Udaipur

September 30 – October 1, 2009 - As I sat across from a middle aged British man in first class AC on a train from Agra to Udaipur I felt like was in France, not India. First Class AC is nice. For my 11+ hour overnight trip to Udaipur it cost around $35 USD. You get a large berth in a compartment shared by four. There’s one compartment on the end that only shares 2. That’s the one I got. The quality of the quarters is every bit European minus service. No food, drinks, or even bottled water. That didn’t matter. I just enjoyed civilized intelligent conversation with a Brit in air conditioned luxury. I felt like I was cheating or something. India just got easy.

Aside of the fact that I’ve really adjusted to travel in India the Indian state of Rajasthan almost feels like different country. The first thing I noticed is how clean the Udaipur City train station is compared to the other stations I’ve been to. Also, when I got off the train I wasn’t immediately hounded by a rickshaw driver. I had met 3 young Chinese women on the train so we decided to get a taxi into town together. Our driver was a very kind Sikh who genuinely wanted to assist with helping us find a good place. He drove us around a bit but I eventually took off on my own to search out options by myself. After touring numerous hotels I found a really nice place for 800 rupees. Approximately $16 a night.

Udaipur is a much more relaxed place. You still get the taunts and some hassles but it’s all delivered with a much softer blow. The attractive part of the city, next to Lake Pichola, almost has a European feel and the local people have a keen understanding of how to give the tourist what they want. After seeing virtually no service with a smile in other parts of India it’s refreshing to see a much different attitude in Udaipur. The traditional friendly greeting of Namaste is frequently used with no strings attached. Well, at least some of the time.

Udaipur is situated next to a lake. It’s most known for a fairytale palace built upon the water. It was constructed by Maharaja Jagat Singh in 1754 as a royal summer palace. It’s now a luxury hotel and was used as a location for James Bond’s “Octopussy” movie. The area itself is more arid and desert like with hills and small mountains. All of the hotels are near the water and boast wonderful rooftop views with many having restaurants. I just arrived this morning and plan to spend a couple of nights here. I think it’s a good place to recharge and relax a bit.

October 2, 2009 – After checking into my hotel in a lovely touristy section of Udaipur next to the lake I went for a short walk and about 10 minutes later was reminded that I’m still in India. The transportation of choice here appears to be the scooter and or motorcycle. Everyone speeds wildly through the winding narrow streets and 4 out of 5 motorbikes visibly spew black exhaust. I am reminded of this as I blow my nose in the evening.

During the day I visited City Palace. It’s an imposing structure built upon a hill by Maharaja Udai Singh II who was the founder of Udaipur. The rest of the time I just wandered around a bit until I met a travel agent I thought I could trust. I think he proved himself worthy as he offered his advice and helped me sort out travel options. India is a big country and I’ve decided to see quite a bit of it. I wound up purchasing 3 more train tickets and one air ticket. I did not want to fly within India but in order to have a chance to really see some of the southern region it made the most sense to take a flight from Jaipur to Kochi in the state of Kerala. I had originally planned to take a very long train but logistically etc. it doesn’t make the most sense. Although train tickets are very inexpensive by western standards my flight south is not cheap at $200 USD.

With the framework for the next 3 weeks of travel sorted out I was ready for dinner. I had checked out several places to eat and was most impressed with the hotel restaurant next to the place I’m staying. It’s located on a rooftop with an outrageous view. The kitchen looked very clean. I also notice the staff to be very friendly and attentive. I had stopped in for lunch and was very pleased so I returned for dinner. As I sipped a Kingfisher beer and watched the sun set over Lake Palace I met a man from France. He turned out to be the chef for the most exclusive resort in Udaipur and was eating there. He commented that the restaurant was the only place he ate in Udaipur and that it was very safe. One of the Chinese women I had met on the train showed up so we joined forces and ordered all kinds of food. It was nice to choose freely from the menu with no worries. The food was excellent and I ate more than I could. When the bill came it totaled up to about $18 USD for two people. Tipping is not customary in India but I always leave something. Considering the affordability of eating out at nice places I see no reason not to. Especially considering health consequences. However, I have gotten a good dinner for as little as $1 USD. Generally $3 – 4 USD is about average.

Today I’ll kick around Udaipur and will likely move on tomorrow morning. My ultimate goal is to ride a camel and the best place to do it is Jaisalmer. Before that I’ll stop in Jodhpur.