Udaipur

We woke up later than usual for a more relaxed tour of what Udaipur had to offer. The tour was mostly a walking tour and it took up half the day it was quite interesting seeing that the people conduct the same morning street rituals as they do in other parts of the country, and that the fort's inside wall designs are again generally the same. This is how the tour went.

The tour started off with us walking around secluded streets and alleyways picking up little gems of knowledge along the way.

For instance this waterpump  is made up of a front bowl for cows, dogs and animals, and a back bowl for people to wash and drink from

For instance this door means that inside there is either a bride or a groom or they are the relatives of such people.

This is a street cafe getting ready for the morning trade

A guy hard at work making a leisure suit for someone

A textile shop selling quilts

Shops, Shops and more shops.

After walking around for a bit we ended up walking into a Hindu temple where there were chants, loud music and continuous morning prayers.  They were also feeding the poor, sick and homeless while we were there.

The temple reminded me of the Khajuraho temples but not quite so graphic.

Close to the temple was our next stop, Lake Pichola this is one of only four large lakes in the area and what Udaipur is famous for.

It had ghats like Varanasi where people came to sit, bathe and swim...

including the animals!

Next stop was the old city palace which is more of a fort but is also home to the current King/Maharana.  The citizens are very proud that this is the only kingdom that never surrendored to the Muslim Moghuls and has reigned consistently for 100s of years.  The day we visited it was busy with dancers, actors and directors as it was to be the scene of an upcoming Bollywood blockbuster.

Under the umbrella is a very famous Bollywood actress that had everyone excited to see!

Inside the palace

The king's mirrored bedroom

The Lake Palace (now a hotel)

The Maharana's love of Silver could be seen in his silver gallery 

Next we took a boat ride to an island close by. This was home to the same king that built the Taj Mahal.

People were carrying on their daily routines on the lake side ghats

The royal boat parked in the lake

Our hotel from the lake.  On top of the hill is the King's Monsoon Palace where he and all his wives and girlfriends go when the rain comes 

After this excursion we retired to he hotel missing out on the possible garden visit but we were tired after no-stop tours for two weeks so decided not to. I think it was for the best that we just relax and have a non day to get some energy for the following week. Later on we had room service dinner and watched the IPL hoping for a good nights rest before we head back to home via Hong Kong tomorrow.

Joseph Hewson