A Tour of Udaipur

Just yesterday early morning, I came back from a sleeping train, in which I had an extremely peaceful sleep. Everything in this good night sleep was perfect, except my dream about middle school. And it was filled with BAD neverending worries. Anyways, we were were coming back from Udaipur (also known as the City of Lakes), a scenic city in the state of Rajasthan, India. As our family is a family full of excitement and talk, we reached to a train station before the one that we intended to go to. Thankfully, this station was located in Udaipur, our destination, and the drive to the hotel only took about five minutes. We thought that this trip would be ordinary and somewhat spectacular; what we didn't know was that we entered a city that would stay in our memories forever and ever.

That very day, our large family of nine explored Udaipur's major places, including Monsoons Palace, City Palace, Pichola Lake, and Jag Mandir. We comfortably sat in a Tempo Traveller. Our first stop was Monsoon Palace, a beautiful palace which belonged to Maharana Udai Singh. His original palace and home was City Palace. However, as Monsoon Palace had beautiful, lush green sceneries, the raja went there during monsoon season, when it was most beautiful.                                                                  

                                                                                           

A message to the visitors about the Raja's graciousness. 

A beautiful view with wet green plains and sloping
mountains. 

A birdhouse peeking out from the view, telling me
         that the beautiful scenery is genuinely
                               a reality. 

                   

Our second stop was to Shilpgram, a traditional Rajasthani town. Immediately, when I spotted a camel, I had a sudden wash of urge to ride it. My wish was fulfilled, as I got an opportunity to ride on Prabhu's (the man taking care of it told us the camel's name) big body. After that, almost all the members of my enthusiastic family (I am not really enthusiastic) (I admit it, I a serious and I should talk and laugh), including me, got dressed in traditional Rajasthani costumes. We all had a sort of crop, and photos of us were taken by the photographer who dressed us. I was having metal plastic bangles in my hand, a colorful dress, and jewelry. My granddad was wearing a turban, a men's costume, and holding a sword; he looked the best of all.

          Prabhu! I personally find him looking like a curious camel. 

                                       Rajasthani girls dancing in a traditional dress. Then, after exploring Shilpgram Village, we headed down for lunch at around 2:00 P.M. Man, was the place so crowded! We went to the wrong "restaurant" that we intended to go to. Instead, we ended up in an overly crowded snack shop. However, the good thing was that I got to eat four of my favorite Indian sweet, made of only milk, sugar, and cashew. ;D After devouring snacks, my family and I reached City Palace, the original home of Maharana Udai Singh, as mentioned earlier. There was a museum tour; therefore, I learned numerous amounts of information regarding Maharana Udai Singh and his wife Rani such as their belongings and wars fought in their kingdom. City palace had many beautiful and intricate windows, similar to the ones in Islamic art. Lying in the river bordering the mansion, Lake Pichola, their laid a beautiful white palace called Jag Niwas, also owned by Maharana. I got amazing shots, as it was on an island in a beautiful lake. 

                      Parts of the large structure in City Palace.

Observe the windows carefully. They have extremely         well-handcrafted and skilled designs.

                                           

The white palace on cool Lake Pichola.

We then went boat riding at Pichola Lake; the cool water soothed my senses sensationally. During the ride, we took a stop at Jag Mandir, which included beautiful gardens. Udaipur's natural features really stand out from other cities in India. India is well-known for its copious amounts of pollution, but Udaipur is at least a little maintained by preserving its landforms and sceneries. The government is most probably encouraged by its picturesque and vivid beauty.  

                                            Amazing and unbelievable view from Jag Mandir.

For the night, we stayed at a hotel called Padmini Palace, and in comparison to other Indian hotels, this was the best. However, the bathroom was VERY dirty, and I was not a bit surprised... The very next day, we went to Mount Abu, a mountainous region near Udaipur. The ride in the car was 8 hours going and coming; I didn't realize how long it was because I was deeply sleeping with my mouth open. Mount Abu wasn't as interesting as Udaipur but the Jain temple Ranakpur was a highlight from the rest. It was beautiful decorated and carved with marble stone, The ceilings were intricately designed with domes, and the temple was filled with images of Adinath, the traditional founder of Jainism. The beautiful temple is dedicated to him. Because of Jain beliefs, photography was prohibited;consequently, I was unable to take any pictures. That very day, we left for Noida at 6:15 in the sleeping train, having a wonderful night's rest.

My trip to Udaipur was fantastic. The ability for me to treasure nature's beauty may have changed me as a person, by God's grace. I have so many memories, and right now it feels so good to type it on my blog, to share it with everyone. This was by far one of my best trips; I enjoyed views, took photos, gained interesting knowledge, and most importantly, I spent time with family. If you ever visit India, be sure to check out Udaipur, and the gifts it offer as a city.