The Romantic City - Udaipur

The route to Udaipur from Ranakpur was an ordinary one. It is the only route with a proper highway in Rajasthan. It was really hot outside and on our left and right were all stony hills. It was like passing through a barren land with nothing on it, only us. Mirages were almost everywhere along the road and I kind of remember the scenes in the movies where truckers need to pass through the desert road. Assured that nothing would interest me, I decided to just to sleep, whilst my buddy with her travel book.

Around noon, we arrived Udaipur but we didn't go directly to the hotel. We stopped by at a garden, known as Saheiyon Ki Bari. The garden was 'wet' with fountains and pools everywhere. At least it helped to cool down the environment. There is a small museum displaying basic knowledge of science. There is no entrance fee to enter this garden.

Saheiyon Ki Bari

Later, we checked in at Raj Palace Hotel and rested. We had lunch in the hotel restaurant and later we walked to the Udaipur City Palace. Entrance fee is Rps 300 with camera fee Rps 150 each. Udaipur is known to be a romantic city for it has the romantic view during sunsets and romantic settings of the posh hotels. Well, the romantic environment will be well defined only if a couple is willing to spend an exorbitant amount of money for the least romantic items. The cost of the cheapest juice in a restaurant facing the sunset would cost around Rps 300 a glass.

From certain part of the palace, the views of the lakes, Fatih Sagar lake and Picchola lake were, however, awesome. We were strongly recommended to take a boat ride across the lake but the price didn't sound nice at all. And taking a boat ride during mid day is obviously not a good idea. So we just spent some time in the palace where the air was much cooler and relieving.

There is a museum displaying various weapons used by the king/maharaja during the battles in the past. Judging by the size of the weapons, I bet people in the past must be physically huge and strong. Otherwise they would not be able to carry the weapons.

Udaipur City Palace

The main gate/entrance to the palace.

Different palace/fort in India has their own special decorations. In Udaipur City Palace, I think it is not that lavishly decorated, compared to Amber Fort in Jaipur but it does have special paintings/carvings which is much more interesting. Most of the decorations in Indian palaces/forts have a little bit of Persian influence. Obviously reading the history books will explain how does this influence occur. Unfortunately I am lack of such resources.

One of the most expensive hotels in Udaipur. One needs to take a boat ride to get there.

My favorite spot in this palace

Door after door

There are several shops in the palace compound selling really cool stuffs, and expensive too. I was tempted to buy the shining and shimmering bangles but after a second thought, I didn't buy anything. It was not possible to bargain here and things would be much cheaper outside the palace.

After the visit to city palace, we returned to the hotel. We have a lot more time to kill in Udaipur, so we decided to go to the internet cafe. As for me, I did have some work to check so I took the chance to ensure everything is in good order back in the office. There is free wifi in the hotel but I need to used a computer to check some data from the external hard drive.

So basically our day in Udaipur was an ordinary one but at least we know how the city is like. Things would be much more interesting during winter time, not during summer.

From Udaipur, we visited the last city in Rajasthan, Jaipur, where things were more interesting here, and cheaper.