Udaipur, city on the lake, was one of our favorites in Rajasthan. I would go back to Udaipur. We both loved it.
If Udaipur looks familiar, that means you are a James Bond fanatic like me, and remember it from the early 1980’s film “Octopussy”.
Our hotel or haveli, was right alongside the lake in the heart of downtown.
All around the lake the city is densely populated. Most places are to narrow for vehicles, making it foot and motor-scooter traffic only.
There are two floating palaces built on the lake. They aren’t actually floating, but built from solid granite taken from the mountains in North Western Rajasthan.
We lucked out and arrived on a festival day. I have no idea what the festival was celebrating. Festivals occur frequently and often in every city in India. The country has national festival days, but each city, and even each temple within a city has specific festivals.
This festival consisted of a parade between several of the larger temples. There were camels and horses. Floats and bands. Costumes and entertainers. It was extremely colorful and action packed.
One of my favorite acts was this drum corps. I was able to snap a few shots, but unfortunately my video camera battery died before they arrived.
Here is a video of the parade.
Udaipur was a very pleasant city to explore and spend time in. The people were very friendly. The city was much cleaner then others. At night, the palaces are lit decorating the dark. People were always out at the ghats- swimming, bathing, playing, and even cleaning clothes.
We spent July 4th in Udaipur. There were no fireworks for American Independence, but we had a delicious meal at one of the fancier restaurants on the water. After several courses of food and a couple rounds of drinks the whole thing cost less than $20.
During the day, the humidity crept in laying a haze all around the city. We spent three full days and two nights in Udaipur. I could have spent more time, and in future visits hope to.
The palace was intricately decorated.
We took a boat ride around Lake Pichola.
The city palace was turned into a resort hotel, associated with the floating palaces for a premium Raj experience. The price was several thousand per night. Way over my budget.
I believe they beat the clothes with paddles in order to exorcise the evil spirits.
In the distance, monsoon palaces were built upon the hill tops. During the hottest seasons the Maharaja would travel there and run his kingdom in comfort.
While walking through the palace complex to the boat docks we came upon these large trees. Within the trees were thousands of bats hanging upside down. It was day time and they were just hanging there. I first noticed them by the squealing sound they were making. I looked up and squinted to identify what I was seeing. I’ve seen bats before, but these were 2-3 times bigger. Not until later that evening did I realize how big the population here was. We watched for at least 15 minutes as swarms of them flew over head after dusk, as seen in the video.
The elegant palace our last night, seen from Lake Pichola.
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