Udaipur Day 9: The Lake City and The World's Biggest Turban
Groan… another early day that starts with a 730 flight to Udaipur. We move from the Pink City to the Lake City, and despite being in the same state, these two could not be more different. Udaipur looks very very European and is sometimes called the Venice of the East. In fact, the hotel restaurant looked so much like Santorini, we started to call it Santor-India. Corny, I know, but we were mad from the heat. :)The cheapest means of getting to the city is booking a taxi from the airport. No need to pre-book a ride. All of it is regulated by the government so it’s a flat fee. Just make sure to get a taxi with A/C or the heat will really kill you. Once in the city, we quickly realized that we could actually just walk the entire length of the main city without needing the taxi driver to wait for us. In fact, it's better to do it this way to explore the winding roads and maze of shops that abound here. The size reminds me of Florence, very manageable, unless of course you pick a hotel up in the mountains that nicely border the picturesque city.
The main tourist sight is really just the City Palace, though you could stop by at Jagdish temple, about a 5 minute walk from the entrance of the palace.
Steps leading up to the temple flanked by stone elephants
Exquisite intricate carvings on the side all around the temple
Colorful shamans waiting at the foot of the temple
The City Palace is famous for the beautiful glass and mirror works inside. It took us 2.5 hours to go through the entire thing! I guess I shouldn't be surprised, this is apparently the biggest palace in all of Rajasthan.
The entrance... what an imposing palace. Get your walking shoes out.
Great views from the many windows around
Maharani dreaming of her prince?
Famous for the Rajput wall paintings
And the many mirrors
You could explore the entire city in a day, which is what we did. Out of sheer diligence, we went to a bunch of other minor sites, like the Bagore Ki Haveli museum for the world's biggest turban (only if you absolutely must)...
The thing actually looks quite gross in reality
Yotch getting into the spirit of turbans! :)
and the Sajjan Niwas Garden with the many fountains and water lily ponds.
But at the end of the day, Udaipur is not really a city for sightseeing. There is not much to see, it is more a place to soak up the ambience and the views. And our lunch at Jagat Niwas offered a great vantage point to enjoy this.
Santor-India
Posing ala-MTV
Nice views behind us
And of course, why visit the Lake City without going on a cruise! The price is quite reasonable for 30 minutes and is the perfect escape from the heat. And because most of the palaces are either closed to the public or require expensive lunch reservations to visit, the cruise is also a good way to see these as close as possible.
I miss my sisters already...
posted by moan @ 5:12 PM
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