We were lucky on arrival to meet a local rickshaw driver named Billu. He offered us a fair price for a ride into town (usually you have to haggle to get only slightly ripped off) and patiently drove us to a few hotels to check out options. We settled on the Panorama guesthouse, a small, family run hotel with quaint rooms and a rooftop restaurant overlooking Lake Pichola.
After settling into our rooms, we set out on foot to explore the town, and find a post office. We wandered through the cloth markets, the produce market, the spice market, and the oil market. We walked down a side street where vendors were making fresh potato chips, sold for 5 rupees a bag and women were sorting huge barrels of chilies so hot you could smell it.
As we found to be the case in most of India, the people in these markets were friendly and welcoming. They happily posed for pictures that we took of them, and explained the local crafts. The spice vendors explained to us the different types of fresh tea leaves available at their stalls. Leon, stopped at a local electronics repair stall to have a pair of headphones fixed. He was told the repair would be five minutes and would cost 10 rupees, but while we waited wouldn’t we please sit down and have a glass of chai and tell about our travels? We met local families, and made new friends, and at the end of the day we wandered back to our hotel, charmed with Udaipur.
The next day, we decided to take a tour of the city with our rickshaw driver, Billu. For a set price of 550 rupees ($11) he would drive the three of us to all the major sights in Udaipur and anywhere else we asked to go. He took us to the “Milk Lake” where the locals go to bathe. Then we took a boat ride to a park that sits on a small island in the middle of a lake. After that, it was off to another park, this one built for the Royal Princesses and their handmaidens to enjoy. We ended our day at the Monsoon Palace. The famous palace, built in 1883, was built high on a mountain overlooking the city. The royal family built it as a summer residence, with the thought that they could spend the monsoon season there, looking out over their kingdom. Unfortunately, just before the palace was completed, they realized that there was no way to pump water to the palace. Construction was stopped, and no one ever lived there. Still, the nearly finished palace sits, high on a hill, surrounded by a wildlife sanctuary. The view from the top was spectacular, and a perfect way to end our day.
Our third day in Udaipur was also busy. I got up early to get an acupressure massage. It was excruciatingly painful, and unlike any massage that I have ever experienced, but I left feeling exhilarated and relaxed. Next up; an Indian cooking class. The owner of our hotel offered cooking classes taught by his wife in their home. We had picked the menu the day before, and now it was off to learn how to cook a full Indian meal. The three of us crowded into the kitchen and learned how to make chai, vegetable kofta, mixed vegetable curry, raita, vegetable fried rice, potato pakora, chapatti, and galub jamon. After the lesson, we ate all the food, and we left with full tummies and happy hearts.
On our final day in Udaipur, we went to see the City Palace. The palace was once the home of the royal family of Udaipur, but was now a museum. The exhibits explained the history of the city, and gave an image of royal palace life into the modern age. After the palace it was lunch, and some errands before catching yet another train. This time we were off to Jaipur, our last new city on our journey through India.
 |
| Udaipur |
No comments:
Post a Comment