Okay, okay – I promise the posting frequency will be more satisfying starting today. It was quite a week here sorting out work, a new home, new friends and navigating this new city. I am finally a bit settled (and recovered from my Indian initiation – Brian advised I leave out the details, but know I’m feeling much better). I also now have a more regular internet connection so I hope to keep you all fed and happy from now on!
So this post will mostly be pictures, as I have taken many that I want to share. (all photos are titled – just put your cursor on ‘em).
The panorama above was taken by one of my new wonderful friends, Sourav, last Sunday while on our Udaipur tour. He’s here on an internship with his grade-school buddy, Ayan (he spelled it out for me: “Awe” + “yawn”, so then Sourav said “oh, “saw + rav”). They are both getting their master’s in Public Health from Tata Institute for Social Science in Mumbai.
Our tour of the city began at Fatah Sagar Lake, just down the road from our office and home. We took a boat to Neru Park, in the middle of the lake, and enjoyed the view of the surrounding hills. Udaipur is completely surrounded by the Aravalli Hills (the oldest mountains in the world, according to my mentor, Vivek – I’ve yet to look this up) which protected the city from invasions for many centuries – why the many palaces are still intact.
So, Udaipur is actually a pretty touristy city (as we might have imagined after being named the #1 best city to travel to in the world in Travel and Leasuire Magazine earlier this year) but the tourists seem to be pretty centralized in the Old City – and I can see why. We headed there next, and I had visited a few times before with my other new and dear friend, Julika. She’s a lovely 19-year old German lass who has been a wonderful guide and certainly softened my landing to Seva Mandir and Udaipur.
The Old City sits on the edge of Lake Pichola and is home to the City Palace (which is now mostly a museum but is still home to the heirs of the last Maharaja). It is also the largest palace in Rajasthan State.
Now, for those of you even more tempted to visit – keep in mind it’s coolest between November and February (it’s been about 100 everyday lately) and the lakes will dry up sometime in the US spring – Julika said Lake Pichola was dry when she arrived in June…
The Old City is just as beautiful away from the lake and palace as well. It’s characterized by amazingly crammed, narrow streets; tons of people; great architecture; a slew of temples; cows; more cows; and lots of great shops to spend your money in (Rajasthan is famous for silver and handicrafts). I have already had to remind myself of how long I’ll be here and that I’m on a budget!
I loved this one, with the red horns. Turns out he didn’t so much love having his picture taken by some white girl – he tried to gut me as I walked past. I jumped out ahead in time for him to catch my backpack! Lesson learned: don’t f*#k with the cows. Check.
3 Comments
It looks like the lake has filled up with water again, has the monsoon replenished the water in Lake Pichola since the summer?
well, not quite “full” up, but yes the monsoon (what little came this year) made the lake a lake again… My friends said it was almost empty when they arrived in June.
I’m glad you didn’t get gored by the red-horn. It would have made an interesting story: “So tell me again how you lost your large intestine.” Okay, no more jokes. Be safe.