Enjoying one of our three fabulous lunches at the White Terrace
We ended our Rajasthani bike trip with a day in Udaipur and while the rest of the group flew to Delhi and then on toward home we – since we don’t have a home – stayed in Udaipur for three more days. We checked into a luxury hotel to recover from all that biking and – having toured the City Palace with the bike group – had a pretty chill couple of days.
Separated from the Thar Desert that we’d been biking through by the Aravalli Range that we biked over, Udaipur is quite different from the Rajasthan that we’d become familiar with. In fact, it has lakes, something we definitely had not seen a lot of. Accordingly Udaipur is known as the City of Lakes, though based on my experience it would never be confused with that other City of Lakes, Minneapolis. Still, those lakes give Udaipur an attractive quality missing in the other Rajasthan cities we visited.
Lake Pichola. Mark found himself wondering what birds did before humans discovered electricity and started stringing electric wires….
To be clear, though, the peace we found there was overwhelmingly the result of staying at the Oberoi hotel. Acres and acres of beautifully landscaped lawns and gardens. A pool for Mark to hang out by and a hammock for me to read in. We’d just hang out in the morning, then go into town for a great lunch at the White Terrace (if you’re ever in Udaipur it’s definitely worth a visit). I’d go back to the hotel for some more hammock time while Mark would explore the city a little on his own.
My view from the hammock. Outside the hotel grounds Udaipur is a typically chaotic, noisy, dirty city but in here serenity reigns.
And that’s it. Relaxing and calm, though we were both annoyed by the way hotel staff had been trained to engage guests, inquiring constantly if everything was nice, if we’d slept well, if the food was good, and on and on and on and on. If your biggest complaint is that there are too many staff members doting on you your life is probably OK.
Mark’s perch at the pool
More of the hotel grounds. Acres and acres of calm.
Outside, though, you were right back in India
Mark used to drive a tractor just like this when he was a kid in Michigan
A street scene
We were almost always too excited by the food to remember to take pictures but managed to restrain our urge to feed long enough to get this shot
Can’t those cows read? The sign says no parking!
It’s good to hear you allowed yourself some pampering after the bike trip. You deserve a rest! Incidentally, our City of Lakes is preparing to host a Super Bowl next month – (replete with Justin Timberlake halftime) – which may well include the Vikings…a first for the Super Bowl host city to include its hometown team. The city is all abuzz with “Purple Rain” motifs. We’ll keep you posted, though. The Vikes have been known to disappoint.
That’s right – we deserve a rest from all this exhausting extended vacation!