Udaipur - November 22nd

Because of our late arrival last night we sleep on a bit today and also have a late start.  Even at that late hour last night I think we were able to appreciate the view we had of the lake, but only in the daylight can we really see what a view we have.  Udaipur is built around a man-made lake and has two islands in it with palaces (now hotels).  From our hotel room we have a view of both these islands, and the much bigger city palace (also partially hotels) which stretches along the opposite side of the lake.  We really are in our friend Karl Pilkington’s territory, the view from our cheap room of their hotels has to be better than the view of our cheap hotel from their rooms.

After breakfast we go for an explore of Udaipur.  In truth it doesn’t take too long, because unlike other cities we have visited the tourist area is actually quite compact, with all the main sights and the touristy shops, restaurants and hotels all within 10 minutes’ walk of each other.   By lunchtime we have covered most of the main streets, and we go for a lunch in a little local place overlooking the footbridge that joins the two sides of the lake.

After that we are still taking the afternoon easy.  Our room is set up to make it easy to just sit and read or look out at the passing traffic over the footbridge (which does consist of a lot of cows).  In order to get a good view of sunset we go for the Lonely Planet’s recommended rooftop restaurant overlooking the lake.  This is beautiful, but expensive, my Kingfisher beer costs almost the same as back in London.

Our evening finishes with some Rajasthani folklore dancing.  Those who know me will know I normally avoid these shows like the plague, but after getting out of some in the Balkans, I have to give in this time.  It was a bit strange, a lot of women dancing around with things balanced on their heads, as the dances are all based on household chores.  Unfortunately I found this to be a bit reflective of some of the sexism I have noticed during our trip.  Even the puppetry had the female characters portrayed in a pretty bad light.