Cindy and I took the ropeway up to the Karni Mata Temple. This is us with the overlook to the city of Udaipur.
Not the Great Wall of China
(but the Great Wall of India)
On the way to Udaipur in the state of Rajasthan we stopped for a night in the city of Kumbhalgarh where we explored the Fort, built by Rana Kumbha in around 1448 AD. The fort was thought to be protected by a diety and so there were several Mughals who attempted to overtake the fort but were unsuccessful until it was finally overtaken by Akbar’s general Shahbaz Khan but was overtaken again a few years later. There is much that is impressive about the Kumbhalgarh fort but the most impressive feature is the 22 mile long wall that protected the kingdom. The wall winds through the mountains on either side of the main fortress which sits atop a hill in the Aravalli Hills. There is also both a Hindu temple below the fort as well as a beautiful Jain temple. We walked up part of the wall to get to the fortress and through the various passageways and also along the wall on the other side. We stayed that night in a nice hotel that overlooked the mountain range where there is also a National Park that contains leopards. Of course we didn’t see any of the elusive animals but we tried.
Another Stop Along the Way…the Ranakpur Jain Temple
The next day we took a side trip on our way to Udaipur to see the beautiful Jain temple of Ranakpur. We wound our way through some pretty sharp switchbacks and a very steep road to get here to find out it was closed but we walked around to get a good look at this marble wonder. This very impressive which has very intricate carvings of Gods, elephants, lotus domes and more, was built in the 15th century.
4 Days of Great Food, Winding Streets and Breezy Lakes
This was the end of our first road with Garmeet although he did spend one day and a half days with us in Udaipur. The first day we got ourselves settled into the hotel, took care of some business (got some cash, set-up my phone with and Indian number and walked through the crazy marketplace. After, Cindy and I wanted to walk down to the lake and Garmeet went with us, I think partly because he was afraid we might be taken advantage of…it’s a good thing too because people in this city are very pushy and tricky about getting you to spend your money. We walked through some narrow streets to one of the Ghats where there are shops and a Haveli that housed some dancers. We also checked out one of the fancy rooftop bars and had some craft cocktails and some great parmesan truffle fries.
The second day, Garmeet took us some places that would be harder to reach without the car. First thing we did was go to the Saheliy-on-ki-Bari (Garden of the Maidens), a beautiful area constructed in the 18th Century for the ladies of the royal family. Here you find some intricate fountains with statues surrounding and within them, a lotus pond and well-kept gardens with paths going through. We then went up to the Monsoon Palace on top of a hill overlooking the East side of the city. This was built by the Singh dynasty to be both a astonomical centre and a place to watch for monsoons. The astronomical center never happened and it was instead turned into a hunting lodge as well as to watch the weather. So much beauty and history in this place…particularly of the royal family of Udaipur. After this adventure, we headed to the a lake outside the city where there was a lakeside pavilion.
Click on the first image in the gallery below to see our photos from Udaipur. More images to come.
The third and fourth days in Udaipur, we were on our own. We went to a new hotel closer to the train station and a bit nicer than the first, then we headed on a long walk down to the City Palace for a tour. We decided this time to use a guide and were happy we did because there was so much history and different areas to seen here. We did a pretty quick tour through and then went to hear about the minature paintings, a tradition in Udaipur, and of course bought one each. After the City Palace, we took a boat ride in Lake Pichola around the lake, saw the Taj Fateh Prakash Palace which is now a very expensive hotel and then out to the Jagmandir Island Palace where we got off the boat and walked around the island. This palace was built by a succession of the royal family and was used as a summer retreat. It now houses another exclusive hotel and some very nice restaurants. The island also has some great architecture, some elephant sculptures and a lotus fountain, among other interesting sites. We headed back to our hotel and got a bit lost and put in way to many miles on this crazy busy day. It was a good day, despite our crabbiness at getting lost.
Our final day in Udaipur we hired a Tuk Tuk driver to take us around to a few places. First, we went to a new museum of fun that was built by our hotel owner’s son as a side project. It had a room of mirrors, an interactive room where you could take photos with wax people and photograph yourself in front of 3D structures or pose as if you were on the cover of Vogue. Finally, there was a room that was like a replica of a room at the city palace full of glass inlays and other decorative details. It was a bit kitsch but it was fun to see someone’s pet project. BTW, we talked to the person whose pet project it was and he was quite excited about his venture. He shared with us the details of the construction including who the architect was and how long it took to construct.
We went to see a traditional puppet and dance show, after that, at the Lok Dharohar Haveli. The audience was small but we met some an Indian family on vacation, took some pics with them and then danced with the dancers at the end of the show. We find the best experiences are when we meet people and try to communicate, them learning about us and us learning about them. The woman we talked with the most had just gotten married and still had her mehndi. Our last tourist experience for the day was taking the Rop-way, a gondola that takes you to the top of a mountain where the Shri Karni Mata temple is. It was a fun ride up to the top, there were great views from the top and the temple is beautiful. We ended the day dining at a random rooftop restaurant somewhat near our hotel. We were the only people up there and had a fun time trying to communicate with our two servers. They were both from Banswara, Rajasthan, a beautiful laback.ke are south of Udaipur. We are invited to visit next time we are in India…this happens a lot so we will have to make sure we get back.
