A Weekend in Udaipur

This weekend was my first out of Ahmedabad, and my first attempt at travel in India. It is a relatively small city north of Ahmedabad in the district of Rajasthan with a population close to that of Edinburgh.  Aptly named “The City of Lakes”, it was a stunning change to my Indian base with its hills and several lakes.

The central part of the city was filled with tourists which was both welcome and irritating for shopping as shop keepers refused to lower any prices. The streets were very narrow, rickety, and steep and should really be one way, but of course they might already have been. The shops are some of the best I’ve been to with beautiful shoes, dresses and fabrics; Udaipur is particularly known for its miniature art works done by hand on silk, often of camels for love or elephants for good luck, and I was told by many people of the amazing but cheap handmade leather bags and books. We were dragged into an art school where we were given a demonstration of these miniature paintings being done and offered cups of chai.

A few differences I noticed between Udaipur and Ahmedabad were firstly the rickshaws are generally black and yellow instead of the green and yellow I’m used to, and in Udaipur they’re more often called tuk tuks. Also, everyone says ‘Namaste’ (meaning literally “I bow to you”, but also hello or goodbye etc.); something I’d hoped and expected to hear constantly in India.

Hotel

Going on a recommendation from other exchange students, and the read on Lonely Planet, we chose to spend our one night at the Palace View Guest House. It was a small house up a very narrow street and a painful amount of steps, but it was all we could have asked for being clean, safe and with a real working hot water shower (bearing in mind I have been using a bucket at home)!!! The woman running the guest house was very welcoming, even bringing me a cup of tea in the evening which made my night! Her husband was also very nice, a doctor who was just about to head up to Jaipur, but took the time to give us a map and tell us some of the best places to visit during our short stay. We had lovely Dutch neighbours who I met the first evening and then again in the morning on the hotel’s namesake – the roof terrace. This was the perfect place to sit, rest and take in the absolutely amazing views of the city, and the City Palace up on the hill. It was so incredibly warm, but with there being so many lakes, there was an actual cool breeze which was so welcome! The only downside was that the toilet was a hole in the ground, but to be fair there was toilet paper, and it was a very clean hole in the ground.

City Palace

City Palace is a huge Palace which was built over a period of 400 years. It has stunning views over the entire city being perched on top of a hill, as well as tiny glimpses of its lake views through elaborately carved windows. I had to pay extra to take my camera around which I found a little ridiculous being that it’s a tourist trap. It was like a maze, but thankfully there were signs leading you round everywhere, and when in doubt we followed a tour group. There was a combination of tiny staircases, big open gardens and courtyards, stained glass windows and beautiful tiles. All you could want from an Indian palace really.

Ropeway

The ropeway was the best way to see the entire city, lakes, hills and all. We chose to take the cable cart up to be at the top of the hill and at the viewing point in time to watch the sunset, before taking the steep steps all the way down again (no mean feat I assure you!). The views were absolutely incredible, the lake and City Palace to one side where the sun set behind the hills and the entire city to the other. We spent ages just standing, watching as the sun sank and the city lit up one light at a time. Going on Valentine’s Day, I was only missing a little company to complete my enjoyment of being at the top of the world.

Getting a tuk tuk back to the hotel was easier said than done though. We shared with an Indian couple, but were held up in copious amounts of traffic. With it being wedding season here, we waited as the groom on his decorated horse preceded by his entire family worked their way across the town. I didn't mind the wait one bit!

Craft Village

We chose to visit a small craft village outside of the city to get a feel of different areas of Udaipur. As this was quite far out, we found a tuk tuk driver who would take us there, wait and then drive back to the city, for 350rs (£4). He was very good to us, pointing out landmarks and telling us stories about the lakes. The village itself was small and quiet as we went on a Sunday. We chose to have a joint camel ride round for 100rs each and so met Raju the camel who was our tour guide. He was wobbly and couldn't go downhill well and went too fast uphill, but we loved him. As we rode round, there were several groups of men who played us some traditional music and sang which created a nice atmosphere. I also saw a gorgeous little girl attempting to walk round in what looked like men’s flip flops.

After our village trip, the tuk tuk driver took us down by the lakeside and kindly offered to wait while we took a short speedboat ride around the lake. Of course we jumped at the chance to see one of the lakes up close so donned our life jackets and sped away. The water was so cooling splashing us as the boat turned and gave us a stunning view of the hills, and I must admit I screamed a little!

Food

Because Rajasthan isn't a majorly vegetarian state unlike Gujarat, we had the option of trying slightly different Indian food (meat!). I found it a little spicier than I’d had already, but not too overpowering. It was mostly just incredibly flavoursome. We chose to start and end our journey at ‘The Whistling Teal’. It was more of a garden with lounge chairs and individual gazeebos that conveniently served food and drink than a restaurant which was perfect! We lay out on the sofas while we waited for our orders of mango shakes, palak paneer, chicken curry, masala tea, butter naan… and of course everything was delicious. My favourite was when we chose an Indian version of tapas where we were served a tray of eight small dishes and naan to share as I never can choose what to order.

Another wonderful experience was to visit the Lotus Café where we spent an evening on the roof top sipping cold Indian Kingfisher beer and enjoying the lit up palace. I had another curry which was served with apple chunks on top, strange but also amazing. There we got chatting to a Scottish girl (seriously, they sniff me out), Jenny, who was here for the second time, choosing Udaipur over Jaipur after she fell in love with the small city the first time.