Travel to Udaipur, India’s most romantic city in Rajasthan
On Dec 10th, we boarded an 8am bus from Mount Abu to Udaipur; it took about 4.5 hours. The bus deposited us in the city residential areas from where we took a car into Udaipur's old city, which is its cultural heart. The newer parts of Udaipur looked like any other village however as soon as we went into the old city, things looked rather various. For one, the streets were much narrower-- two autos would not fit alongside each other. Plus there were shops after stores of handicrafts, home furnishings and garments. It looked a lot like the quaint and vibrant little towns of Italy that we had loved so much. For devoted window-shoppers like us, our Udaipur stay all of a sudden seemed extremely promising.
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We explored Jaiwana Haveli, which remains in the center of the old city and therefore, rather ideally located. Tired from a long bus flight, Madhu and I relaxed the afternoon away in our hotel room. In the evening, we chose to head out to the streets, get some chai, walk and familiarize ourselves with the place.
Even as we took our first couple of steps on to Udaipur's streets, we understood that we were in an unique location. The city has a feel, a kind of beauty, that is hard to describe. Perhaps it's because of the narrow, old-world lanes or the beautiful havelis that are around every corner or the friendly faces that gaze from every store. There were likewise tons of restaurants and cafes. After having trouble discovering good restaurants in Gujarat, Udaipur seemed like paradise! Unsure why it's referred to as Rajasthan's many romantic city but it's certainly in the air!
We had chai and some snacks at a neighboring cafe. While relaxing there, we saw that it shared a typical courtyard with a store called Ashoka Arts, which displayed many miniature paintings and wood handicrafts. We remembered reading about this store in LP. It mentioned that the shop used classes on mini paintings. Madhu and I were interested and given that we had no sight-seeing prepare for the night, chose to examine it out. Find out more about our painting adventures here ...
The next morning, we headed out to City Palace, Udaipur's top tourist attraction. It was a short walk from our hotel. Since it's a privately owned and managed property, the entry tickets were reasonably costly-- Rs.50 per head and Rs.200 for a video camera license. The entryway to the palace is differentiated by a lovely, triple arched gate called Tripoliya (3 gates). It opens out in to a big yard, which has a little grassy area in the center with handicrafts shops on either sides. Obviously, the items sold here are straight sourced from regional artisans and the profits from sales go to a trust that keeps the ancient temples in Udaipur.
The palace itself is extremely, very interesting. On the outdoors, the facade is an incongruous mass of jharokhas and chhatris; nothing looks symmetrical. We later on found out that this was mainly since it is not just one palace, however many palaces built over 400 years by different rulers of the Mewar region. We hired a guide for Rs.100 believing that we would not have the ability to appreciate the put on our own. Sadly, he ended up being a bad choice as he delivered a really dispassionate commentary about the palace; didn't even look interested in the job. We patiently waited till he showed us around completely. Then we reentered the palace to see it at our own speed again. Luckily, the security guards at the entrance didn't mind us going back in once again; perhaps other visitors have actually done the exact same ...
The palace has a series of little tunnel-like stairs that lead from one mini Mahal to the other, followed by lovely yards or terraces that offer exceptional views out to Udaipur. Among the highlights was a yard constructed on the 5th flooring of the palace. 104 pillars surround it on all 4 sides with a huge tree smack in the center ... yes, a tree! Apparently, the courtyard juts out of the palace like a veranda and rests atop a hilly outcrop, which permitted the designer to have a tree planted in the center-- very ingenious. Another courtyard, appropriately called Mor Chowk (Peacock yard) had wonderful peacock glass mosaics and these were definitely gorgeous. There were likewise some painted doors with Radha-Krishna themes and these were gorgeous too. Unfortunately the majority of the paintings and murals in the palace are behind protective glass, which don't make good pictures.
The guesthouses attached to the City Palace have been converted into 5-star heritage hotels. There are likewise some very great restaurants and bars here. Though super pricey, it should be a grand setting to have a late-evening meal! We were also told that weddings and other extravagant events are kept in the yards with the palace as a great background! Needless to say, this is most likely not indicated for the aam janta.
After the palace, we walked over to Jagdish Mandir, which is another landmark in Udaipur. It was about 2 minutes away from the City Palace entryway. Climbing up the steep, marble actions, we found the temple to be big and rather good. It was absolutely nothing incredible however a lovely temple, however. We invested a few minutes walking the main structure and marvelling at the charming carvings. Inside, nevertheless, it wasn't extremely remarkable and a rat playing around the periphery scared me out.
By this time, it was practically 2pm, so we stopped at a coffee shop throughout from the temple. One thing about Udaipur-- most dining establishments become part of the hotels and are on the roof-top of the hotel building. So they all provide some view or the other. The more popular ones are those that offer views of Lake Pichola. The one we strolled into for lunch gave a splendid view of Jagdish temple's huge shikhara.
After lunch, we went back to our hotel space and unwinded the afternoon away. Considering that our hotel offers wireless, we had the ability to invest some time updating our blog sites and capturing up with emails. We went back out at night but again just walked about with no particular objective. I got some mehndi done on my palms, while Madhu checked out a local barber for a much-needed trim. We had initially prepared on spending just 2 or 3 nights in Udaipur. But seeing what does it cost? we were enjoying its laid-back charm and considering that there was still heaps to see and do, we chose to remain on for 2 more days.
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