Day 3 –Udaipur (Venice of East)
Udaipur is claimed to be India’s most romantic city. You’ll agree to this if not completely then to some extent for sure. If one could afford living in hotel ‘Fateh Prakash Palace’ on the banks of Lake Pichola, where the tariff starts from 20,000 bucks or to hotel Udaivilas where tariff range is 35,000 to 2,50,000 bucks then indeed it is best and most romantic place, no wonder why it is the foremost choice for several high profile marriages.
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| Lake Palace |
Even for a mango man (Aam Aadmi) Udaipur is not displeasing. The entire city has a maximum radius of 10-15 kms, not expensive and less crowded too. See the different perspective of the city.
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| Lush green all around |
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| Breathtaking Views |
Shared Auto as well as reserved one can be hired for local transportation. In Udaipur you will come across many pole, like Udiyapole, Hathipole, Surajpole and many others. They were once the gate or entry point to a particular area where on arrival guest used to wait for their host.
I reached Udaipur by 8 PM and there is a hotel wali gali at Udiyapur very close to bus stand. I got an AC room for 500 bucks on a Pandit ji Dharamshala, which was more like a hotel with fairly good dining option too. Since on last two days in Mount Abu I was on vegetarian diet so now there was no question of facing any Rajasthani or Gujrati thali again. But here comes the problem, you will hardly find any non-vegetarian food joint here. After enquired a lot I learned about a place called Rehmania in some subzi-mandi area. Finally I took the auto to went there, asked him to wait, had my chicken bhuna masala with roomali roti, and came back with a sigh of relief. Although food was nothing in comparison to saadi Delhi but still like a source of water in absolute horrific desert.
I asked the autowala for an entire day trip and we settled on 400 Rs for a tour of 16 points.
Next day Auto was there at my hotel by 9. It was drizzling and just perfect to roam around. First we started from ‘Karni Devi Temple’ where a ropeway is installed that will take you to the highest point. To and fro journey will cost 60 Rs. It is a perfect place to grab some pictures.
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| City of lakes, hill and palaces |
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| Distant view of Lake palace |
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| Rope way to Karni Devi temple |
Next point was lake Pichola and city place but by that time it started raining heavily and to my bad luck boat ride was not available due to heavy rain. After waiting for more than 30 minutes I decide to move on.
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| Lake Pichola |
Next destination was ‘Gulab bagh’ which is a small zoo in Udaipur. It was still drizzling but somehow manageable.
The high point was the name of the panther. It was time for his lunch and the zoo caretaker called him, monu come in and have your lunch. What an innocent name for him! Probably the tiger and leopard have known as sonu and tonu respectively.
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| Monu |
After Gulab bagh it was sukhadia square en-route, and we stopped at Bhartiya Lok Kala Museum near Chetak Circle. There was a remarkable one hour puppetry show followed by equally beautiful dance performance.
They also have vast collection of Rajasthani Folk Art in the museum.
Next stop was Saheliyon Ki Bari. Many Bollywood song sequences in 80s and 90s (like lamhe) have been shot at Sahelion ki Bari.
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| Saheliyon Ki Bari |
It was already 4.30 and the ticket counter in most famous City Palace Complex is used to close by 5 so we rushed to it. Museum ticket is 60 Rs and still camera charges are 200 Rs.
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| City Palace |
This museum is also known as Pratap Museum. It has a remarkable collection of ancient sculptures, exotic paintings, antiques and inscriptions of the golden Rajputana era.
City Palace Museum acquires a major part of the City Palace Complex and it is divided into several pavilions and halls. Every pavilion has a distinct theme of its own. I don’t remember the names but to visit entire premise a complete day is required.
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| Lavish parties are thrown here usually |
That was end of the day 3, next day I visited Fateh Sagar Lake and Nehru Garden.
Continued in Part 4…
Wonderful travel story.
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Udaipur is really worth to visit.
At any place, if someone wants to know the place to eat non-veg, should contact Amit bhai. :)
Ha Ha … I’ll take it as positive and love to be food guide for fellow Ghumakkars. If given chance I would love to purpose the change of national bird from Peacock to “Butter Chicken” :-) no offense.
Well thanks any way. Glad you like it.
Dear Amit,
Have comments from a “Mango Man” (Aam Aadmi).
It was a very very beautifully written interesting post and the photos were too beautiful. The pic. # 4 (Man sitting on rock showing back) was not up to the mark (In my view) rather it was bit irritating. Otherwise I like your all the posts most and also an admirer of your photography skills (Please take it positively).
Well, how one can visit the lake palace? Is it open to all or is converted in to a hotel? Did you visited lake palace? How it can be approached.
Thanks.
Thanks Mukesh Ji. Its good to get feedback on something which can be improved based on constructive suggestion.
Well to visit lake palace you need to go Lake Pichola by auto which you can get easily from anywhere in Udaipur. From ISBT/railway station it will charge around 50 rS. Then there is a boat ride that took 375 Rs and do a round around the lake palace for half an hour. Most of part of lake palace is still occupied by royal family, and mainly converted into hotel and a few area is open to visitors that includes a museum. Museum also consists a crystal palace where ticket charges are 300 Rs and there are separate entry fee for other museum.
Thanks for refreshing my 10 years old memories. You are right , Udaipur is not a very expensive city to visit. Have you tried food in Hotel Natraj, one of the best eating place in Udaipur.
Thanks a lot Mahesh Ji. I had no idea about hotel Natraj so missed it.
@ Amit , I had visted Udaipur last year. I feel Udaipur is a very peaceful city. Saheliyon Ki Bari , Lake Pichola , and Lake Fateh Sagar are my personal favourites.
It really made me nostalgic about my trip. Very nice pics. Keep up the good work .
Sahil
Thanks a lot Sahil. I am completely agreed with you, indeed Udaipur is a very peaceful place with calm lifestyle. On last day of my tour I visited Lake Fateh Sagar and can still remember those beautiful view.
We had a lovely stay in Udaipur last year and that too in the old town right in the heart of the city. The place (the old town atleast) looks a lot like Delhi’s Paharganj. On place that disappointed us was “Saheliyon ki Baadi”. Some things just look more beautiful in movies. Nice account and pictures Amit.
P.S. I’ve also corrected the problem pointed out by Vinay.
Thanks for correcting that issue and going through the post. You are right about Saheliyon ki Baadi, remember the museum for children inside it? Completely out of sync from tourist point of view.
So this is now familiar to me, so let me write a complete (almost close to rara mutton comment) :-)
1. The episode about room tarrif reminds me a interesting account by Ankur which he posted few years back. I am adding the link here, so please read it when you have time and fellow ghumkkars, leave a comment if you get to read it.
https://www.ghumakkar.com/2008/07/31/udaipur-and-chittorgarh-march-2007/
2. I think, you should have spent more time at City Palace. A lot of other places are more like points and some of them have lost their sheen over years, and ‘Saheliyon ki baadi’ is the most prominent amongst them.
3. Thanks for the food joint tip but as Mahesh says, you missed ‘Nataraj’. It is right in the heart of city and offers amazing Rajasthani/Gujraati Thaali and ‘Daal Baati’. Spread over multiple floor, the play is usually abuzz with action and good, fresh tasty food.
4. Finally, I was lucky to be there when Royals were hosting a party. It was a Ashwa(Horse)Abhishek ceremony and though the price pinched us badly, we decided to take the hit and not miss a chance to have a drink with Royals :-)
5. One last thing, the sound–n-light show at City Palace is good thing to watch.
I would stop now. :-) and move on to last part of your Romanchful trip.
Thanks Nandan. I had read Ankur story before going there. Infact I searched in detail in ghumakkar to get important tips before all my trip. You are right about city palace, it took more time in comparison to other places.