RIDE TO RAJASTHAN - Udaipur Bliss
Arriving in Udaipur was an absolute dream...
It was a hard task navigating through the alleyways upon our arrival. Not only is there motorbikes and tuk tuks flying at you. I was trying to follow the blue dot while faced with my lifelong dream of clothing and accessories whizzing past me, hoping to remember where the beautiful fabrics are located for later.
Udaipur is a magical place. A city based around an iconic lake (featured in Octopussy), with rooftops galore, a palace and my dream shops.
This is the point I really felt I had found the India I’d dreamed of.
The road can be quite isolating and I think we both yearned for some traveller contact, so we booked ourselves into a bustling highly-rated hostel - Moustache Hostel. With a private room only £10 per night, morning yoga on the roof and friendly faces, you can’t really go wrong!
We arrived just in time for a bite to eat before watching the sunset on our rooftop.
Our first evening was spent wandering the streets, taking note of the shops I wanted to visit and viewing the must-see traditional dance performance - Bagore Ki Haveli. This performance is shown every night and costs 150 rupees.
After the show, we mooched a little more to the other side of the lake. We found a gorgeous rooftop to have dinner - Hotel Upre. By night Udaipur is lit with beautiful warm lights that are mirrored in the famous lake. First impressions so high, we decided then that we’d extend our stay another night.
Onto the next day. Our full day in Udaipur was spent exploring the city palace, visiting the Maidens Gardens and unwinding with a massage.
Udaipur’s city palace is one of Rajasthan’s most famous. On recommendation from some guys at the hostel, we decided to invest in a guide to have the history of the Maharaja’s old hang out explained properly. I could have easily walked around in awe of the architecture, glamorous interior and OTT splendour the city palace offers, but by using a guide we both came away with a wealth of knowledge on why all these things existed and came from in the first place.
Sandeep, our guide, was brilliant. Fantastic English, incredible knowledge, witty one liners, our personal photographer and he let us take our time wandering the place.
From incredible views to rooms decked out in mirrors from floor-to-ceiling and tree-filled courtyards. It’s how the other half live on a whole other level.
Sandeep then decided we were worthy of a trip to a secret textile emporium - Ganesh Handicraft Emporium. When you exit the city palace, a short distance down an alleyway on your right lies a treasure trove of Indian fabrics - historical and new.
This palace in itself is dripping with the most amazing detailed fabrics fastidously collected over four generations. The walls are adorned with photos of worldwide designers who have had the pleasure of visiting this place, as well as celebrities and online articles about the shop.
We were shown around, I wanted to buy EVERYTHING. But kept being reminded that we need to be conscious of space on the motorbike.
Onto the evening, the hostel were putting on a trip to the local street food market - Sukhadia Circle. The first time they’ve put on this activity, we jumped at the chance to be taught about the street food we’d already been gorging on.
A short ride home and off to bed before an early start to Pushkar...