Cultural Connections – Around the World by Luxury Private Jet – INDIA

OCTOBER 20 – 22    UDAIPUR & AGRA, INDIA

And so on to India we fly…rejoining our well-appointed private jet.   As always with our take-offs & landings on these trips, a member of our client group is invited to sit on the flight deck of our 757 Boeing jet for the “experience of a lifetime”…being up front with Captain and his crew for the most exciting moments of flying (ie. taking off and landing).

On board our private jet,  our crew welcome us aboard in traditional dress with welcoming first-class service.  An excellent fresh seafood luncheon service was enjoyed on our short three hour flight to India.  Several clients enjoyed the ‘sky lounge’ dining service.

In India the sun is shining brightly.  We were soon at our ‘palatial digs’ for the next three nights…the spectacular Udaivilas Hotel, overlooking the lake across to the main royal palace (which we will be touring privately).  In the late afternoon we headed out on to the lake for a most enjoyable sunset cruise, including a brief champagne reception on a smaller palace island in the middle of the lake.  India is a land of great wonders…an intense sensory ‘overload’.  We are here to relish it all.

Our first day of touring started from the sumptuous Udaivilas – where some group members were lucky enough to meet Dame Judy Dench (filming a movie in India, staying at our hotel).  We headed out on a beautiful clear morning around Lake Pichola to the grand palace of Maharani of Mewar, Udaipur being the capital city of Mewar region.  This massive, opulent palace is almost ¾ of mile in length and has over 400 rooms.  It also contains one of the most spectacular Swarovski crystal collections in the world, as well as an exceptional art collection (several pieces of which are constantly on loan to renowned international art museums). A tour of this impressive palace can only be described as awesome.   We also visited the nearby Princess Gardens with their magnificent playful fountains  built during the 1700s and entirely operated by gravity, no electricity.  In the afternoon most of us viewed some exquisite jewelry collections (hand made with precious gems), as well as textiles and antiques.

In the evening we were transferred to the royal ‘hunting grounds’ arena of the palace for a gala evening reception event under the stars.  Our flight crew joined us for this evening.  To the surprise of all our group this was also the Hindu wedding ceremony of our tour members, Mr. & Mrs. Richard Lewis, recently married in Connecticut and now – to the benefit of us all – enjoying an extravaganza Indian marriage event (ie. Bollywood style).  The bride and groom were outfitted in full royal regalia, the groom riding on a Mahwari stallion in full dress.  Following the spiritual aspects of this wedding, we were treated to lavish Indian entertainment along with a fantastic feast dinner.  The local paparazzi was with us too.  The Lewis’ became local celebrities in both newspapers and local TV.  Somewhat thankfully, the usual 9+ hours wedding event was encapsulated into about 4 hours.  A unique and exhilarating evening was enjoyed by all.

Other highlights of Udaipur included visiting the monumental Jain temples, built & carved of white marble in the 15th century; a relaxed luncheon at Lake Palace (famed for its feature in  the James Bond film “Octopussy”) on the ‘hanging’ marble balcony overlooking Lake Pichola, and an evening champagne reception at beautiful Durbar Hall (inside the royal palace) adorned with oil paintings of the Kings of Mewar and featuring massive crystal chandeliers weighing over 4000lbs..  What a finale!

However, our splendid “finale” to India was an aspect of private jet travel that is hard to beat.  Following a leisurely breakfast at Udaivilas, we boarded our jet for a quick “hop” flight to Agra.  By late morning we were all a-gog in admiration at the beautiful entrance of Taj Mahal…the ultimate testament of love built by great Mughal Emperor, Shah Jehan, for his beloved wife (last of several!) Mumtaz.  Truly a wonder of our world…and here we were, by private jet, able to enjoy this monumental testimony for a few hours.  Others in our group – those who had visited the Taj Mahal on other adventures to India – spent their hours in Agra visiting Mother Theresa’s Orphanage as well as the impressive Red Fort.

Leaving Agra in the late afternoon, we allowed some of our comedic tour members to perform the “flight safety” demonstration on board our private jet.  It was surprising how much information they retained…could we possibly have some future ‘around the world’ flight attendants for our next trips???  And so we jet on to the United Arab Emirates and it’s capital city, Abu Dhabi.  Here we will stay on the Arabian Gulf at the beachside Emirates Palace Hotel…undoubtedly to be our own “testament of travel love” for the next few days.

Click here to view more photos in the India Photo Gallery.

Follow our Private Jet journey to our next destination,  Abu Dhabi & Dubai, UAE.