Advertisement
Published: April 11th 2013
Edit Blog Post
I was beating myself up for a lost wallet as our sleeper bus made its way to Ahmedebad. Not yet in the mood to sleep, I sat in the regular, upright seats under our sleeper section, staring out at the dark road, seeing sporadic glimmers of light caused by headlights or burning trash on the roadside; sometimes the silhouette of a cow would glow behind the fire. With time, sleep was slowly coming on; my eyelids began to close, when I was suddenly startled by the Indian attendant vociferously yelling out a stop name. I could hear some German tourists laughing while impersonating the attendant - yes, they can wake the dead with their yelling.
Shortly afterwards, we stopped at a roadside restaurant for a food and bathroom break, and I was in luck: there was beer. I had one and then bought a couple more (a Kingfisher and Hayward’s) for the bus, planning to drown my sorrows a bit. I thought some Tom Waits was in order as well, but we’d forgotten to bring an IPod, and, after two years, I’d never synced up my IPhone. Nonetheless, I had what I really needed - I crawled into
our sleeper and settled in for a couple beers. I thought of a shirt I’d seen at Universal Studios near “The Simpsons” ride, displaying Homer’s head with a conversation bubble announcing, “Beer – the cause and remedy of all our problems”. I laughed to myself, told myself to relax and slept like a baby.
We awoke in Ahmedebad, but possessed no urge whatsoever to stay there, and quickly transferred to another bus to Udaipur for what should have been another four hours or so if: first, the Indian-style men’s bathroom hadn’t been awkwardly occupied by me and an Indian woman, and the employees at the bus station had had the key to the women’s bathroom so that Klaudia could relieve herself without looking for some place in the entire neighborhood (this was close, but Klaudia’s India breakdown was still to come…); and, second, the bus hadn’t got a flat tire halfway through the ride. We lost about 15 minutes with the bathroom debacle – the bus waited for us though, so it’s not all bad! – but four hours fifteen minutes quickly turned into eight hours following our flat, as the driver and attendant made phone calls,
walked up and down the road, called everyone back on the bus, traveled a short distance on a flat to another roadside restaurant or hotel, made some more calls, put the bus on the jack, only to bring it back down again after a few phone calls, called everyone back on the bus, crawled another short distance, arrived at another roadside restaurant or hotel, over and over again. We went through three or four permutations of the events described above before a truck finally showed up with a tire. “Success!” I mumbled to Klaudia with my mouth full as we ate the 2
nd best Samosas I’d mentioned in another blog – you remember: the ones made on the floor. Success quickly turned to failure, however, when it was realized that the tire didn’t fit. We repeated the above process once more, but this time we stopped at a hotel with a tire shop next to it. I exited the bus and saw a wide selection of assorted tires – surely they’d find the one they needed. Alas, it was not to be and our serendipitous turn of events crumbled; some more phone calls were made, we were back on the
bus for a short distance, and arrived at another roadside place. Fortunately, another truck appeared shortly afterwards with the correct tire.
We’d heard from many that Udaipur is India’s most romantic city, which is a sentiment also shared by our guidebook. If “romance” for you is lovingly holding hands with your significant other while deftly avoiding cow poop as you saunter the cobblestone streets of the city to the fanciful sounds of “Tuk-tuk?”, “Hotel?”, “Hashish?” and “Halo! Where are you going?!”, then yes - Udaipur is the most romantic place on Earth. Otherwise, let’s leave romance to Paris, as Udaipur does have some noteworthy sights.
Lake Pichola, with the palaces of Jagniwas and Jagmandir Islands royally jutting out of the water like the eye of a lotus, dominates the viewpoints from the city’s pervasive rooftop restaurants. We visited the islands with a boat ride from the jetty of the City Palace. You cannot actually step foot on Jagniwas without an invitation or a reservation at the hotel or at the restaurant, but the boat ride takes you around it for some nice pics. Jagmandir is a beautiful palace with a lovely garden and terraces
that provide great views of Udaipur and the imposing City Palace.
The City Palace is Rajasthan’s largest palace and was built in sections by several Maharajas. Construction began in the mid 16
th century by the city’s founder, Maharana Udai Singh II. I believe there’s an “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” episode in which he visits the island palaces, but wifi access in these parts is so unreliable, I can't Google it. He may have only been in Jaisalmer, as I remember a scene in which he wakes up in the desert after trying bhang.
My earlier cynicism aside, Udaipur is a charming place. Also, if you’re in Rajasthan to do some shopping, do it here: you’ll certainly hear other opinions, but the best quality stuff – from jewelry, to silk scarves, to Kashmir custom-made three-piece suits – is here. I suppose if you’re not supposed to listen to me, we run into an inconsistency, but if you decide to seek my advice, don’t listen to anyone who says to buy things in Jaipur. Udaipur’s the place
Advertisement
Tot: 0.191s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 6; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0515s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb