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Udaipur: lounging by Lake Pichola

Udaipur is one of my favorite spots in India. There is a peaceful lake and Rajasthani architecture. There isn't a ton to see here, so it's really about relaxing.

We arrived on the night train from Mumbai that took about 17 hours. It was a cold night with out much sleep in Sleeper class as people kept turning on the light and talking in daytime voices. As we move further north, the shells and sarongs that are doubling as sheets aren't cutting it for the cold nights.

From the train station, we got an auto rickshaw to the center by randomly choosing a hotel that showed up on Maps.me. It turned out to be a good spot, so we stayed at Puskar Guest House for Rs. 500 per night. Wasn't the cleanest spot in the world, but good value and the hosts were very kind. The rest of the place seemed to be inhabited by longterm renters. 

For the next 3 days, we wandered around the city taking in a few sights, enjoying rooftop views and sampling coffee (Jheel's Ginger Coffee Bar has the strongest cappuccino).

1. Jagdish Temple
Smack dab in the center of the old city is the Jagdish temple. It is quite spectacular up close due to all the carvings.

Jagdish temple

Jagdish temple tower

Jagish temple carvings
Jagdish temple carvings

Outside the Jagdish temple
Jagdish temple from restaurant across the street, which has tasty, but pricier food.



2. Lake Pichola
The lake is a calming spot and can be viewed from a number of different spots: rooftop terraces, ghats, the walking bridge, the sunset spot, and from a boat.
Gangur ghat

View from Gangur ghat across Lake Pichola


Two women watching their children play on Gangur ghat

Woman cleaning at Gangur ghat

City Palace from across Lake Pichola

Udaipur
Sunset from Hanuman temple

View of mosque from the top of Cafe Satori

View of Gangur ghat from Restaurant Harigarh


3. The City Palace
The palace is best viewed from the outside, unless you have rupees to burn. It is Rs. 30 to enter the grounds and Rs. 250 to go inside the palace museum. The ticket allows you to go in and out throughout the day, so best to go in the am when the light hits the walls and then at night to see it all lit up.

The City Palace

The City Palace


City Palace museum tickets only

The City Palace

Entry to the Palace at night

4. Wandering the streets
Really enjoyed wandering the streets away from all the guest houses to get a feel for Udaipur.
Advertising painted on the walls on Jagdish Temple Road

Vegetable stall on Jagdish Temple Road

Jagdish Temple Road

Grapes and garbanzos on Jagdish Temple Road

Temple on Hathipol Road

Painted house on Hathipol Road

Woman peeking out of 2nd story on Hathipol Road

Laundry


Hospital on Pannadhay Marg 
Patient at the hospital

Guy who wanted to pose at the hospital

Amazed that it is possible to ride the scooter with the gas canisters

Selling pipes on Pannadhay Marg

Boys making stakes outside their house at Shiksha Bhawan Chowk

Baby scared of me at Shiksha Bhawan Chowk

Vegetable cart outside Nukkad Hotel
Cows are everywhere and huge in Udaipur

5. Royal Cenotaphs in Atar
These were beautiful to see. To get there, we took a couple of shared auto rickshaws for Rs.10/person. It was helpful to have a map as some of the guys didn't know what we were talking about. The guard pointed to a sign that said no photos to let us know that we couldn't take photos, but then proceeded to let us know that if we paid a bit of money, than we could. Based on that, we decided that it wouldn't be a major faux-pas to take photos and we would get out of his line of sight before pulling out the cameras.

Royal Cenotaphs

Royal Cenotaphs



Royal Cenotaph


Royal Cenotaph

We left via train to Delhi. Another overnight train, this one only 12 hours. Also did sleeper class and realized that we don't have the proper blankets for sleeper class in the north at this time of year (brrr).
Udaipur train station porters

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