India - Udaipur

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DAY 16 24th January 2011
A whole day in Udaipur! First stop was the Hindu temple in centre of old city where there is also an old square with four roads leading into it! Usual chaos!! A steep flight of stairs leads up to the temple which has the usual engravings out of marble.......I think I may be getting a bit Templed out!!! Its all the Gods – Vishnu, Shiva and then there’s the elephant trunk God and all the re-incarnations....its all quite complicated!!!
After this we went up to the City Palace and had our grand tour with the Guide. There are lots of little rooms and palaces all connected by narrow stairs up and down and a few courtyards to complete the palace. Most rooms have paintings of battles in miniature, depicting the whole battle story in one picture. Magnificent views of the lake and the town from the palace although the mountains were a bit hazy today. There were loads of tourists, including it felt like, a whole school of Indian teenagers, there which made it quite difficult to appreciate all the rooms!!
Onwards to the obligatory Co-operative where we were shown some miniature paintings that you could buy at a minimum of 500 rupees (£7.00!) probably buy elsewhere at 100 rupees! Escaped after about ½ hour after refusing to look at any more pashminas explaining that we were only in Udaiper for one day and we wanted to see the City. Next we had a drive around the North Lake and then to the Prince’s Garden where we had a very pleasant stroll around the gardens, with its fountains and greenery and saw a cuckoo!! (got a photo that is not very good but will add it onto the wildlife bit!) Had lunch at a lovely lakeside restaurant and after lunch decided to wander around the old town again looking at the shops. We were only supposed to have a morning tour with the guide but he decided to come shopping with us (not quite sure why, but we think it was probably to ‘guide’ us into his friends shops!!) so in the end we ‘ended’ the tour and went off on our own for a few hours. Had a lovely boat ride on the lake over to the island which was one of the Royal Summer Retreats. ( Jag Mandir)
Back to the hotel on a tuk tuk and a restful evening! Popped over to the local Pizza place across the road and had a veggie pizza, strawberry milkshake and chocolate brownie!!! Yum Yum!

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Photos

Saheliyon ki Bari
18th century garden called 'garden of the Maids of Honour'

Comments

[Tracie]

I love the picture of the old town with the car and the elephant together - it looks amazing!