To compensate for the extra sick day at McLeod Ganj, we decided to fly to Udaipur instead of spending a night in Delhi and taking the overnight train from there to Jaisalmer. Amazingly, we got airline tickets on the day of the flight, and made the connection in Delhi. Arriving in Udaipur near sunset without a hotel reservation, we taxied to the posh Jagat Niwas Palace Hotel on the shore of lake Pichola, and there found rooms available for all of us! Dinner at the hotel's magical rooftop restaurant, with floodlit views of the "floating castle" in the lake, made a perfect ending to a productive day. Backpacking was never like this!
It was easy to spend hours just admiring the hotel and taking pictures
. In the following days we also ventured out for casual walks in the surrounding neighborhood - to the city palace, the nearby temples, the lakeside ghats, a fair trade shop nearby, the city clock tower, the warren of alleys and the pedestrian bridge.
At Jagdish temple we took off our shoes, joined worshipers and tourists admiring the carved marble walls, and bought some flowers. The next afternoon we hired a boat to tour the lake, and placed the flowers on the water in Janet's honor.
There were insights into local life - people bathing or doing laundry at lakeside, tiny shrines tucked into walls, cows wandering the streets, sleeping dogs, a funeral procession with pallbearers carrying the colorfully dressed body over their heads on an open stretcher, beggars with empty bowls sitting at the sides of the streets. People went about their lives and had no interest in us.
Overall, it was a mellow place. It would be easy to spend more time here!
Lakeside Luxury
Monday, January 13, 2014
Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
Other Entries
2025-02-06