High Expectations

Udaipur, was founded in the mid 1500’s by Maharana Udai Singh II.

He set the foundation stones for what was to become a fantastic city as Udaipur was voted as the best city in the world in 2009 by the Travel + Leisure magazine!

Colonel James Tod, from the East India Company, recognised the beauty of the city way back in 1829 when he famously quoted that Udaipur was ;the most romantic spot on the Indian continent’

Wow, this city sets very high expectations before you even arrive!
We settled for Hotel Swaroop Vilas on arrival. A nice heritage property just a few minutes walk from the centre of the ‘old town’.

After dumping our bags in the room we set off on foot to explore the city.

Numerous lakes surround the city, offering gentle cooling breezes for the locals during the hotter months of the year.

The centerpiece of the city is the City Palace with narrow alleyways jammed full of small shops radiating outwards. The Palace majestically rises from the shoreline of the lake creating spectacular views from many vantage points.

The streets were humming with activity and we simply enjoyed the day of easy walking. Stopping along the way to admire the Palace and Jagdish temple.

Beautiful traditional Rajasthani handicrafts lined the streets. It was a shoppers paradise! We were reminded of the many boxes of pillowcases, doona covers and silverwares that we have collected over the years. These are still carefully stored away awaiting the day that we get settled in our house. This may still be a little while away!

As the sun started to head towards the horizon we positioned ourselves at a lovely rooftop restaurant above the Lake Pichola Hotel to enjoy a beer as the sun started to set.

The view from here was brilliant overlooking the Palace and the jumble of historic buildings that lined the shoreline of the lake opposite.

The sound of trumpets and other wind instruments drifted across the lake towards us. It sounded like a wedding ceremony was beginning. We finished our beer and walked across the pedestrian bridge to see if we could locate the action. Clearly that was going to be pretty easy as the closer we got, the louder the music was.

As we rounded the corner of a narrow alleyway, we were confronted by a traffic jam of cars, motorbikes and people all yelling excitedly to try and clear a path through the gathering crowd.

The wedding party did a great job of ignoring the chaos they created while they danced and clapped to the music as they lead the procession through the city. The groom, sat proudly astride a beautiful horse, dressed in his finest as they made their way to the hotel a little way up the street that was lit by floodlights while other revelers ignited fireworks to announce his arrival!

It seemed apparent that it was customary to pin money to the groom as his suit jacket was covered in cash! It was great to note that a couple of energetic tourists had joined in to dance with the party and were embraced wholeheartedly by the rest of the group.

We cheered and wished the Groom good luck as he rode towards his awaiting bride.

It is pretty cool to witness a wedding in India as they are so different to what the western world collectively do. Satisfied that we had once again experienced another great day, we headed home convinced that Udaipur had lived up to our high expectations.

Our trip through Rajasthan was coming to a close as we are bound for Delhi tomorrow, where we prepare for our flight for Colombo, Sri Lanka, the next exciting chapter of our journey!!!