Mewar Haveli Hotel

My room at the Mewar Haveli Hotel.

The Mewar Haveli Hotel is enchanting. I want to live here!!! They weren’t kidding when they said my room has no view. It faces the air shaft. No matter, it’s cute as hell.

The bathroom.

The bathroom is a small space with no separation between the shower and the toilet aside from a shower curtain. It’s small but not cramped.

View 1 from Mewar Haveli Hotel restaurant.

View 2 from Mewar Haveli Hotel restaurant.

View 3 from Mewar Haveli Hotel restaurant.

I mostly had only breakfast at the restaurant, tea and toast. One day I had lunch there, dum aloo, and it was good. Views from the restaurant are jaw dropping.

There are dozens of hotels in the Lal Ghat part of town, all with similar views. You just make your choice based on how much you want to spend and what hotel facilities you need. I chose the Mewar for wifi, credit card acceptance and elevator, also because I’m on a budget and rates are very reasonable.

A cozy nook in the corner of the restaurant.

The hallway on my floor.

There are so many decorative touches everywhere, I’m getting whiplash from looking at everything.

The elevator outer door.

This is a new building constructed in the old style architecture, so you get the advantages of the modern, i.e. elevator, good plumbing, good electricity, and freshly painted, with the old style ambience. All this for $25 a day, taxes included. I could easily live here until I die.

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Magical Udaipur

Mural next to the Mewar Haveli Hotel.

Udaipur is just as magical as I remembered. It’s spellbinding.

I GOT INVITED TO ANOTHER WEDDING!!! Nirmal’s cousin is getting married tomorrow. It’s supposed to start at 7 pm, and no one is coming from Delhi, so hopefully it’ll get going well before midnight, although I’m sure it’ll go all night. The Mewar Haveli has a guy posted in the lobby all night, and there’s a doorbell, so even if the guy is sleeping, I’ll be able to get in no matter how late I may be out with my party dudes.

Parting Just Sucks

Today was the last full day in Delhi with Prem. After we spent some time familiarizing him with the netbook, instead of going to the Select Citywalk mall, we went shopping in Karol Bagh, the neighborhood where my hotel is. Citywalk would have taken an hour to get there, and we also would have spent a couple of hours in rush hour traffic coming back. Then it would have taken him another couple of hours to get across town to his apartment. So we walked around Karol Bagh instead.

I had been looking for stainless steel lined copper serving bowls with brass handles for Meena, something fancy for her to serve meals in. I hadn’t seen any anywhere and thought it was going to be a problem finding them, but I found them in the first shop where I looked, two doors away from the hotel! I  just wish I could be there when Meena unwraps the package.

Prem and I are both sad that tomorrow after lunch, he’ll be taking me to the airport, and that will be the end of our visit until next time. He has another tour booked and won’t be in Delhi when I return from Udaipur. We made arrangements for me to wrap up the netbook and leave it at the reception desk here at the Apra International, where they know him. He’ll pick it up when he gets back.

Whoever said parting is such sweet sorrow was a nimrod. It just sucks.

My Brilliant Idea

Plans are still flexible, but Prem might be sticking around Delhi and might still be here when I return from Udaipur next week. I’m coming back to Delhi two days in advance of my return flight to the U.S. because I want to play it safe. Prem said he might have another tour, but he really wants to pick me up at the airport, spend my last two days in Delhi with me and drop me off at the airport. It depends on his boss, but I think he might forfeit a job for me. That kind of friendship and devotion is really special. He is really a gem.

I had decided some time ago to get a new laptop because the netbook is so limited. I thought I’d give the netbook to Prem because his family doesn’t have one. His son Anku, who is twelve years old, is already taking computer classes at school and frequently teaches Prem how to use his new smart phone! So I know it would be a really good thing for him, too. For all of them. Anyway, the next thing was coordinating the handoff.

Because Prem is most likely going to be in Delhi after I return from Udaipur, the light bulb went off in my head this morning. I’ll just give it to him right before I go back home! Then I could still use it while I’m in Udaipur, where I’ll really need it.

Today pretty much anything I’d want to do would be difficult to do by car because parking is always a problem in Delhi. There are very few public parking garages. So I thought if Prem comes to the hotel early, before the shops open at 11:00, he’d be able to find on street parking without too much trouble. Then I could spend most of the day teaching him how to use the  netbook.

When we need a break, we can go to the Select Citywalk Mall in Saket and go to a matinee. The Select mall is a fairly new, enormous enclosed shopping mall. It has everything: shops, fast food restaurants and movie theatres. Going to a movie would be a nice break from computer instruction, and we can do monuments on another day.

I called Prem at 9:45 am this morning and told him my plan for today.  He’s on his way!