. And there's no wifi at the airport, so couldn't even check to see if it had come in later on. The security guy then has to go to Thai Airlines to get me sorted out. I was finally allowed into the departure terminal and formally got my ticket and checked my bag. I think they need to do a better job of communicating this process. Especially as I wasn't the only one dealing with this. 

I spent the last of my rupees and settled into sleep on the plane. Vietnam is next.