Udaipur. Rajasthan

18th June
At last Rajasthan and time to spend a little longer in a couple of the cities here. Udaipur is quoted in the LP as the most romantic city in the state and the hotel we are in exemplifies that. Scalloped arches everywhere, a balcony overlooking the lake where you see the dobhi wallahs at the washing ghat belting their washing while children shriek as they splash in the water at the swimming ghat next to it. The City Palace is almost opposite while the Lake Palace is just around the corner. Chandeliers made of Belgian Glass hang from the restaurant's ceiling while diners can seat themselves metres from the water where they are cooled off by a gentle breeze and the dripping spray from an air conditioning unit's outlet.
Getting to the hotel was quite a feat as I somehow navigated the van into the old part of the city where the streets became narrower and narrower until even passing a donkey was almost impossible. Meeting a car involved quite intricate manoeuvring. Still no scratches yet. We will spend at least 2 nights here, maybe a third.
19th June
Spent the morning visiting the City Palace, another 'must see' if you are in the area. The hawkers and the pushers are not too bad here at all, actually that as been the case in most of the places we have been to. It is the quiet season at the moment, I think they expect to not be doing that well. Next month the Europeans start arriving for their 6 week break and the Americans for their two. The Antipodeans make it later in the year.
In the following photos the lake is quite prominent, the bloke in the hotel was saying that before 2002 they were having camel and horse rides between our hotel and the washing ghats. That you could drive out to the Lake Palace in a car, the drought was so bad most of the lake had dried up. Hard to imagine that now.