Monday, April 2, 2007: Udaipur

Monday was spent touring Udaipur, the city of lakes, which was founded in 1559 by Maharana Udai Singh. The landscape was something out of a fairy tale--there were multiple lakes which were dotted with islands, and lining the shores of Lake Pichola are picturesque marble palaces and temples, all surrounded by a ring of hills.

This is a picture of Jag Niwas, or lake palace, that appears to float on the surface of Lake Pichola. It was built between 1734 and 1751 and was the summer retreat for the royal family. it is now one of the world's most exclusive hotels, and is a favorite spot for film shoots including James Bond's Octopussy.

I snapped this photo on the boat tour around the lake. People from the city come here to do their laundry. Even the upper classes do not have washing machines and dryers as we know them. They hire someone to come into their home and wash all their clothing by hand, and then line dry it. While I was at Sharad's I had a few things laundered. this lady was able to wash inside the house, as there was no huge lake nearby. She had a huge tub where she soaped up the clothes, and then proceeded to beat each article of clothing with a long, flat stick. Then she rinsed the clothes in another bucket of water and hung everything up to dry in the upstairs corridor of the house. I am pretty sure she thought I was totally weird the way I watched what she was doing, but I don't hand wash anything--not even when the tag inside says to. That takes way too much effort... I also have no idea what type of soap was used, although it was a powder of some sort. I can tell you they have no idea about fabric softener. The pair of jeans I had washed could nearly stand up on their own afterwards. On top of that, the whole concept of "April freshness" is lost too. Prior to this trip I would never have thought twice about this, but if you think about it, our idea of what makes clothes clean has a lot to do with how they smell and how they feel. Stiff as a board and carrying the odor of non-filtered desert water just doesn't do the trick...

We had tea at Jag Mandir, which is a lush garden built on an island in Lake Pichola in the 1620s. The island palace was used as a refuge for the prince when he rebelled against his father. Eight stone elephants stand guard at the entrance. YOu can see the lake palace in the background.

Here are 4 of the eight elephants.

This is a photo of the City Palace from a boat tour we took around Lake Pichola. It streches along the eastern shore of Lake Pichola. It is actually the largest palace in Rajasthan, covering more than 5 acres. Much of it is now a museum, and parts are also a luxury hotel. We ate lunch in a portion of the palace called Fateh Prakash, which is now part of the hotel. I am including a few more pictures from the City Palace a little farther down.

This is a photo of a 5 star hotel along the lake. I can't recall its name at the moment. I'll post back if I can come up with it.

This is looking out over the city of Udaipur, with the hills in the background. I liked how lush and green this city was in comparison to so many of the rest.

The outside of the palace is very fortress-like, while the inside is decorated with Mughal techniques. There are all sorts of balconies, cuploas and turrets through out the complex.

A close up of the mosaics.

This is Kanch Bari (means Glass Turret) which is inlaid with red and silver glass. It is a chamber within a part of the palace called Bari mahal which was built in 1699.

Here's a picture of the gardens within Bari Mahal. It is built on a terraced hillside that is completely enclosed within the palace walls, so this is on the 5th or 6th floor of the palace. I thought it was pretty cool--notice the full grown Neem trees lining the marble pool. It's impressive to have fully grown trees thriving inside a palace...on the 5th floor.

This lady stopped to pose for a picture while we visited Saheliyon ki Bari, which means Garden of the Maids of Honor. Basically the women of the house were bored, so the Maharana built them a garden on the edge of town and took them out there each day to tend to it. Today you can visit it, although none of the "Maids" work there anymore.

Did you know you can tell how old a palm tree is by counting the rings in its bark? I had no idea.

A picture of one of the ornamental fountains

A random picture--this is a Golden Rain Tree. My mother tried desperately to grow one of these where I grew up in southern PA. Needless to say, the summers just weren't long enough or warm enough. I never would have know this lush tree to be the same thing as the spindle-ly stick that used to be at the corner of the back garden at my parents house.

Here's another plant that never grew right in southern PA...a Bougainvillea.

This is a photo of the monsoon palace (upper left on top of the mountain) that overlooks Fateh Sagar Lake in Udaipur. The royal family had a house for every season--they stayed here during the monsoon, at the lake palace during the summer and at the city palace the rest of the year.

Another photo of Fateh Sagar Lake...

Me & my fellow Pennsylvanians, Ron & Diane.

Welcome back to reality! I snapped these next few shots as we traveled through Udaipur back to our train. These people are not the lowest class--they actually have a roof over their heads at nighttime. Also keep in mind I didn't take these in a bad part of town, nor is this similar to Tent City at Pratt & President in downtown Baltimore where the homeless are known to congregate. These people most likely have jobs and everything.
Another pic... Notice the well to the right of the green door, near the woman and the child in blue pants. People fill jugs with clean water daily to take back to their homes for cooking, etc.