© Richard Randall

Caribbean

Sundries

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

Padao Cafe is a nice spot to sit and relax with a cool drink, whilst admiring the panoramic view of the city, and more importantly enjoy a bottle of Godfather Beer ... Delicious!

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It had definitely been a good decision to have the services of a car and driver at our disposal for the day, as it was so hot. Being driven everywhere, in the relative comfort of a car, was much more pleasurable than using public transport or walking. Although we must have walked a fair distance just wandering round inside these forts and palaces. We did do some walking on the day we went out to buy some material. We have always liked the beautiful colours and intricate designs of the sari. Living in London, we often saw women wearing the sari, and we liked the idea of buying some of these exquisite pieces of material, but we never did. But now we were in Jaipur, and where better to purchase a sari or two than in India. Obviously there were lots of sari shops, but we saw one that looked a little larger inside, which we hoped would be a little cooler than some of the more cramped shops. As soon as we set foot in the door, we were invited to sit down on top of piles of materials. The floor was completely covered with different saris and other materials, it was very comfortable. We were offered some tea, and then asked what we would like to see. We told the store owner what colours we liked, and he told a young boy to start bringing us some material to look at. There was so much choice, and I am incredibly indecisive, so I more or less left it up to Richard. The owner was very helpful, telling us what the colours meant traditionally, and which materials would wash well, and what they were made of. This shop had everything anyone could possibly wish for from the most basic sari to the most intricate, hand beaded, beautiful saris you could imagine. It wasn’t long before we were beginning to feel swamped by piles and piles of unfolded sari material all around us. The shop owner was more than happy to unfold every sari we expressed an interest in, and he didn’t try to rush us or even make a sale. It was a very relaxed no pressure experience. In the end we bought three saris, all completely different from each other. We knew that they would be packed away in boxes along with all of our purchases from our many years of travelling, waiting until the day we finally settled somewhere. It was hard to imagine that we would ever use these beautiful saris, but now we are settled in France, they are all in use and look amazing. As well as the beautiful saris I bought a pair of shoes. They are orange leather with hundreds of sparkling beads and sequins sewn on to the top of them, sounds horrible, but they are very pretty. I also bought a pair of camel skin shoes that curl up at the toe. We also bought a huge picture of a young Indian couple dancing under the moonlight. It is made using hand sewn bead work on a cotton background. When we moved to France, we had it mounted and it looks great, the picture only cost £1, but as it is so large the frame cost over £100 ... ouch! We had been very happy staying at the Arya Niwas Hotel, the location was excellent, the staff were friendly, and the food was delicious, some of the best we tasted in India, but we decided to move to a different hotel. By now I was quite unwell, suffering from the side effects of the anti malarial drugs. We had planned to see a lot more of India, and were both really looking forward to going south to Kerala. Sadly this looked less likely with each passing day. For this trip to India we had booked return flights, which was very unusual for us. We only bought return flights this time because we had booked a couple of nights at the Burj Al Arab in Dubai for our homeward journey. We decided to cut short our Indian travels and go home to London. We were both disappointed to be going home so soon, we needed cheering up, hence the change of hotel. Richard tried to change our flights over the phone, he was told it was unlikely, we would probably have to book new flights, and they were all pretty much full for the next few days. So we decided to get a taxi to the offices to speak to them in person. When we arrived at the airline, it was packed with people all trying to change their tickets. This was probably because the Foreign Office had suggested that British subjects should leave India, because of building tensions between India and Pakistan at that time. We were not going to leave India because of this, we were more than happy to stay. We thought the tensions between India and Pakistan would probably not come to much, which they didn’t. However we still needed to leave, because I was so unwell. Anyway, we sat and waited to speak to one of the airline reps, for what felt like hours, but was in reality only about half an hour. We were in luck, our tickets could be changed, for three days time, flying direct to London. This was good news for me, I just wanted to get home and get the drugs out of my system. Feeling cheeky, I told Richard that I would still like to go to Dubai and stay at the Burj Al Arab if possible. We were not sure if they would have any vacancies, so Richard phoned them to ask. They were not fully booked, and they were happy to change our reservation. Excellent. So now we needed to make sure that it was possible for us to fly via Dubai instead of direct to London. After a few taps on the keyboard, we were told that it was possible to change our tickets and have our Dubai stopover, but we still had to wait for three days. So now we needed to find somewhere nice to stay for the last few days of our trip. Richard arranged for a taxi to take us to The Rambagh Palace Hotel. As we pulled up at the reception, we immediately liked the look of the hotel. It was very large with pristine lush green lawns. We went in and were greeted by the receptionist, we asked about room availability and rates. He called the manager for us, who arrived promptly and took us on a tour of the hotel. The manager was very friendly and really funny. He showed us an assortment of suites and rooms. Prince Charles and Princess Diana had stayed at The Rambagh Palace, and if it was good enough for them, then it would do just fine for us! Finally after seeing half a dozen suites or more, we were shown a suite that we loved, we didn’t love the price though. I told the manager that it was our wedding anniversary, and that we really loved the suite and wanted to stay there. Then feeling very cheeky, I said that it would be great if he could lower the price further still. I didn’t think it was very likely, he had already offered us a large discount. Oh well, we were still going to stay there, even if it meant staying in a more basic room. But thankfully the manager decided that as we were celebrating our wedding anniversary, he would let us have the suite at the price we had suggested. We couldn’t believe it, I guess it’s always worth asking for what you want, if you don’t ask, you don’t get! I think the hotel was almost empty too, which probably helped us get such a great deal. So we shook hands on the deal, and looked forward to the next day, when we would check in to our fabulous suite. For now though, it was back to the Arya Niwas Hotel for one last night. Before we left the Rambagh Palace Hotel, we went to the bar for a quick drink. Well, we thought it would be a good idea to get a feel for the place before we returned in the morning. After a drink, we got a taxi back to the Arya Niwas. Bright and early the next morning we checked out and took a taxi to our new home. As we had arrived so early our suite was not ready for us, we waited with a drink. The Rambagh Palace Hotel is a magnificent building, situated in over 47 acres of beautiful gardens. It is a former residence of the Maharaja of Jaipur, and is in an excellent location near to the Pink City and historical monuments and central shopping area. It was originally built in 1835 as a hunting lodge, converted to the palace in 1925, and finally converted as India’s first palace hotel in 1957. It is a beautiful mix of Rajput and Mughal architecture. It belongs to the Taj group of hotels, and was restored sensitively, with rooms overlooking lovely courtyards, fountains, and gardens. The suites at the hotel include, Royal suite, Prince’s suite, Maharaja Suite, and Maharani Suite. There’s a choice of dining options, including Neel Mahal, which serves light meals and refreshments 24 hours a day. Suvarna Mahal, is the place to go for lunch and dinner. The Polo Bar is there to provide all of your liquid libations. We were sitting chatting and enjoying our drinks when the manager arrived. He told us that as our room may not be ready, for anywhere between half an hour and a couple of hours, he would like to offer us a temporary room where we could relax. We were happy with this as we were both already feeling quite tired, even though we had only been up an hour or two! We were shown to a newly refurbished room. It was nice enough, much like any hotel room you would find in a large chain hotel. We were brought a huge bowl of fruit and more drinks, and left to relax. We decided to have a nap for a while. We had just nodded off when the phone rang, it was the manager, our room was ready. Well, that was a lot quicker than we thought. We were shown over to our suite, and it was even nicer than I remembered. It was absolutely huge, it was more like an apartment than a hotel room. Everything was excellent quality, and it all felt very luxurious. All of the suites at the hotel had a unique theme to them, with lots of character. The bathroom was spacious, the shower and bath were made from thick black marble, and the walls were covered in white marble. There were four dressing gowns, two beautiful gold embroidered silk ones, two thick towelling ones, and some lovely soft slippers.

Oceania