Udaipur – (no,
YOU die poor, Muahahahahaha!) - So many palaces, feeling like an old queen
already!
We leave Goa on
March 2nd, taxi to Margao, then 2AC (2 tier with AC) train to
Kota Junction, 23 hours, nice (not). Then, a bus from hell, 8 hours from Kota to
Udaipur. We are so tired, and the bus ride’s got it all, bad road, the
screaming baby, the loud people, the loud people ALWAYS on cell phones, the
staring guys, the staring kids, the staring women, you name it. It’s actually
an old city bus with hard seats, our arses are already on fire, 36 hours on the
road…
Welcome to
Rajasthan, on the edge of the desert, plenty of camels, gorgeous colourfully
dressed women, man in amazingly multicoloured – meaningful - turbans, impossibly
long mustaches, stylish knee high boots, unique architecture with more forts, palaces
and temples than you can count and of course, loads and loads of backpackers,
each of them feeling rather unique…
After a (government
controlled) rikishaw ride, there is beautiful Udaipur. We can’t believe
our eyes, lovely buzzing Udaipur is really all we expected and more. Our
hotel is really cool and it used to be a royal palace, tres chic, I’m already
feeling like a princess (more like an old queen, really…). The rooms are big
and bright, pool, restaurant, nice staff, it feels like heaven. Walking along
the lake, checking out the little shops, palaces (the main one is fabulous),
temples, boat rides, yeah, pretty sure we can hang around for a few days. And
so we do.
Anyway, the
architecture is really unique, the City Palace is really amazing and worth an
entire afternoon visit. Jagdish Temple is ok but there are a lot of lovely
small temples around the lake area. There are nice shops and tailors, palaces
and museums, anyway, a lot to do and sea. We hire a rickshaw for a city tour
and we finally see it: YES, a shopping mall! Small but true! What a view, we
stop and top up on our toiletries in an AC environment, fixed price, hassle
free, what a totally new feeling! Well,
we also see the amazing Cenotaphs, the place they memorialised their cremated
royalty. Check out our pics, really cool place.
Then we do the
big all day tour by taxi, to visit the imposing Fort. It’s a really
amazing achievement. Finally we are impressed again after what we’ve seen in the
Middle East, such a spoiler that place. We walk around all day, climbing like
happy little goats and paying a fortune for a diet coke. Yeah, feeling like
real tourists, photos galore to prove it. From the fort, we head off to the Jain Temple at Ranakpur. A gorgeous building all carved in white marble, with one thousand
or something columns, all with different carving patterns. Anyway, another
awesome day out. The only thing spoiling our little heaven in Udaipur is the
food. We try street, cheap, mid range and expensive and got nothing good!! Well, to
be honest, got an unforgettable samosa and a “chilli” to die for from a street
guy.
