Needing to escape the wicked witch of Jaipur, Jo and I sought out the guidance of the Lonely Planet to help us pick a weekend retreat. We were sold by its description of Udaipur:
Whimsical and serene, surrounded by misty, ochre-shaded hills, Udaipur is Rajasthan’s most romantic city. Intricate, bone white buildings edge Lake Pichola, at the center of which lies the icing on the cake: the extraordinary Lake Palace- by day a wedding confection dreamed up by a feverish imagination, by night a spotlit mothership.
When the monsoon is poor, the lake is left half empty, leaving the Lake Palace sitting in muck. Udaipur is packed with palaces, temples, and havelis, and nowhere better testifies to the Rajput passion for fantastical and fairy tale.
So we were sold-off to Udaipur! However, what seems like a small jaunt on the map necessitated a 12-hour overnight train ride. But our experience there was certainly worth it. I will pepper the lonely planet’s description with my own.
Lake Pichola is amazing, and the entire city of Udaipur is nestled around it. The lake itself is encircled by a ring of hills trying hard to become mountains (upon one rests a 5-story castle which never reached its fifteen story completion). Lake Pichola is a somewhat man-made lake, enlarged by Maharaja Udai Singh II. Although it is 4km long and 3 km wide it still dries up during droughts. Luckily for us the monsoon has just started, and so we witnessed Udaipur and its Lake Palace in all its splendor.
Even more so than the lake, the Lake Palace is Udaipur’s most prominent feature. The Lake Palace completely covers a 1.5 hectare island, Jagniwas islands. Built by the Maharaja in 1754, it was formerly the royal summer palace. Today it is the ultimate in luxury hotels. So ultimate in fact that nonguests are not welcome unless they pony up $50 for a meal (an astronomical sum by Indian standards). As if its architectural splendor wasn’t enough, the palace earned its fame as it was where the James Bond movie “Octopussy” was filmed (don’t ask me, haven’t seen it). In fact, one can watch the movie every night of the week at any number of the million guest houses (see photo).
http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=50631183479168339/l=277138053/g=86844910/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
Udaipur also has a “normal” palace, which Jo and I got a chance to walk around. As this was our vacation we chose to take it pretty relaxed, eating good Indian food, shopping for our new apartment!, and doing some very leisurely site seeing. We also took the opportunity to watch some traditional dances at a cultural show. Besides the marionette who lost its head repeatedly, the highlight of this show was a women’s dance in which every time the dancer went around the room an attendant would put another pot on top of her head (symbolizing the fact that women have to carry numerous pots of water at a time on their heads). By the end of the dance she was wheeling around the room with 11 large pots ontop of her head! They weren’t actually filled with water (and I think they were not terracotta, but magnetic) but still the dance was pretty impressive.
Udaipur did live up to its reviewer’s accolades: it was amazingly romantic. All of the million hotels have rooftop terraces where one can eat dinner and watch the sunset over the mountains, which lights up the lake, and the lake palace in an other worldly glow. Perhaps my most favorite memory from this trip to India has been sitting together on one of these balconies at sunset, the warm light on our faces.
When the monsoon is poor, the lake is left half empty, leaving the Lake Palace sitting in muck. Udaipur is packed with palaces, temples, and havelis, and nowhere better testifies to the Rajput passion for fantastical and fairy tale.
So we were sold-off to Udaipur! However, what seems like a small jaunt on the map necessitated a 12-hour overnight train ride. But our experience there was certainly worth it. I will pepper the lonely planet’s description with my own.
Lake Pichola is amazing, and the entire city of Udaipur is nestled around it. The lake itself is encircled by a ring of hills trying hard to become mountains (upon one rests a 5-story castle which never reached its fifteen story completion). Lake Pichola is a somewhat man-made lake, enlarged by Maharaja Udai Singh II. Although it is 4km long and 3 km wide it still dries up during droughts. Luckily for us the monsoon has just started, and so we witnessed Udaipur and its Lake Palace in all its splendor.
Even more so than the lake, the Lake Palace is Udaipur’s most prominent feature. The Lake Palace completely covers a 1.5 hectare island, Jagniwas islands. Built by the Maharaja in 1754, it was formerly the royal summer palace. Today it is the ultimate in luxury hotels. So ultimate in fact that nonguests are not welcome unless they pony up $50 for a meal (an astronomical sum by Indian standards). As if its architectural splendor wasn’t enough, the palace earned its fame as it was where the James Bond movie “Octopussy” was filmed (don’t ask me, haven’t seen it). In fact, one can watch the movie every night of the week at any number of the million guest houses (see photo).
http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=50631183479168339/l=277138053/g=86844910/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
Udaipur also has a “normal” palace, which Jo and I got a chance to walk around. As this was our vacation we chose to take it pretty relaxed, eating good Indian food, shopping for our new apartment!, and doing some very leisurely site seeing. We also took the opportunity to watch some traditional dances at a cultural show. Besides the marionette who lost its head repeatedly, the highlight of this show was a women’s dance in which every time the dancer went around the room an attendant would put another pot on top of her head (symbolizing the fact that women have to carry numerous pots of water at a time on their heads). By the end of the dance she was wheeling around the room with 11 large pots ontop of her head! They weren’t actually filled with water (and I think they were not terracotta, but magnetic) but still the dance was pretty impressive.
Udaipur did live up to its reviewer’s accolades: it was amazingly romantic. All of the million hotels have rooftop terraces where one can eat dinner and watch the sunset over the mountains, which lights up the lake, and the lake palace in an other worldly glow. Perhaps my most favorite memory from this trip to India has been sitting together on one of these balconies at sunset, the warm light on our faces.
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