The city of Udaipur is drastically different than any town we've seen in India.
Here there are no loud congested headache inducing streets...instead they are replaced by narrow, hilly lanes weaving between old hotels, shops, and homes. Many of the streets were barely wide enough for a rickshaw which eliminates most of the crazy traffic, leaving them quiet and easy to explore. To top it off, looking like it is afloat in the middle of the lake, is the Lake Palace. Once a royal summer retreat, it is now the fanciest of luxury hotels and can only be visited if staying($1000/night or dining($75+ insanely expensive for India). It was one of the feature filming locations in James Bond movie Octopussy.
A lot of the town's numerous rooftop restaurants try drawing in diners with nightly showings of the movie advertised on signs everywhere! The lake is man-made, built hundreds of years ago by Rajastani royalty to encircle their palaces built right in the middle of the lake...the lake had been empty for a few years not so long ago due to droughts in the area, which totally killed off the tourist business, but after a heavy rain in 2006 it is now full again!
We both fell in love with this city right away, it has a great vibe. Quiet, clean by India standards, and with fabulous shopping...in fact, the only good shopping so far! There are many art galleries and I found some great original prints that I bought to frame at home. We wondered the streets for hours without getting burned out(a miracle in this country) and it was really refreshing. We are staying in a great hotel right on the lake with stunning views of the palace. It has a rooftop restaurant where we ate dinner while watching the sunset behind the mountains. Totally magical! We are going to have a great sleep-in tomorrow after 2 early safari days and a night train last night we are in need of some rest! Tomorrow we are going to take a boat ride and travel up on of the surrounding mountains to watch the sunset in the evening. The next day we are signed up for a 4 hour Indian cooking class in the afternoon and are super excited.
0 comments:
Post a Comment