India - Gurgaon - The Kingdom of Dreams

Some of my colleagues recommended that we check out the Kingdom of Dreams in Gurgaon. After our trip the Sultanpur bird sanctuary, we were looking forward to getting inside. The sky looks bright blue in these pictures but there was quite a bit of smog and particles in the air.  We should have known when we approached this ornately carved elephant that the Kingdom of Dreams was a tourist attraction to be reckoned with.

We underwent the obligatory security check and pat down (common at any high-end hotel, mall, and attraction in India) and emerged into a lovely courtyard.

We approached the grand entrance complete with rose petals floating in water.

Inside, we felt we'd been propelled into Delhi's version of Disney World or a theme hotel in Las Vegas.

Kingdom of Dreams has restaurants and fast food joints representing the cuisines of different parts of India. We stopped for a thali with dosa.  Thalis are a great way to try small portions of a variety of things.

After eating and shopping a bit, we emerged back into the sunlight.  Rajastani puppeteers sat outside putting on a show.

We decided to a take a little walk to the park across the street.

A grand fountain ran the length of the park.

The spouts sported lions heads on all sides...

...and a gator... Too bad the water elements weren't on that day.

We negotiated with an auto-rickshaw driver to take us back to our hotel.  Hold on!  We were headed for the highway!

Fortunately, we made it there safely.

We took a quick stroll through the Ambiance Mall (connected to the Leela). Gurgaon is known for its abundance of shopping centres.

We finished the day in our hotel.  The buffet restaurant featured an impressive array of lights on the ceiling.

We were scheduled to depart our five star accommodations in the morning and embark on a slightly more budget minded tour of the Golden Triangle in the week to come.