We checked out of our first guest house, Panorama, in the morning to check into our "palace" for our final night in Udaipur.
Even though we planned to do nothing except stay in the fancy room all day to stare at the lake from the swing or try out the jacuzzi and then swim in the pool (if we drink enough whiskey, that is), we inadvertently booked our day full with other activities. It started because we were too lazy to do anything the day before...
Let me take you back to January 29, also known as "the day before."
We wanted to go to the other sites in Udaipur that seem to be worth seeing, like the hill with the cable cars and the light and sound show at the palace which was recommended by Auntie Usha and Dr. Singhvi, who gave us a free ride from Ahmedabad to Udaipur.
First thing we did though, was meet up with a guy who owns a dress shop on our street because he promised to take us to the other side (Ganesh Ghat) to see his seamstress, so we got a free ride from him too. After having the measurements taken for my sari (with a promise to get a fitting the next morning), Henri and I started the day with a visit to Jagdish Temple, the city's main temple.
It was not as large as we thought, but very interesting all the same.
And some saddhus were the real kind, not scam saddhus or as Henri and I fondly call them, scammadoos.
Then we passed the clock tower, walking to Swaroop Sagarh, the second nearest lake (we were staying on the banks of Pichola Sagarh). But Henri was too optimistic to think that we could walk all the way to the Fateh Sagarh too.
But Swaroop Sagar was not that great, there were just three old women taking a dip with their tops off. The walk towards the other lake was a bit exhausting and scary, too. The lakeside was private and we had to go the long way, through the town. We saw propaganda flags and young guys grabbing guns at an ammo shop and the men were giving us outsiders funny looks. Yikes!
The real reason we didn't go though was because we were feeling lazy that day. Like we've seen too many temples and lakes and forts and we're just too tired to see another one. We called Auntie Usha if she's available for dinner, but she invited us to lunch the next day instead.
When we got back, we met an artist whose aura I liked (no salesman bullsh*t, finally!) so I said I'd do the art lessons with him to fill up the free time we suddenly had. But he said he couldn't this afternoon, and insisted I come back any time tomorrow. Dang! Art lessons, plus fitting, plus lunch with Auntie Usha! Hope we have time to do all that tomorrow! Henri was optimistic I could do it though, so I believed I could do it too.
That afternoon we stayed at the rooftop of Panorama, watching the lake, until we heard a band playing. There was a wedding at the opposit ghat and we got there just in time for the excahnge of gifts and the parade...
The banks are busy with noise, activity, and color.
The women put water jars with coconuts on top on their head and stand around the groom.
The band plays even louder.
We thought it would end with a nice parade, but one of the women started swaying like she was possessed! Two men ran to fetch her and put her back in the parade.
After witnessing the bizarre turn of events at the wedding, I thought I could convince Henri to see the puppet show at Bagore-Ki-Haveli, since we didn't know how else to fight boredom that evening. We met an old guy outside who practically said it was the greatest show on earth so I got Henri to think about it, heheh :)
On our way back, there was a restaurant owner who invited us to the nightly screening of "Octopussy" at 7:30 in his video room and we could order some beers and relax. Backgrounder: Most of the movie was shot in Udaipur, so as a big fan of Octopussy in my youth, I would have liked to revisit the scenes from the James Bond hit in the city where it was filmed. So I was kind of torn. Henri was honest with the guy and told him tonight, it was "Octopussy vs Puppets."
We went with puppets and boy, it was AMAZING!
The next day, there was the art class, the sari fitting, the lunch, and the quiet afternoon at the hotel topped with a romantic dinner at Upré all in the To-Do list.
I went to my art class. 10:30am, no breakfast, I was sketching and learning as fast as I could so we could go to lunch and finish early and we could go spend the rest of the afternoon on the swing like we said we would.
Henri found a nice way to spend his free time without me: attend another wedding at Lal Ghat.
He brought me a sandwich and fixed the mixup about our hotel room reservation (and got a discount for the trouble). I thought I would be good on time because I changed from doing an elephant to making a peacock which looked easy... But he told me later it's one of the hardest! Mewari painting is very specific, every line and color has meaning and things have to be done by the book. So I didn't finish by 12:30 like I thought I would, but I promised my teacher I'd finish another hour after lunch.
Then we went to lunch with Auntie Usha and the Doctor in their trés chic house near Sukhadia Circle. She told the driver to drop us off at Sahelion Ki Bari, a beautiful garden with fountains. We thought it couldn't take more than 15 minutes to look around then get out...
But I think we took about 30 minutes to an hour because inside was also this Science Museum that belongs to a museum itself.
The exhibits came from the time of our grandparents.
But I have to admit, the novelty factor was amusing. We even had fun with the mirrors :)
The fountains were also nice. The pipes are way below the lakes so the fountain spouts out water because of the natural pressure.
Sahelion Ki Bari means "Courtyard of the Bridesmaids," it was made for the maidens who came as part of the dowry for a princess. Snobbish!
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| An Indian guy took this picture, he didn't want to stay in the spot we asked and moved around, so now the fountain top looks like Henri's pretty hat. THANK YOU, RANDOM INDIAN GUY!!!! |
And then it was back to the drawingboard for me. I finished it after an hour and a half and I was rushing it so my brush strokes were crooked an unsure - but it was getting late and I wanted to get out of there and maybe have enough time to try out the pool before it froze up for the night.
So I made a lot of errors and forgot my scratch pad where I did the elephant and the teacher taught me brush strokes :( but I'm proud of my final peacock, imperfect as it is :)
And hell, I didn't care at the time as long as I got back to the room! The guy with my sari top saw me running but I told him I'll come by later - I had to get back to the room!
We had wine on the balcony and sat there until sunset. We had a jacuzzi so even without experiencing the rooftop pool, it wasn't like I was missing out. At 8pm we were on the elevator, popped up for dinner at "Upré by 1550" just like we planned. They put the fire next to us so we don't freeze midway through the starters.
Even though it didn't go as we planned, the extras made it a more special day. Our time apart in the morning was a welcome breather, the lunch at Auntie Usha's made us discover authentic Mewari cooking and led us to discover Sahelion Ki Bari, the lesson made me more confident with the brush, and Henri met a special man at the wedding who gave him a new mantra for life, and our evening on the lap of luxury was icing on the top.
The next morning, we didn't move from the bed. The sunrise happened just outside our window and we had the best view of the palace and the ghats.
Henri went back to sleep and I wrote on the journal and did some practice sketches.
We had breakfast in the room and munched while enjoying the lake scenery below. People passing by on tourist boats were taking pictures of our window.
Then we packed our bags and checked out. One last business to take care of was the sari fitting, and we met with "Money," the shop owner who took us to the seamstress.
With my sari top finished and neatly tucked away, we went to the bus station and got a ticket to Ranakpur.
Up next: The loveliest Jain Temple in the Universe and the seemingly endless fort of Kubhalgarh.
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