As I write this, it is still Friday at home but Saturday here. It will take a while to get used to the time difference. We slept well our first night in a wonderfully comfortable bed but still feel a bit jet lagged. I woke at 2:30 am and tried desperately to go back to sleep but couldn't. Naps will be in order.
The restaurant, 360, for breakfast is amazing. It is part special order and part buffet. There was quite a menu of egg dishes, waffles, pancakes, and of course Indian dishes. We passed on the local breakfast choices as we're not quite ready to attempt the spices yet. Bob had delicious eggs Benedict and I opted for a fluffy omelet. Our buffet trip (trips for Bob) included lots of fresh fruit, a few amazing pastries and a piece of toast. Coffee was a bit on the espresso side but we discovered that we can order French press in the future. Still, it was good coffee and I hoped it would help wake me up a bit.
We didn't feel up to all that I had planned for the day but were ready to do some walking so we choose one of the two activities on my list, the Lodi Garden. A stop at the concierge desk for advice on how to get there gave us several options. He didn't advocate walking to the Garden which was not terribly far away but he said that walking paths from here to there were not good. I wouldn't have ventured that anyway seeing how the traffic was the night before. His suggestion was either a taxi or a hotel car. We opted for the hotel car which was $6 USD each way. We knew how nice that was.
Our driver took us to the Garden entrance which was only about five minutes away and we found much less traffic on the roads from the night before. It was a pleasant short ride and he said to call the concierge for our return trip about fifteen minutes before we wanted to leave.
Knowing we had to make a phone call and not having a map of the garden, I turned on my data roaming (We always keep it off unless we need to use the AT&T International plan for calls. They charge by the day when activated.). I dropped a pin at the place where the garden entrance was and we were on our way.
It was a pleasant morning but you could feel the warmth beginning. Lots of shady paths and not a whole lot of people. Many dogs lying about but no cows. The garden did not have a lot of flowers in bloom but the greenery was amazing. For a place that gets little rain I was surprised by the abundance of trees and bushes.
There are several preserved historical structures in the garden. Some were tombs built to honor men of the past and there was one that was said to be part of a monastery. I took many pictures and managed to catch a parakeet and a long tailed chipmunk but alas when I went to download them from my camera, I found that my computer would not recognize my camera for some reason. I should have made sure it was working before we left home. With apologies to my son, I will blame Microsoft for some update that probably changed something that I can't find yet. I will have to rely on my phone for pictures for the rest of the trip. I snagged the couple that Bob took.
We walked the trails and explored the buildings and marveled at the couples with their photographers who were setting up very nice shots of them against the old ruins. Some were in fancy garb and a couple were obviously weddings that were being photographed.
The temperature was climbing and we were getting very warm by the time we closed in on the place where we would meet our driver. They responded a few minutes later with a text that gave us the driver's name and license plate number and ten minutes later he was there with a nice cool car and cool washcloths and water for us on the ride back. He also told us that he could show us places that our Uniworld tour would not go if we booked a hotel car. He said they charged by the hour and, if we calculated right, it worked out to about $12 USD/hour. It sounded good. We said we'd consider it.
Lunch was in order upon our return and Bob had managed to wander around enough to find the perfect spot. Ah, yes, The Patisserie.
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