Udaipur
Trip Start
Oct 30, 2005
1
41
122
Trip End
Ongoing
Udaipur,
India
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
We had arranged to take an early morning bus from Jodhpur. Our hotel had assured us that there would be plenty of rickshaws around at that time of morning to take us to the bus station, but of course the one time we really need one - we can't find one, no touts, nothing.
After a bit of stress about not making the bus on time, we finally found one and made it to the bus without any hassle. The bus was the most cushy bus yet, air-conditioned with padded seats (heaven compared to what we were used to)
Bagore-Ki-Havali Detail
.We made it into Udaipur, with the bus seemingly stopping in the middle of nowhere to let us off. But, there were rickshaw drivers waiting for us, and we got to our hotel without any trouble. Udaipur is another town with a lake in the middle, a bit like Pushkar. We decided to stay on the less touristy side of the lake as it was quieter and had better views of the old buildings. The view from our hotel room was pretty amazing, we had views over the lake to the other side, it was really beautiful.
On our first day we headed over to the other side of the lake to get our bearings and to check out the Lal Ghat area. No burning ghats here thankfully, only ladies bathing and doing their washing. This, again like Pushkar, is definitely another tourist town - all of the shops and restaurants are geared towards tourists meaning that the prices are also higher. There is even a seven star hotel with a helipad around here somewhere.
Udaipur is actually famous for being used as a backdrop for the James Bond movie Octopussy, and the locals are so proud of it, that at 7pm every night they play the movie in nearly every hotel and restaurant.
Glenn's Favourite Drink, and Favourite Girl
The following day we went to Bagore-Ki-Havali (the Queens Palace). A beautiful old building right on the lake that has been restored to its former glory. The only down point was the power cut they had just after we had paid for our tickets, meaning that we were struggling to see a lot of it for most of the time. But that's India for you, there is always a power cut at sometime of day, every day, no matter where you go. It was something we had gotten used to.
After the Haveli, we decided to go up to Sunset Point to watch the sunset over the buildings and lake. It also had a "musical fountain", which we just couldn't wait to see :). We negotiated for a rickshaw driver to take us up there, wait for us and then take us back. The sunset was well worth it - the musical fountain, well, it was very India. The fountain was basically a whole heap of pipes and sprinklers, which shot out water under coloured lighting all set to blaring Hindi Pop music. For some reason we were expecting to hear Greensleeves (Mr. Whippy music) or something.
Today we will be heading to our final destination - Mumbai. It will be our first trip on a sleeper bus, taking 16 hours (which probably means about 24 hours). We are hoping that the talk of toilet and food stops is right, or we are going to have to cross our legs for a long time.
See you on the other side!
