122609: Day I in Udaipur

Udaipur, a city in the state of Rajasthan in Western India, is also called the Venice of the East or the City of Lakes. We had our airport pick up waiting for us and our initial reaction to the city was – “Wow, this looks like a small cozy nice little town with the little hills enveloping it from all sides.” We had a really short flight and hence were in our hotel by 9 am for an early check in. We instantly loved our hotel with its architecture and lush green lawns but what we enjoyed more was the hospitality from the staff. Since our room wasn’t ready yet we went in for a nice heavy buffet breakfast and took a nap by the poolside until the lady at the reception came finding us for our room. Our room had a great poolside view but it didn’t really matter too much because all we really cared about was the beds – we were just going to need it to sleep in.

 

It was nice and sunny outside; but not very warm and we had contemplated given the pool a try. We saw a few others going into the water from our room; but we both knew it would be very, very cold. I told Rabsi whoever isn’t going in is “a sissy” but once at the poolside Rabsi had more courage and jumped in first. I seriously considered just being a sissy but then decided to jump in anyways. I figured, once flying in the air I can’t prevent myself from falling in the pool. I was out again just as fast as I had been in. Half a sissy, I guess. *It was super cold – what do you expect at 5 degrees C, and yes she did jump out almost as fast as she jumped in, but then again she’s being a super good sport by admitting it – well I wouldn’t admit it!*

Given the fact that we were two ladies by ourselves, Rabsi’s parents had stressed *almost like a hundred times* that we would need to hire a car - driver from the hotel for our stay in Udaipur. Rabsi had found and negotiated a good rate for a driver to take us around on Friday afternoon and Saturday the whole day. We had made some tentative plans; but those would be changing constantly. At 2 pm we left for our first day in Udaipur.

The driver was going to take us to a couple of places to do some sightseeing and shop a little. Since we had only slept for about three hours; we didn’t want to have a fully packed afternoon. The day after, we would have from morning to night to further explore the lake palaces of Udaipur.

We visited the statue of the Maharana Uday Singh, the founder of Udaipur (my entrance fee was more expensive because I’m a non-Indian) and Saheliyon ki badi (the garden of girlfriends). I was not impressed by either, only the view at the location of the statue was impressive. It was obvious people weren’t used to seeing two women walk around by themselves – let be an Indian and non-Indian both dressed in Western clothes. We were stared at both by women and me the men time and time again trying to take pictures of us and woman approaching us wanting to take pictures WITH us.*It was super strange especially to me as to why the woman would want pictures, and for the first time I missed having my guy friends around for I’m sure we would have never faced this if they were with us.* It was uncomfortable to say the least; and I thought about how taken for granted I take my freedom as a woman in places like Belgium and the US. It was rare if ever that I felt vulnerable there; especially not in the middle of the day in a mass of people. We flew back to our driver and decided we’d go for shopping instead. Although Udaipur as a city was clean and relatively well-maintained; the inhabitants seemed to be out of place in it. We reverted to some shopping and went to Monsoon Palace on top of a mountain at 5.30 pm to watch the sunset. While shopping for the paintings, which are made on cloth and famous in Udaipur, we got friendly with the owner of that art school. He was extremely nice because he managed to get us a reservation at this fine dining place by the lakeside which he promised would be a great experience. The owner was his friend and we wouldn’t have been able to eat there had it not been for him.

 

 

 

Dinner was great. We were sitting outdoors by the lake side with a view on the City Palace (which we will be visiting on our second day in Udaipur) and the Taj Lake Palace Hotel (whose rooms are circa 1,000 dollars per day during the high season; there is one full time employee for each guest to serve). Both were beautifully lit. The atmosphere was great, there were some people playing classical musical instruments, the people were very friendly, and the food was very good. It was the crown of the day. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and decided we wouldn’t mind coming there again tomorrow.

We’re back in our hotel, quite tired, it’s been a fulfilling day and we have a feeling we’re going to sleep like babies for a good 10 hours. Goodnight Udaipur – sleep well!