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Published: November 4th 2009
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Hey Guys!
Well I don't know how we survived our bus trip from Mt. Abu to Udaipur but we did. When we arrived at the bus station in the morning the driver was changing the rear tire on the bus since it had a huge blow out. OK I thought this is good, until he grabs the spare to put on and it has a hole in it too! So we head down the winding Mt. road at top speed with a shot tire on the rear and I declare to Tyne that we are idiots for getting on this damn bus. Luckily all carnage was avoided although we did have some pukers letting loose, once again we were at the front so no worries.
So Udaipur is home to Lake Pichola and the Floating Lake Palace which is it's center piece. This city is also a major destination for travelers in India which we soon realized as there was Westerners everywhere. We ended spending our first day cruising around checking out the Ghats along the lakeshore as well as a small walking tour around the old city. We ended running into a a guy who runs an Ayurvedic
Massage and holistic healing center who was trying to persuade us for some business. He ended telling us he can tell what's wrong with someone just by massaging their hand, I called BS so he massaged Tyne's hand and said she had a crooked back! We both thought that was pretty good since it's true, I decided against letting him try me since I believe no news is good news!
The next day we were off for our super self guided tour of all the sights Udaipur had to offer. We started with the City Palace, the Palace is huge and is full of beautifully carved marble, tile mosaics, miniature paintings and other priceless items. The complex was huge and it took us the better part of the day to tour it. Afterwards we wanted to take a boat tour, so instead of just paying the $12 at the Palace we decided to find a cheaper boat. Well after 2 hours of walking around in 40deg weather we were back at the Palace paying $12! The boat tour takes you around the lake with a stop at Jagmandir Island which has a palace that has been converted into a
high end hotel. The views from the Island were really nice, and once again I took way to many pics! Check out the Black Bee pic, it's one of my favorites.
That evening we checked out the cultural dance performance at the Bagore-ki-Haveli. The performance showcases the various styles from the Rajasthan Province. The first set was a group of male dancers depicting a classic battle of good vs. evil, this performance was highlighted by the performer representing good grabbing stones the size of golfballs out of a fire with his teeth and holding them in his mouth for several seconds. It was hard to watch and hold a straight face since he was riding another performer dressed as a tiger! Next up was two young women who danced while balancing flaming pots on their heads! Just as we thought that might be the most impressive performance we had arrived at the grand finale. This lady comes out and begins dancing, then she puts a big water pot on her head and continues dancing, then another one and another and another and ......well needless to say this lady ended up with 9 pots on her head and she's still
going! The show was great and I would recommend it to anyone traveling in the area.
The next day we decided to punish ourselves for some reason. We went to go see the Ranakpur Temple, which involved us taking a three hour bus ride there, spent an hour at the temple and then 3 more hours back ;(
The Temple was amazing, not sure 6 hours of public transport amazing but amazing all the same. The Temple is another stunning display of Indian Marble carvers, with 1444 Pillars of carved marble and no two are alike! The rest of the carvings were equally impressive especially the carved figures within the domed ceilings. That evening we enjoyed a Skype session with family and friends for Thanksgiving which is always nice, so if anyone wants to talk to us and see us feel free to sign up for skype (it's free). Ring us up username:tyne.astles
Oh yea I almost forgot, while I was complaining about public transportation look at the pic of the bus we passed where even the roof rack is full! And those buses were flying by us!
Well until the next one
Cheers,
Matt & Tyne
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