Monsoon Weekend Getaway

Hey guys! How’s the weather treating you? Is it too hot or too wet? Well, here in Delhi we are waiting for the monsoon to arrive anytime soon and get some respite from the scorching heat. To escape the ever rising temperature, we planned a short road trip to Rishikesh last month. Our 2 days stay at Shaantam Resorts & Spa was great but I can’t say the same about our road travel. Check out my recent travel posts on Instagram to know all about it. I’ve also written about how we kept that trip within our budget. Ok, this post is not about Rishikesh, it’s about the monsoon trip we took last year with our toddler.

Last year in July we planned a monsoon weekend getaway to UDAIPUR from DELHI and it was awesome. If you are looking for any nearby destinations for a quick getaway but don’t want to go to the hills do consider Udaipur.

How to reach Udaipur?

There are 3 ways to travel to Udaipur –

• By Road
• By Train
• And, By Air

I know weekend getaways are more about road trips but we wanted less travel time and more time to relax and enjoy. So we decided to take an overnight train from Delhi to Udaipur and planned our return by flight. That overnight train saved us a full day of travel. We reached Udaipur early morning and we used that day to explore the city.

If you follow my travel stories then you must be knowing that we keep our itineraries free from city travel. But, it was not possible when we were visiting a city for a vacation. So, we kept it flexible which means we made no itinerary!

The good thing was we had recommendations from our Insta Family which helped in planning our day. We had booked Amantra Shilpi Resort and had requested for an early check-in which was quick and smooth. The room was big, spacious, comfortable, had a king size bed and also a big balcony.

The weather in Udaipur in mid-July was amazingly pleasant, it kept drizzling every now and then. Even when it was sunny, it was not that hot. Below are the 3 places we visited in Udaipur and the first 2 are highly recommended.

A Day in Udaipur with a Toddler during Monsoon

• Fateh Sagar Lake

Udaipur is famous for its big, beautiful, artificial lakes and Fateh Sagar Lake is one of them. Our driver told us about boating in the lake but we were not too interested. Boating with a toddler sounded too boring but what we saw there changed our minds. We immediately booked the tickets and waited for our turn. The lake was huge and it was not peddle boating, there were speedboats circling around the lake. Now, that sounded thrilling!

 

It was sunny but we could see clouds in the distance & as soon as we stepped inside the boat, it started raining. The boat driver said it’s just drizzling so we are good to go. But as we took off, it started raining heavily. This speed boat ride turned out to be one of our best experiences in Udaipur. I also made a video of our boat ride, it was crazy. Don’t miss the expression on Nemit’s face in the video.

Oh, by the way, we waited quite long in the queue to get the front seats in the boat. So, either you rush, wait or request to get the front seats which guarantee extraordinary thrill & view.

• Sajjangarh Palace

Our next stop was Sajjangarh Palace situated on the top of a hill, an hours drive from the lake. The weather was amazing, although the rain had stopped the whole city seemed to be covered under the clouds. Taking a ride to the hilltop in such weather sounded perfect. Another reason to visit this palace was its name.

Sajjangarh palace is popularly known as Monsoon palace since it was built chiefly to watch the monsoon clouds.

So, how could we not visit it and watch the clouds from the top? Nemit decided to take a nap on the way which gave us time to enjoy our couple time.

Nemit was still asleep when we reached the palace and we did a very stupid yet daring thing which I would not recommend to anyone. We trusted our driver and left Nemit with him. We told him to call us in case he wakes up or cries. He was a good man, he took care of Nemit and when he woke up, he climbed up to the top and brought him to us.

The view from the top was breathtaking, we could see the whole city from there once the clouds scattered away.

• City Palace

After lunch, we decided to visit the City Palace. We thought walking in the rain would be fun. But we forgot to consider the walking distance and didn’t even think about the number of stairs.

So, we started with full of energy and by the time we reached the first floor of the palace we were out. We had to literally drag ourselves from one passage to the other. At one point, it felt we were lost!

Not a very great idea to take infants and toddlers with you, strollers are not allowed beyond a point. And, carrying a child up and down and through the narrow passages is just a waste of energy.

We decided to go back to the lake to relax our senses. One of my friends on Instagram had suggested a great place to hang out in the evening and that was our next stop.

Must try food joint – Vinod’s Cafe

It’s one of the open fast food cafes on the Fateh Sagar road opposite Fateh Sagar lake. They offer a variety of fast food options and are famously known for their ‘Kulhar coffee’. If you ever plan a trip to Udaipur, you can’t miss this place. It’s a heaven for food lovers. You get good food and an amazing view of the lake just across the road.

So, that’s how we spent our Day 1 in Udaipur. I’ll soon write posts on how we spent our Day 2 & Day 3 in Udaipur. I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Do share it with your friends and family.

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Now, a special announcement! My blog growingwithnemit.com is turning TWO this July and to make the celebrations grand, I am hosting a #BirthdayBlogTrain along with my friend Gunjan whose blog also completed two years this June. And we both invite you to be a part of our celebrations and join our birthday linky party.

40 Bloggers – 30 Days – 5 Picture Prompts – 1 Party

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