We say our sad goodbyes to Pushkar and board the train in general class heading to Udaipur. No fabric cushioned seats with breakfast service this time! Sitting among the locals, the ceiling of the carriage is covered with fans and there are no doors. The hard bench seats are covered in blue plastic and at every station stop, hawkers selling samosas, chai tea and snacks complete their transactions through the steel bars of the window. A child sweeps the floor on his hands & knees passing from car to car and I spend the next 4hrs people watching and writing.
We arrive into Udaipur and our base for the next three nights, Hotel Vishnupriya. The thought of not having to pack / unpack my backpack for three whole days makes me extremely happy as well as the hotel being relatively luxurious in comparison to the other accommodation so far. It's a good start for Udaipur!
After a quick chill out by the pool and an interesting (!) Ayervedic massage I meet up with the group and head out for a city orientation walk with Ricky. He is slowly but surely becoming one of my favourite people and proving to be an amazing guide, always taking us to hidden gems with the best views, food, service and giving great advice for how to operate / function Indian style.
As we walk through the narrow streets of the city we are back into traffic chaos where the horns provide the background music and if you're not careful you are skimmed by passing motorcycles, tuk tuks, cows or cars. Claus has to find this out the hard way and his shoulder has an unfortunate and abrupt argument with a tuk tuk. The narrow streets snake to form the old city and they are home to various shops mainly selling the region's famous miniature art, textiles and tailoring services.
Ricky explains that we have arrived in the most romantic city in India. So far it's not clear why it has earned the right to this title. And then we reach Lake Pichola sitting right in the middle of the city...
The lake is 4km long and 3km wide and forms a beautiful backdrop to the huge City Palace (Rajasthan's largest) which sits on the east side of the water. Sitting out in the middle of the lake are a couple of islands and also the Lake Palace, a white intricately built structure that casts a beautiful reflection of light on the still water. The city reminds me of India's version of Venice (just dirtier, shabbier and with motor vehicles). I now completely understand how it's earned it's reputation.
We climb some steps and enjoy dinner on a rooftop restaurant with amazing views over the huge palace. My food is washed down with a Kingfisher beer (which I've developed a taste for in the absence of wine) and before long we find ourselves in a tuk tuk again making a stop for supplies. The driver's nine year old son, with the cheekiest grin I've ever seen, watches us in fascination. It's like we're a pack of rare and endangered animals caged in his Dad's vehicle. The Dad explains that he is teaching the boy English who then proudly declares his name and his age in a perfectly crafted sentence. The father tells us that he tells his son every day that nothing is impossible and he can achieve anything he wants. This humbles and inspires me. If I ever have kids I will try and tell them this every day.
We make it back to the hotel and we round off the day with a bottle of rum on the roof. Ricky tells us that he has had to promise his Mum he will only drink alcohol on one night on his tour. Drinking seems to be frowned upon by the more traditional community. Demonstrating typical Indian ingenuity he finds a loophole in this by declaring the rum, for the rest of the week, as medicine for his sore throat.
I love India.
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