Dubbed the Venice of the East by Lonely Panet, Udaipur is very different from anywhere else we have visited in Rajasthan. Situated on Lake Pichola and surrounded by the Aravalli Hills, it is set in countryside as lush and green as any in England. The lake is by no means full – the monsoon rains are still awaited – and it is probably several metres lower than it should be, but at least it has water. Until the exceptionally heavy rains of 2006 it had been empty for several years due to lack of rainfall. The centre piece of Udaipur is the floating (or so it seems) white, Lake Palace which dominates the centre of the Lake. Built by Maharaja Jagat Singh II in 1754 and formerly the Royal Summer Palace, it was featured in the film Octopussy and is now a swish luxury hotel with prices to match and is the exclusive preserve of paying guests.
Our guest house’s roof-top restaurant is a good vantage point from which to view the lake and palace as well as the coming and goings on Gangaur Ghat below. The ghat is a popular bathing and clothes washing spot and young boys frolic in its murky waters while sari-clad women squat on the steps to scrub dhobi. When we turn up for breakfast this morning, though, the resaurant is empty and there is no sign of any staff. So we wander round the coner and stumble on the Nukkad Guest House, which like many in Udipur also has a roof top restaurant. At first glance it has a rather unprepossessing entrance and we are in two minds whether to try it. But once inside a rather beautiful haveli is revealed with a central atrium and rooms set out around three galleried floors with wrought iron ballustrades. We have a pleasant breakfast on the light and airy terrace.
Udaipur old town is a bustling centre of small shops, their wares spilling onto the street and hanging from their facades. There is a mass of things aimed pimarily at the tourists – from the minature paintings for which the town is famed (so-called for the fineness o their detail, rather than their size), to antique jewellery, leather bound notebooks and lots of handicrafts. Painted woodenf igures and traditional puppets are to be seen at every turn. There are a few cars and the narrow streets are easily clogged particularly when the yellow school buses ar about. But generally it is easy to get around and every where of interest is can be reached on foot.
Cows decorated with brown splodges over their bodies, red on their faces and a saffron cloth tied to one of their horns to mark today’s cow festival, wander the streets. This is the third festival in almost as many days, coming hot on the heels of Krishna’s birthday, Independence Day and Friendship Day. On the 23rd it’s Ganesha’s birthday and preparations are underway for another major celebration!
Our attempt to change some travellers cheques is complicated by the rather sorry state of one of the cheques. 12 months in Andy’s body belt has taken its toll and the cheque is looking a bit dog-earred. We present the cheques at a money changers, agree a rate and sign them; so far so good. It is only then that themoney changer scrutinises the cheques and decides he doesn’t want to take the $100 cheque with a small tear. Would we wait half-an-hour for his boss to come and decide whether it can be accepted? We decide not to wait, but after a couple of paces down the street we realise that no-one else will accept already signed cheques and so we have no option but to return. In the end, after pointing out that he should have examined the cheques before telling us to sign them, the money changer accepts his mistake, the cheques are cashed and we avoid having to report one lost in oder to get our money.
There is both a temple and a mosque close to the guest house; one performs a loud, rhythmic and monotonous incantatation with drums and cymbals in the early evening and the other a call to prayer at 5am in the morning. Great if you want an early moning wake up call.
Andy is ageing rapidly; today a man we stop to talk to in the street thinks he is 66! All this travelling must be taking its toll!