I have wanted to visit Ladakh, India for close to a decade.  The internet promised me gorgeous views and those views looked like they came with cool, crisp air that smelled fresh.  Fresh air that  I would be breathing in while seeing beautiful landscapes with occasional colorful monastaries thrown in.

The internet did not lie.

My driver picked me up in Leh this morning and off we went.   We stopped at Leh view point for a photo.

Leh View Point

Leaving Leh, as we were driving in a spiral around mountains, I saw groups of people walking on the roads.  Some had things such as sledge hammers with them. I assume they were walking to work on the roads.  This would make sense since mountain roads are very narrow and obviously people cannot drive to work and park a vehicle.  I would have assumed that workers were picked up and dropped off by a truck.  I am so curious about the ones I saw walking.  Where are you going exactly?  How long is the walk?  Where did all these stray dogs and cows come from?  This is just a road winding around mountains.  I did not see any towns, nor was there any place for a town.  One of life’s mysteries I suppose. Continue reading →

After making it to Jaipur yesterday, I was so hot and exhausted.  I was able to get eight hours sleep and when I woke up, did not want to stay up. But I had a driver booked so up I go.

Breakfast was a buffet in the hotel, included with the cost of the room.  I ordered scrambled eggs.  I was asked “one?” and said “no, two” thinking I would get two scrambled eggs.  Nope, I got two servings of scrambled eggs.

My driver picked me up and we were off to Chand Baori stepwell.  Photo from the ride:

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Hello from Jaipur, after surviving the drive through Chittogarh from Udaipur.

I had booked a driver for this part of the trip. He showed up early, did not speak English and did not try to talk to me.  I love when that happens.

We got to Chittogarh faster than I expected and unexpected, my booking came with a guide.  No no no no nooooooo.  I don’t want a guide?  But it turned out it was good because I didn’t realize you need to drive though the fort to get to all the palaces.   My driver and I never would have made it through this conversation alone.

The fort is HUGE.  It is so impressive. It is also gorgeous.  And if you believe my guide, 16,000 women killed themselves here.

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Ah, finally a full day in Udaipur to myself, no work!

Last night I booked a ride to Jaipur for Sunday that was both insanely expensive and yet still worth it because it stopped in both Chittogarh and Pushkar. These are two cities that were on my original itinerary and now are not.

I contacted the tour operator and explained cars cannot drive on the street of my hotel.  I gave them the address of the restaurant where my driver had dropped me off coming from the airport. The response I got was them asking me to go to the bus station “It is easier for everyone.”  Well no, not it is certainly not easier for everyone.  It is a further walk, although not very far.  A whopping 7 minutes per Google.  But I have walked that way every day so I know there are hills involved that I just don’t want to roll my luggage up.  I am paying way too much for this tour, you come and get me where I wish.

So I cancelled it and booked a new tour that only goes to Chittogarh.  Even though I am regretting that I will not see Pushkar, I also know this will get me to Jaipur earlier so that’s a win right?

I slept until noon today.  I didn’t get to bed until 5:00 am because work.  I packed most of my stuff and then went out.

I took a tuk tuk to the Karni Mata ropeway.  It cost me 250 rupees.  He offered to wait for me to finish and then drive me back, thanks but no.

The ropeway didn’t scare me as much as they usually do.  Although it being three in one was odd to me.

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Although there is a call to prayer at 5:00 AM in Udaipur, I managed to sleep right through it.  I woke up around 8:00 and fell back asleep until about 1:00.  I am so confused about time right now.

I scoured Google for where I would be headed for breakfast and settled on Jasmine Restaurant on the other side of Lake Pichola.

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Udaipur adventures continue!

Working from my hotel last night almost broke me. I was in an important 3 hour meeting and my laptop stopped charging and I needed to present in hour 3. I watched the battery go down to 3% and then just logged off, figuring I may as well just be fired at this point.

I called company support who told me they needed to connect me with the manufacturer and it would take up to 24 hours ARE YOU KIDDING ME.

I Googled computer places and found one I could visit in the morning to buy a cheap one, since carrying around a second laptop is exactly what I need right now.

I had a slight nervous breakdown too.

I went to log back on to use my precious 3% battery to answer an email so important that I was scared to fat finger the response on my phone. Well guess what? The laptop is suddenly charging?

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I am in love with Udaipur.  I really wish I could spend all day walking around and taking in its beauty.  But work calls and without it, I wouldn’t be here at all.

Last night I got trapped “at” work until 8 pm, which was about 5:30 am my time? India time is off by 30 minutes in addition to the hour difference so I can’t keep track of time.

I went out on my balcony to smoke before sleep. I heard a very low hum that sounded like a call to prayer was about to start. Can’t tell you if I was right because the dogs started going off immediately. Aw.

The video sucks for visual, but it is the audio you want.

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As the title says, I am currently on another adventure, coming at you live from Udaipur, India!  I started planning this one last October.  As always, so many things got changed from my original plans.  Most notable was the length of the trip.  I had initially planned to be gone for five months.  So many real life obstacles came up and eventually I had to settle on just 47 days. Oh no, only a 47 day trip?  How truly tragic.

I am working for 2 weeks and then I am free.

I am currently in Udaipur, which is where this trip is starting.  Udaipur was never on the original itinerary.  Ladakh, India was at the top.  When I pulled out my Lonely Planet India, I saw all the pages I had put post its on when I traveled to India back in 2016.  All were on the pages of the Rajathstan section.  Suddenly I now wanted to go to Rajathstan.  When I first planned the five month itinerary, a full month was to be spent here. As time went on, it got chopped down to two weeks, with 3 cities (Udaipur, Pushkar and Jaipur.)

I flew from JFK to Delhi, by way of Paris.  And unexpectedly, I really went through Paris.  My flight from NYC was so delayed that I missed my connection.  It took off as I was walking through CDG airport looking for my gate in hopes it too was delayed. It was not.  Since Air France only has one flight to Delhi from Paris a day, this meant I got stuck in Paris for 24 hours.

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