Udaipur in the Indian state of Rajasthan was a real surprise and my favourite place on my India trip so far. Known as the city of lakes, its sits on Lake Pichola and Lake Fateh Sagar. The city is a lot less hectic and traffic-manic that the others I've visited. There are lots of winding side streets all around the lake with beautiful buildings, palaces and boutique shops and art galleries. The main 500 year old grand City Palace sits above the lake and is beautifully lit up at night, as does the Monsoon Palace which sits high on top of a mountain overlooking Udaipur. There are lots of lovely rooftop restaurants and those dotted around the lake, it's a lovely chilled place especially around dusk with amazing views of the sunset all around. The Monsoon Palace offers an amazing sunset view.
I stayed in a lovely family run hotel called Jaiwana Haveli right on the lake. The rooms were light and airy with traditional shutters and big wooden doors with those castle type bolts across them. Our room had a huge roof terrace which was a bonus as it looked directly on to the lake and sunsets!
This first day I went out sightseeing which included a visit to the City Palace, Jagdish Hindu Temple, the rope way cable cars and a cultural evening performance at the Bagore Ki Haveli by the Gangaur Ghat. The City Palace is a grand building with lots of Indian architectural influence, around 500 years old and is also a 5 star hotel. We spent time wandering around the grounds which were beautiful, there's also a museum but I wouldn't recommend paying the extra price for this to take your camera in, I've been to better. Having a nice drink or food in the grounds is much nicer! You can also take a swim in their pool for an extra 300 rupees.
Next it was the Jagdish temple in the centre of town which is a small Hindi temple where we saw locals worshipping. It's a few minutes walk from the City Palace. A short cab ride away is the Ropeway Cable cars which take you up to a viewing station with stunning views over the whole of Udaipur and the lakes. The cable cars themselves looked a bit old and rickety but the drop isn't huge if anything bad was to happen!
Early evening is a good time to get a short cab ride out to the Monsoon Palace for sunset. A tuk tuk will only take you as far as the main gates, you need to take a government taxi the rest of the way up the steep winding hills. The Palace closes after sunset but worth the views. This evening we went to Bangor Ki Haveli open air theatre & museum for a cultural performance. For only 150 rupees it's worth it for the hour long show which depicts traditional song, dance and puppetry from several Indian states, mostly Rajasthan and has some humour in their too.
The next day I spent wandering the side streets and people watching in the cafes. I went back to the City Palace to get tickets for one of the many boat rides that leave from various parts of the lake. This one for 400 rupees takes you all around the lake to give you a different angle on the skyline from the water and also stops at one of the two grand lake palaces which are literally built in the middle of the lake! Quite cool actually. I stopped at Jagmandir Palace for lunch which was really nice. The other one, Taj Lake Palace you can only stop at if you're a guest staying there. That evening we walked around the lake to the opposite side and had a really nice meal at the 5 star Upre Hotel. The restaurant on the rooftop reminded me of Kensington Roof Gardens in London, very glam but at a fraction of the cost!
Udaipur really delivered and I would highly recommend it as an alternative to the hectic hustle and bustle of other Indian Cities. A great way to spend a few days or a week here relaxing and people watching.
