Udaipur

GOOD MORNING INDIA !!!
Damn I love being here, nice people, lots of beautiful things to see, plenty of sun and heat, cheap prices and lets not forget the stunning women in their colourful sari's !!!
What a nice place to spend my retirement ;-)

Anyway, today we're off to Udaipur, a city only 2 hrs driving from Ranakpur.
The last few days we got to know a much cleaner India, not so much dirt along the roads as in the beginning, actually the roads look pretty clean apart from a wrecked truck now and then.
We already saw a couple of those, one hit a tree which smashed it's cabin and another hit the "vangrails" and got literally ripped apart. For most passengers or drivers of these trucks it means certain death because nobody stops to help, there's no police coming to the rescue nor are there ambulances to rush you to the hospital when you're injured.
Frankly spoken, once you get involved in such a grave accident you're left to die which is pretty sad.
But with a population of well over 1 billion I guess they aren't bothered with one more or less (being cynical here).

Another thing I noticed is that I'm immensely popular with the locals, gosh I wished the women at home gave me as much attention as the locals do here ;-)
Apparently my tattoos fascinate them and as soon as I leave the car people come to me to watch and even touch them. I even had one guy who tried to rub it off, he thought it was just a painting on my arm ;-)
When I explain that the ink is inserted in the skin with needles their eyes grow and their awe for me grows even bigger.
Yeah, for these Indian dudes I'm one tough motherfucker !!
Although I quickly loose that tough status when our driver comes to me for his daily dosis of hugs (and no he's not gay !!).
Raju and me get along pretty well and for Indian guys it's common to show their affection with a hug, I encountered the same in Thailand when I gave one of the locals a cigarette, the guy jumped me and gave me a hug (see sigarettes may be bad for your health but they make you getting lots of hugs ;-) ).
Hilde's relation with Raju is not that good though so no hugs for her, in fact he's pretty nasty to her from time to time. But to me he's as sweet as sugar so you don't hear me complaining.

But where was I ? Right, on our way to Udaipur.
Udaipur is also known for the City of Lakes with the biggest lake being Lake Pichola, another synonym for Udaipur is the Venice of the East.
The people here are very proud of the fact that Udaipur is the only city in India that succeeded in keeping it's independence and never got conquered by the Moghuls (muslims).
The first thing on our planning is a visit to the Jagdish Temple, a large Hindu temple in the middle of Udaipur. It was built by Maharana Jagat Singh Ist in 1651 A.D

The templeHoly men; they dedicate their life to religion and live from charity

After our visit to the temple we have some time to have a little stroll in the streets around it and ofc it doesn't take long before I've lost Hilde in one of the local shops, *sighs* women !!

After about 2 hours it's finally time to visit the City Palace.
Standing on the east bank of Lake Pichola is a massive series of palaces built at different times from 1559. The balconies of the palace provide panoramic views of the "Jag Niwas" (the Lake Palace Hotel). They also have great views of Jag Mandir on one side and the city of Udaipur on the other. Its main entrance is through the triple-arched gate - the Tripolia, built in 1725. The way now leads to a series of courtyards, overlapping parations, terraces, corridors and gardens. There is a Suraj Gokhda, where the maharanas of Mewar presented themselves in the times of trouble to the people to restore confidence. The Mor-chowk (Peacock courtyard), gets its name from the mosaics in glass decorating its walls. The chini chitrashala is noteworthy while a series of wall paintings of Krishna are on display in Bhim Vilas. There are numerous other palaces such as Dilkhush mahal, Sheesh mahal, Moti mahal and Krishna vilas - in memory of a princess of striking beauty who poisoned herself to avert a bloody battle for her hand by rival princes. Now the palace contains many antique articles, paintings, decorative furniture and utensils and attracts thousands of visitors every day. The former guesthouse of the city palace, Shiv Niwas Palace and the Fateh Prakash Palace have been converted into heritage hotels.

The Tripolia - triple-arched gate

Palace front

One of the balconies, look at the details

the mirror room, this room is set with all kinds of materials that reflect light to get as much light from the oil lamps as possible during the night

One of the courtyards with swimming pool

Another courtyard with beautifully carved windows

Courtyard with balcony

One of the different palaces in the main palace, this one is the actual residence of the current Maharana of Udaipur

After our visit to the Main Palace and a refreshing drink for Hilde and a steaming hot black coffee for me it was time for a boat tour on the lake and a visit to Jag Mandir, one of the 2 lake palaces.
Jag Mandir is another island in Lake Pichola which is known for its garden courtyard. Shah Jahan took refuge here while revolting against his father (you'll hear more about this guy later).

The main palace seen from Lake Pichola

The Lake Palace seen from the Main Palace
Lake Palace was built in 1743-1746. It is made of marble and is situated on Jag Niwas island in Lake Pichola. It was originally built as a royal summer palace, but is now a luxury 5 Star hotel

entrance of the Lake Palace

A guy floating on a raft in lake Pichola, I guess he's fishing

A woman doing her laundry on the border of the lake

And finally Jag Mandir, this place is now used to give parties for those who can afford the price.
I enjoyed strolling through its gardens and seeing dozens of squirrels running everywhere.

view from the lake

inner courtyard

the bird cages

Kokechi in the gardens watching squirrels ;-)