We had a good night’s sleep despite all the napping on the train. No dogs, crows, trains or …. anything….. Went down to our complimentary breakfast about 915 and found a scene of almost surreal busy-ness. A massive conference just starting and about 200+ Indian guys trying to get as much breakfast buffet down as possible before the first session…
I kinda gave up after they’d pushed past me at several stations and especially when I saw someone grabbing handfuls of omelette off the platter WITH HIS HAND and subsided into sullen grumpiness. My faith was restored when the section head waiter (probably reading my hungrily furious face) offered to get me anything I wanted and braved the fray and came back with plates of eggs, toast, and more or less a full English for Bob. He also got me a lovely bowl of bircher muesli. It was all lovely and hopefully all these blokes will have disappeared by tomorrow…. We had a long chat to a lovely Australian couple sitting near us.
We’d decided that today would be our day off before massive sightseeing, so our plan was to peg out around the pool and also explore the grounds. Felt a bit worried after the breakfast… Well… what a delightful thing…. we had it all totally to ourselves all day ie from 10ish to around 330.. no one to be seen but the odd staff member drifting through. It felt like our own private estate. Not just the pool but the whole grounds. Literally no one else around. They must have all been locked in the conference centre wherever that is.
The pool is built in 3 cascading terraces of increasing depth. Warm as a bath and very clean and well kept. We were in and out all day. The weather is hot – 33C – and it feels more humid than Goa, more like Thailand. The grounds are lovely. The landscaping is tropical but in keeping with the rather 1930s look of the hotel, all the planting is white and green… very Vita Sackville-West. There are a lot of birds even here. The waterways are wrapped around the hotel on 3 sides. Promises well for our backwaters trip. There’s even a big cantilevered Chinese net just across from the end of the garden.
At about 615 we wandered along to the Club Lounge on our floor to see what the food and beverage offering was like, deciding whether to eat there or go to one of the restaurants or go out. We will be eating out tomorrow, so in the spirit of our general lazy day we favoured eating in tonight, either for free in the lounge, or in the pay restaurants. Well….. what to say… the free offering was too good to miss. Several chaats – stuffed eggs (LOVE LOVE), a spicy Mumbai peanut salsa bruschetta, make your own chicken Caesar salad, hot dishes – fish fingers, hot cheese balls, an amazing chicken chilli masala, paneer in coriander chilli sauce…. bread, fresh fruits, cheese and dates, gateaux, sweetmeats….. anything you wanted to drink from wine, beer, spirits, soft drinks, proper coffee…. all of this was free of charge and only about 10 of us in there. Hours were 6-8. We had a lovely time, chatted to the young chef and the hostess, other guests.. finished with brandy and coffee….. turned back to the room feeling very rested and ready to meet our tuk tuk tour tomorrow morning.