The Oberoi Hotels of India

Over the years and miles of travel, we have stayed in some very nice hotels. Of course Hampton Inn is a favorite for one or two night stays and is certainly not a five star. The Oberoi Hotels that Uniworld put us in for our Ganges adventure were no Hampton Inns.

The first one in New Delhi was impressive from the pick up at the airport to walking into the lobby and then our room. We arrived a few days earlier than the Uniworld tour was to begin so that we could adjust to the time and rest from the 22 hours of travel. The room we booked included a pickup at the airport and as soon as we exited immigration and customs, we saw our name on a sign. The man holding the sign would be our driver and he pointed to us to show another young man that we were the Robbins.

That hotel representative led us out of the fray, took the time to wait as we got some money at the ATM and then led us through a busy terminal and arrivals area to find the driver who was ready to handle our suitcases. He tucked them into the trunk of the  black Mercedes and once we were seated, set a tray between us with cool washcloths and cold bottles water. The Mercedes even had its own WiFi which Bob hooked into to check mail, etc., as we drove. Me? I was fascinated by the streets and the sights we were passing and yes, saw my first cows.

Our check in was smooth. The room was absolutely spacious with a huge bathroom that included a tub and a shower and as some friends of ours would be delighted to know, a ToTo, a toilet that helps you get really clean after—well, you know.

The main restaurant was wonderful. The special restaurants, a bit pricey. The Passterie we found was a delightful place for coffee and light fare.

The concierge was cordial and helpful in arranging whatever we wanted to do as long as we didn’t want to walk. As we were told, this is not a “walking” city. It was the first we realized how careful all of those involved in our tour would be to insulate us.

The grounds were not expansive but there was a nice pool area as well as a courtyard with a calming pool/fountain. You didn’t want to stay out to long in the heat anyway. There was also a beautiful spa that we didn’t find until later.

We received the kind of care and attention that you would get on a luxury cruise line, perhaps better. If you read my earlier post, you’ll remember that when the laundry came back, there was a rose on top of the package.

Our next Oberoi Hotel was in Agra. This one was a bit of a surprise as we drove through a rather poor section of town and suddenly turned into the gates of the hotel to find a beautiful building and grounds. There would not be much time to explore the grounds as we were only there overnight, long enough to see the Taj Mahal at sunset and then again at sunrise. But when the door opened to our spacious room, the window took up most of the opposite wall and looked over a garden surrounding the pool and in the distance, the Taj itself. Awesome!

Again, the food offered in the restaurant was amazing. The service, unbelievable.

On to Jaipur. We arrived at this Oberoi at dusk and were amazed at all the birds making noise. It sounded like starlings but I’m not sure what kind they were. They were all in the trees. The layout of this complex was quite different from the other two. Rooms are in clusters throughout the campus. We walked quite a ways before our guide opened the door to ours. The good news he said was that we were right across from where the evening’s special Uniworld dinner was to be held.

This room was every bit as spacious and maybe more so than the others. We would have two nights here so I quickly put a bag of laundry together. With the heat and humidity you couldn’t wear your clothes more than a day (sometimes a few hours). The rule at each hotel was, have your laundry in by 7 am and it would be returned by 7 pm. Sure enough, it was, but this time without a rose. Oh well, the clothes were perfect.

This hotel advertised that it was also a bird sanctuary of sorts and yes, there were several peacocks roaming around and perching in odd places. We caught sight of a parrot in flight also.

Because the grounds were so expansive, there was a courtesy golf cart that would pick you up if you desired a ride to the main building that housed the restaurant. All you needed to do was call.

Lovely breakfast buffet. Wonderful dinner. Read my post on Jaipur that tells of our nice evening.

I know hotels are only rated up to five stars but they need to up the level of excellence with another star. These hotels were spectacular and I will cherish the opportunity we had to enjoy them.

The Amber Fort And Palace

It was rise and shine for breakfast at seven and by eight o’clock we were on the buses and on our way to the Amber Fort in Jaipur. It’s always hard to tell distances because you can’t calculate traffic but I think it was about forty-five minutes to get to the fort. Along the way we saw a few interesting things like motorcycles loaded to the hilt with I don’t know what. Perhaps vendors on their way to shops? Lots of cows, some almost grouped enough to be a herd. A beautiful white temple. A camel, just wandering like the cows.

And the landscape had changed. There were hills around us and up on the hilltop was the fort.

Of course the bus was not going to make that climb and we would soon discover why. We pulled into a parking lot full of jeeps that could carry four passengers in back and one in front next to the driver. Our bus group split up and loaded into the jeeps. We smiled at the other couple across from us. We didn’t need to say it. It was going to be quite an experience. You could feel it.

Our jeep driver hopped in and we were off. We passed through the small town and the honking horns and past the souvenir and fresh produce stands beginning to open for business. This early, they must have been expecting a good business from tourists. It was Friday after all and the weekend was beginning.

Soon the streets of the town began to get narrower and twist back and forth. We bounced around on the seats, holding on to the supports of the rooftop. The bus never could have made it through between buildings. The sides would have been scraped off.

Once off the jeeps, we entered the huge main courtyard area of the fort and immediately noticed the elephants coming in through the opposite gate. There was obviously another way up other than the jeeps. I’m so glad Uniworld chose the jeeps.

The inside of the fort walls showed the immensity of the place. The structure dates back to the 16^th century. Dating these structures always amazes me when I realize they have designed and built them without all of our modern devices including any computer generated plans.

There was a ramp up to the next level of the fort and a giant plaza. At one end was a pillared area that I believe is called the Hall of Public Audience. Here is where the king would sit and listen to the queries of common men.

It was difficult to pay attention to the commentary of our guide because I was so distracted by the activity around us. There were countless bridal couples accompanied by a company of photographers and their assistants posing their subjects in flattering places around us. As we went to take a picture looking down from the fort, we had to wind our way around the couples and try carefully not to get into their photo shot. Okay, maybe it was just a little tempting to photo bomb one or two.

The dresses and the young women in them were beautiful. The men handsome and smart looking in their bridal suits. Some of the dresses were white, others were very colorful shades of blue, pink, mauve, etc. Many sparkled with shiny beads that reflected the sun. Our guide said couples would travel miles to come and have their time of photographing their special occasion.

We moved on to the Mirror Palace. This was truly spectacular. The details in the walls were delightful to look at. The story is that one of the king’s (or shah’s) wives wanted to sleep out under the stars but it wasn’t appropriate for a woman to do so. To satisfy her, the king commissioned builders to design the mirrored walls so at night the mirrors would catch the moonlight and appear to be stars sparkling in the sky. Sounds very romantic.

At one vantage point we were able to look over the side and see the elephants coming up the long trail from below with people riding on top. It reminded me of the steep trail the mules or donkeys follow in Santorini to get from the beach landing area to the town above.

We went up another level. More vistas. More bridal couples.

The area that housed the twelve wives was absolutely magnificent. The king must have treated them well. He would have to in order to keep that many women happy I suppose. The women were all housed on the lower level and each of their rooms could be accessed by the king but none of the women were allowed to ascend to his quarters. (As an aside, I could imagine a great plot for a story there but that’s for another time.)

Again, the intricacies of the sculpting and carving in the walls was a pleasure to explore with your eyes. From the walkway past the rooms, you could look down into the serene lovely and peaceful garden being attended to by a lady in a bright red sari.

More vistas from the very top and we were done. We made our way down. I began to notice how much the temperature was climbing. Our next stop was going to be hot, very hot. I hoped I was up to it.

Off To Jaipur

Sunrise at the Taj Mahal was followed by breakfast at the hotel. The breakfast buffets so far have been absolutely wonderful. Lots of fresh fruit, cereals, choices of milk, a hot breakfast menu with eggs, waffles, pancakes, and of course for the adventurous with the iron stomach, Indian dishes.

An optional excursion to a textile and marble mosaic place was offered after breakfast. I passed. I needed a respite from the heat of the last few days. Bob, the hot weather lover, decided to join the small group going. He said it was very interesting, especially the marble mosaics. They were extremely intricate as you can see in the picture of the little piece held in his hand. Somehow they were cutting them on some sort of wheel and then another person would set them into the design. 

Of course once they saw how everything was made, the shopping opportunity came. He would have loved to buy a little something, at least in the room where things were less expensive, but we had a domestic flight in a few days that had a weight limit for our luggage and we were already dangerously close to the limit. Now that's one way to keep from bringing home too many souvenirs.

Bags were outside the door around noon and we went down to lunch. Soon after, we collected our backpacks and joined our bus group for the trip to Jaipur. Now it's hard to take pictures from a moving bus through slightly tinted windows but when we slowed a bit by a garden, I had to try. There beside some trees were the usual three monkeys you see--hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. But, there was on more. He was sitting with a cell phone in hand, scratching his head.

We passed several fruit stands on carts and we began to see more cows wandering--even on the highway! On the city streets, they tend to blend in but on the road, look out! You don't want to hit them. I think it has something to do with eternal damnation, or at least a huge fine. The cow represents Mother Earth and it is a source of goodness as its milk nourishes all creatures. We saw people feeding cows from their hands. Since they are sacred and a source of prosperity which I believe falls on you if you feed them. It also keeps them more nourished than rifling through the abundant trash piles for something to eat. The prosperity might befall those who sell the food to feed the cows.

Four hours or so of bone chilling traffic maneuvers with Honey expertly evading any potential collisions. Some of the trip was spent on an expressway of sorts but not as much it seemed as the day before. Lots of farmland once out of the crowded city but we realized that this drive and the one to Agra did not pass many homes. Where did the people who worked the fields come from? That was a question for another day.

Jaipur was much the same as Agra and New Delhi. Lots of traffic. Lots of people. Lots of shops, many on wheels. We passed a crowded market that extended for as far as you could see down one side road. A really nice looking building housed a secondary school but then we entered an area of makeshift shelters and run down buildings. To my surprise, our guide said we had arrived. Huh?

As the bus turned, I saw a nice red gate with a security officer who stopped us and checked out the underside of the bus with a mirrored stick before opening the gate to let us in. What was behind that gate was another beautiful Oberoi hotel. I've decided that I will dedicate a special post to our hotel experiences later. They were fantastic.

We had just about enough time to find our rooms and shower and dress for dinner. The hotel in Jaipur is a compound with lots of walkways and clusters of rooms like mini cul de sacs. When an attendant showed us to ours he said we were way on the end but right across from our special dinner evening.

Our dinner evening began at 7:30. Forgive me for sounding old and crotchety but I knew we wouldn't eat until 9. I groaned a bit but then we were whisked into a reception room where i got to choose from a colorful collection of large scarves and Bob was seated in a chair and a young man began to skillfully wrap a long stiff scarf around his head to form what I believe is called a pagri, or Indian turban. All the men sported those and the women, beautiful scarves. 

When we were seated, the entertainment began. Four young ladies in bright dress with flaming pots balanced on top of their heads began to twirl and twist to the music of the trio of men seated behind them. Later one lady would return and dance with three pots, then five pots and finally a sixth pot added. 

When the entertainment was done, I glanced at the time. Almost nine. Thankfully there were a lot of good choices on the buffet and I didn't need to eat anything spicey. The best part was a flat bread that was baked over on open fire off in the corner of the large outdoor patio. As the woman baking the bread finished several pieces, they would be brought to the table and offered to us. So good! 

The desserts here have been really good as well and going through the buffet, I asked about a bowl of what looked like small plums floating in a honey sauce. The server said it was a special Indian sweet, a type of cottage cheese wrapped in a sweet coating and with a honey sauce. At least I was right about the sauce. It was very delicious as was the brownie I took as I patted myself on the back for not taking the chocolate cake as well.

Do I need to mention that we were exhausted as we returned to our room? It had been a long day starting with sunrise. The next morning was not as early a call but it would be started before the heat of the day closed in. Jaipur is called the Pink City. I was curious to know what that meant.