Recharging My Batteries.

Recharging  My Batteries.

There have been times when I have dreaded week ends.

I would form a task list for these two days that could be so formidable that I would feel guilty even reading the newspaper with my morning cup of coffee.

Its totally different when two additional days off are added to the Saturday and Sunday. There is a buzz and my brain switches to “mode planning…a getaway”.

The Golden Temple and the Wagah border; Binsar in Uttrakhand;  Tatta Paani  near Mashobra and Angkor Wat, Cambodia were all as a result of the buzz.

Binsar in Uttrakhand 

Tatta Paani near Mashobra

Angkor Wat  Cambodia

This year, March 29 was Good Friday, followed by a Saturday, a Sunday ( 3days)…and I gave my employers a choice:   Thursday 28^th or Monday April 2  to  pick  for an additional day off  which would give me my 4 days at a stretch.

I would use these 4 days to treat my physical self.

My target was to look one week younger and attain a fitness level of 5 years ago.

The other terms and conditions were that the Getaway :

-         Should not require a point to point travel time of more than 3 hours.

-         Should be in the Luxury Category.

-         Have within reach facilities to fulfill if the appetite required “other experiences”

I found Raas Devigarh. . 

An old palace…18^th Century; a fortress built using local marble – refurbished to incorporate all modern facilities and yet leaving its history intact.

It fulfilled all my criteria .

  A one hour flight Delhi to Udaipur and then a 45 minute drive by car got me to Devigarh.

 ( I was in no way influenced by the fact that Liz Hurley and her boy friend Arun Nayyar had chosen to celebrate his birthday there.)

 The “other experiences “  being  Udaipur with its bustling bazaars selling handicraft ranging from embroidered textiles to “jooties” ; a sound and light show at The City Palace , which I went to and if you want to be out every night then there is a sound and light show at Bagore ki Haveli, which many people vote over The City Palace one.

For those that look for peace and solace in temples there are approximately 1000 temples including 400 Jain temples that can be visited.

 Raas Devigarh has a  total of 39 suites…and for me that was another plus. I choose Boutique Hotels any day over the Chain Hotels with their swimming pools, dining options..and people, people  people.

I had been booked in the Garden Suite of the hotel

The Garden Suites are not located in the Palace. They were an add on , opening onto a garden and with little sit outs of their own.

I loved mine..large enough to play soccer, white and more white and rose petals on a lot of the surfaces, including the floor.

After a day I was upgraded to a “ suite” in the Palace.

It was in the “Zenana Khana”..with a courtyard, fountains and a swing.

You had to change elevators to get to it or you could climb 62 steepish..steps.

I chose the latter…. 4 times a day … on my way to yoga,

to breakfast and lunch; to and fro from a swim. I took the changing elevators after dinner, and after the body massages that were part of my package.

It was pretty going up and down the steps…with marigold stations, Nathdwara Paintings, and a sturdy handrail.

My calves came back to proportions of five years ago and no no I did not attain that same fitness level because I did make a few stops on the way up…partly pretext and partly true…the paintings needed time to be admired.

I returned “ fully charged”. And no I really did not wish for an additional day. 

Just as much as I look forward to recharging I am equally in favour to getting back to use the fresh energy.