Udaipur Palace and Shopping

View of the Lake Palace from Palace 

The Palace Complex 

Shopping

Breakfast on our private patio

Something simple for the wedding!

Udaipur is the most romantic and beautiful city we have been to in India. It is clean, much cleaner than many of the cities we visit. It is built around lakes and many of the hotels and restaurants have lakeside views and access.

The ruling family the Mewars have ruled since 566. They say it is the oldest ruling dynasty in the world. They were never defeated, apparently they didn’t bow down to the Mughals or the British. At any rate they obviously choose a fabulous place to build their Palace. It was the current Maharana’s son the Prince that was married the night before last. They have given up all political power, but have kept economic power. We spent over 3 hours on a tour of part of the Palace. It is quite grand. After the Palace tour we went on a private boat ride around the lake. I thought it would be hokey, but we actually enjoyed it. The lake is dominated by the Palace that overlooks it, but just a few hundred yards out from the Palace in the middle of the lake sits the famous Lake Palace which is owned by the Mewar but run as a hotel by the Taj group. I think next visit we will stay there, just to see what it is like. The Lake Palace was built as a summer retreat from the palace. It is probably the only summer residence in the world that is only 300 yards or so from the main house.

We then went jewelry shopping. How do you say “Sharpen your pencil in Hindi?”. I had fun negotiating with the jewelers. The whole family gets involved; the price is not only based upon negotiation, but lucky numbers. I quickly figured out no matter what the lucky number is, it makes a big difference where in the sequence of the price it is placed. I had them laughing as I moved it to what was most advantageous for me, then switched currency on them using their lucky number. We were both happy at the outcome.

We went back to the tailor where they were making some custom jackets for us, for a 2^nd fitting. From there we went to Jagdish Hindu Temple the oldest in Udaipur and were blessed by the priest. I gave special thanks for the return of my bargaining skills. I guess I would have been praying to Lakshmi (Goddess of Wealth). From their we returned to our hotel, for wine and outdoor dinning. The weather here has been magnificent, the best we have had on this trip. Most people that come to India for the first time visit the Golden Triangle (Agra – Taj Mahal, Jaipur the pink city with lots of jewelers, Delhi the magnificent capital) they should add in Udaipur the romantic city on the lakes.

Thru the magic of Apple’s FaceTime we were able to comfort John who was in Hanoi, Viet Nam. He was suffering with a bad bout of Delhi Belly which the Indians call “Loose Motions”. He was alone in his hotel room, but had wifi. Soon we were video chatting as he sat on the toilet. I think we cheered him up to know he wasn’t alone, we recommended some medicine that hopefully the hotel went out and purchased for him. Ah the joys of technology.

Tomorrow we will spend the day at the hotel getting a massage (the Spa is the highest rated one in India) and then depart in the late afternoon for Mumbai.