Waterworld: Udaipur's beauty is bound up with its location on the shore of Lake PicholaEvery time I visit India it reminds me of the scene in The Wizard Of Oz where the film turns from black and white to glorious Technicolor and Dorothy solemnly turns to Toto and says: 'I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more.'
Setting off, I always get the sense that I'm at the start of an awfully big adventure - for journeying through India is every bit as magical, and ever so slightly scary, as stepping onto the Yellow Brick Road and heading towards the Emerald City.
The first time I was taken there, by my husband, I was dubious, stumping up myriad good reasons as to why this would definitely not be my type of trip. I'd spent my holidays visiting relatively safe destinations. India seemed far out of my comfort zone.
Initially I behaved as though I were being forced into an arranged marriage. Each step of our planned journey across Rajasthan seemed potentially perilous; there were internal plane trips, cross-country trains and long road trips in an Ambassador car driven by a gentleman who behaved as though he were auditioning for Top Gear.
But my arranged marriage worked and I fell head over heels in love with the country and its people. Fifteen years on, although I've experimented with many other holiday destinations, nowhere else on earth has succeeded in grabbing my heart with quite such a fierce intensity. I always return home feeling spiritually enriched, determined to try to appreciate the simpler things in life and rid myself of 'internal clutter'.
First impressions are always so important when arriving in any foreign city. Udaipur doesn't disappoint.
It smells right for a start - a pungent cocktail of heat, spice, incense, petrol and animals.
The short drive to the Leela Palace, Udaipur, is punctuated by tableaux of everyday village life.
The decrepit motorbike carrying an entire family (plus goat), a crumbling temple, rickshaws, a procession of immaculately turned out, uniformed schoolchildren, young women wearing neon-bright saris, makeshift market stalls, the reddish dust and omnipresent decay, the sudden traffic jam caused by a wandering sacred cow, all a great warmup for the real treat ahead - Lake Pichola.
It is quite simply awe-inspiring. Three miles long by two miles wide, it's an artificial, freshwater lake created at the end of the 14th century by a gipsy tribesman who needed to transport grain and provide a solution to his irrigation problems.
It is utterly beautiful - and never more so than this year. Rajasthan has benefited from an unusually lush monsoon season, so not only was the lake filled to the brim, the surrounding trees and plants were also green and abundant.
My arrival at the newly opened Leela Palace Kempinski Udaipur was idyllic. Our luggage was loaded into a canopied and pink-cushioned boat, we were instructed to put on brand new (and totally unnecessary) oversized life-jackets, and the adventure began.
Lake Pichola is encircled by temples, family mansions, bathing ghats and palaces - a vision that caused Kipling to observe: 'If a Venetian owned the Pichola he might just say with justice, see it and die.'
The approach to the hotel is memorable for its tranquil beauty, and as a visitor one is positively quivering with anticipation.
Vibrant: Udaipur is a slice of India at its most colourful and excitingI'm always seduced by the warmth of the welcome you receive in India. This is a nation that bursts with infectious, jingoistic pride.
You are instantly made to feel special. Nothing is ever a 'problem'. Indians always meet challenges and requests with a small shake of the head (which means yes!), a beatific smile, a flash of white teeth and reassurance that everything will be sorted out.
Every staff member, from the smart turbaned doorman to the personal butler assigned to each guest staying in a Heritage Room, is faultlessly helpful and enthusiastic.
The bedrooms at the Leela are opulent, the bathrooms large and regal. And through the window is the panoramic, magical, mystical, David Lean Passage To India view.
A piece of advice I share with anyone planning a trip is never, ever, to accept or drink a glass of the tempting watermelon juice that always seems to be offered on arrival.
This drink acts as a kind of assisted gastri-cide for foreign travellers and, having taken every precaution to preserve probiotic harmony (no ice in drinks, sticking to a vegetarian diet, eating loads of yogurt) the merest sip can ensure the only sights you see are in your bathroom.
Udaipur is an ideal location to hire a guide for day-long excursions to visit nearby places of interest. The City Palace, Nagda, with its extraordinary temples dating back to the 6th century, is festooned with erotic scenes from the Ramayana, and has a vast labyrinth of 108 temples dedicated to Lord Krishna, known by the locals as Shrinathji.
Further afield is the magnificent Kumbhalgarh Fort and in Ranakpur, the Jain Temples - one of the five holiest Jain shrines in India. Make sure you are well covered for temple visits - modesty is imperative and non-negotiable.
The area is steeped in fascinating history. Guides are Brahmins and fizz with information - more than willing to go off-script and regale you not just with facts and figures, but fabulous stories about village life.
Udaipur is also a magnet for shopping - I defy even the most Scrooge-like tourist to resist the colourful temptations that spill into the narrow streets surrounding the hotel.
Haggling is a national pastime and I found myself spending more than an hour sitting cross-legged on the floor, drinking mint tea in a cavernous emporium selling fabrics. The owner and his assistants dragged hundreds of carpets, bedspreads, kurtas and kaftans off their shelves with comic alacrity while I deliberated. The transaction was elevated from a mere shopping experience to live theatre.
I remember one year buying a carpet in Udaipur and the shopkeeper pulled out hundreds of rugs, finally choosing one that housed a rat.
It flew out of its nest and scampered down the street, much to our amusement. That, too, was 'not a problem, Madame'.
India is a country of spirituality and peace, and a cosmetic equivalent is available in the form of Espa spa and beauty treatments, available at the hotel.
As well as daily yoga classes, you can be pampered, massaged with warm oils and steamed in tents overlooking the lake.
I woke up on my last morning with a terrible migraine - my senses no doubt sent into visionary overload. My butler looked after me with such sweetness, nursing me with hot tea, aspirin and ice-cold towels.
My husband will have an almost impossible task living up to that.
Travel Facts
Kuoni (01306 747008, www.kuoni.co.uk) offers seven-night trips to Udaipur staying two nights at the Leela Gurgaon in a standard room and five at the Leela Palace Udaipur in a lakeview room, including B&B, flights and transfers, from £1,665pp.
source :dailymail
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