Jim was clearly not right, complaining of feeling like he had the flu. By the time we got to the airport, he was just sitting there, not interacting much, eyes closed. Definitely not our Jim. We went through the same security routine, got on our on-time flight for an easy trip.
Udaipur is a large city of 500,000 people, but the historic area is quite small. There are multiple gates to get into the city from historic times. Many of the buildings are in poor repair, but the architecture of the town in very varied. The building where the hotel we stayed in was located dated from the 1600’s.
The road into Udaipur from the airport was amazing. Wide two-way streets (more like a highway) and people actually obeyed the traffic signals (there were some!), appeared to be more polite to each other, and actually didn’t drive in the wrong direction down the road!
We got to historic Udaipur and everything changed. The smallest streets we have seen yet in India, made of stone, and motorcycles everywhere. Men with or without helmets, with women dressed in saris, holding one or two small children on their laps, no one restrained, taking crazy chances with their driving as they cut in front of each other, honked incessantly, sped up little tiny alleys. Basic safety techniques don’t seem to be a high priority in India.
We settled into our little Hertitage hotel, which was located off the “main” street in the center of town. David, Jo, and Dave and Gail Weaver had stayed here on their trip to Udaipur so David thought it would be a good place for us as well. The hotel had a lovely pool, which given how blisteringly hot it was in Udaipur, was a great plus. It also had a wonderful rooftop view of the city, which served as a spectacularly scenic place for Jonathan and David to play music.
Untitled from David Meek on Vimeo.
David, Jon and I went out for a walk to explore the town, and walked over the bridge over Lake Pichola. People were swimming in the lake, doing their laundry in the lake == and 50 feet away, garbage floated with a huge layer of algae on top. People must develop immunity early on to some of the horrors lurking in the water supply – and people do what they need to do. If this is the water you have access to, I guess you use it.
I joined David and Jo on the roof to listen to them playing music and it was so spectacular to see the amazing buildings of Udaipur with domes all over the tops of the buildings, the beautiful Lake Pichola with the Lake Palace beginning to be lit up as the sun set over the mountains. There were several children on the roof of a nearby building flying kites; David said he had seen that when he was here before. Sunset in such a beautiful area, listening to the wonderful music played by my astoundingly accomplished young men....
it doesn’t get much better that that. (Now that is one relaxed and happy Mom!)
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