Neemrana is a chain of hotels that renovates old palaces, forts, British Colonial houses and so on, so they are not set up as a modern hotel would be inside or out. The village that it was in was not touristy and wasn’t that special either, but the opposite can definitely be said for the fort-palace we were to stay in for the next 3 days! It had bags and bags of character!
It was understated grandeur if you can have that kind of thing. We stepped back in time into the colonial era as we entered the fort...
The food was DELICIOUS and we had a huge western and Indian buffet every night in a beautiful candlelit setting. We even got to eat things like avocado and salad and chocolate mousse – things that we won’t get to eat again on a regular basis for a while.
The ‘suite’ that we stayed in – 2 rooms, 2 bathrooms, a balcony, a ‘lounge’ and its’ own entrance.
We chilled by the pool during the day.
Mum and me at the amphitheatre in the fort-palace.
The 20 minute camel cart ride that we took to an underground step well(it was a hilarious sight! The look on Matt’s face was priceless).
The impressive step well was 8 floors deep and was used by tired travellers for an overnight stop as well as the obvious - as a well. We were unable to see the water however, as the water tables have dried up and are now are a lot lower.
The walk around the top floor was rather precarious!
Once back at the 'hotel' we decided to have a couple of pre-dinner drinks - G&T’s (with a piece of lime not lemon of course). Yum.
Accompanied by some strange wailing from a couple of Rajasthani ‘singers’ and a very camp dancing boy.
I even got treated to a very luxurious Ayurvedic massage the day before we left which was heavenly! Thanks ma!
We were having a great time taking time out from the chaos of India and spending quality time with mum and each other in a quality place. All was going pretty smoothly in fact, until the last night when guess who got a hit of the Delhi belhi! We think it was due to overdosing on Indian spices and different water that did it rather than the food we were eating because mum and I were fine. It was a horrendous night for Matt who was on the toilet all night, poor thing. I have never ever seen him throw up before (and we have had some sessions!) let alone see him projectile vomit! Mum assured me that it was normal for someone getting sick in India for the first time and it was usually a 24 hour thing. We called for some medical assistance and they came with a box of medicines (of which we couldn’t tell what was what but they did bring it very quickly). Poor bloke spent most of the night in the toilet and was exhausted. Thankfully, it did stop by the morning and as we were lucky to have a private car we took our time the next morning. We all went home tired that day but still we made a quick visit to the private hospital, just in case. Matt was seen by a very efficient and polite, attractive Indian lady doctor (for the equivalent of a 5 quid – what a bargain) who gave him some good advice and a few drugs just to ensure it didn’t continue. All is good now I am glad to say!
What a great few days (bar the obvious of course) and it was well needed and appreciated.
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