First time that I haven't cried leaving Kathmandu. I check to see how I am feeling, and can't tell. Too many years gone by, no best friends and a way of life left behind this time.
Greeted at Udaipur airport with the welcome sign "Jill and Dennis" held by Yashpal our driver.
Cool-looking lakes shimmer in the heat of the late afternoon on our drive to Karohi Haveli, a heritage hotel which was a palace in its former life. With pool.
Our room confers a feeling of royalty as does the priceless view in this city of lakes, the Venice of India. (I would consider swimming in this lake but not in the canals of Venice.) Havelis run anywhere from 20-100 dollars a night, considered mid-range. One could always spend more but why?
We sit in a corner table in the open-air rooftop restaurant and eat chicken tandoori and naan and raita and drink Indian Sula red wine by candlelight. Content. Stars and city lights surround us.
No mosquitos in the warm breeze, nor later in our third-floor room where we leave the windows wide open.
So very beautiful (inside and out). The bed, the windows, the view. God, I would never want to leave this place! So cool about your golfer mother. I bet she'll get a kick out of seeing that photo. I teared up reading about how you didn't, but once did. Gave me a sense of what it must have been like for you, growing up. Beautiful writing, Jill.
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