Day 7 Rajasthan trip -- Udaipur

What a lovely city -- this Udaipur -- as thiemorning’s golden light shone on the white houses (wouldn’t you know it; Udaipur is nicknamed the white city).

We had breakfast on the roof; Ava’s all about the toast with butter. Well really she’s all about the butter, toast optional.

Our first stop of the day was the Royal Heritage Palace, part museum, part hotel, part shops, part private residence. The place is, obviously, huge – largest of its kind in Rajasthan, covering 5 acres. It was built/added to by 23 different Maharanis between the 16th and 20th centuries.

The shops in the Palace house works from artists invited here from Kashmir to work due to the unrest there. The king and his family still reside in part of the Royal Palace. A fountain out front indicates whether they’re home or away; if it’s running they’re in residence. Apparently the king has a collection of 26 or 28 vintage cars, one we saw parked out front. He is 62 years old and has an heir to the throne (must be male) as well as 2 daughters. The son is 24 and studied hotel management in Australia (the family isn’t political; they own a bunch of hotels).

For the palace tour we went through the museum, saw “elephant parking” in the first courtyard – an area of stone with indentations for elephants to rest comfortably (as comfortably as hard stone allows, I guess) and posts to which they were once chained. Around this spot is now, appropriately , tourist vehicle parking.

This main courtyard is a public area where events are held and a restaurant serves meals.

Inside the palace were a number of other courtyards, one for the Holy Festival (dying and spraying of water), one for theatre/entertainment, one that is used today for royal events, etc.

And in the palace are paintings and décor from different Maharaja reigns. Of interest was a horse that gave its life to save one of the rulers, who was wounded in battle. The horse jumped across a river to where the ruler’s brother had another horse, with which he was able to escape. His own horse had been a favorite and had gone into battle wearing an elephant mask to trick enemy elephants into thinking he was a baby elephant so they would want to protect it rather than do harm.
The horse was depicted in a number of paintings and we saw a statue of it in the city later.

Also of interest throughout the museum were miniature paintings with tons of details, which told stories. A precursor to animation, some paintings showed various stages of events – i.e. tiger hunting, wherein 3+ pictures of the same tiger were painted (tiger sleeping, tiger awakened by hunt, tiger running, tiger cornered…you get the idea.

We saw where the ruler sat on a low couch, and were told nobles had to sit on the floor, as no one could sit at the same level as the Maharaja. One ruler was known for giving to the poor and had a big marble bin – cut from a single piece of marble – to hold coins for distribution. (BTW there is plenty of marble in buildings around Rajasthan, as the stone is abundant in the region. Also abundant near Udaipur, we were told, are gems and silver.

One ruler had a polo accident at 20 and was confined to a wheelchair for the remainder of his life. We saw his quarters. In the 1930’s – when electricity came to the palace – a lift was installed with a false door next to it. Apparently he liked to play tricks on guests, telling them to take the lift behind that door while he took the other.

That ruler had 3 wives (not all at once), the last a Krishna who had a separate kitchen from the one used by the people.

Toward the tour’s end we saw photos of the ruling family and other artwork throughout the ages.

After leaving the palace we walked around it to the dock for a boat ride on Lake Pichola. The area around along the shore was lovely, with numerous mango trees and other foliage. (Apparently magoes are harvested May-July so no fruit on these trees.)

The boat tour was scenic, we saw tons of ducks and algae, people washing their clothes , a few bathers, some cows drinking at the edges. Multi-use. And it made Wisconsin’s Lake St. Germain look incredibly clean.

In the center we docked at Jag Mandir, which was built in 1620. Eight stone elephants – gorgeous white marble -- stand guard at its entrance. Between 1623 and 1624 the island palace – built for summer entertainment -- provided refuge to Prince Khurram (who later became Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan) while he rebelled against his father. The structure is reputed to have provided ideas for the Taj Majal. It now features a restaurant and spa, lovely gardens for wandering, and an exhibit about restoration.

After the boat ride we walked past the palace private quarters, then stopped at a coffee chain restaurant for small pizzas and a wonderful iced coffee that the kids sampled and loved. Don’t worry, I won’t turn them into coffee addicts yet.

We then hit a silver shop, where Claire and Ava checked out their birthstones. Then onto Saheliyon Ki Bari, a garden created for a queen of Udaipur and her lady friends. (Her dowry included 48 maids!) Here no men were allowed, and the women could bathe in one of the two swimming pools and enjoy the fountains and lavish gardens, with a wide array of trees and flowers.

One pool has four elephants, carved from marble, with water spouting from their trunks.

At the end of our tour, we decided to take up our hotelier’s offer of pool at his brother’s hotel, located a few kilometers away. He arranged an auto for us and off we went. (Our hotel -- sans pool -- was in a great location for wandering Udaipur -- this other property was a bit removed, in a scenic hilly area overlooking the city).

About the auto: it's a three wheeled job that sounds like it has a weak motorcycle motor inside. No real doors, it’s an airy ride, designed to fit a couple people but here we’ve seen them packed to the gills.

The auto that took us to the pool was even more beat up than most, it seemed, as was the driver. We were told to pay at the end, so when the guy stopped at a petrol station en route and hit me up for 50 R I said no. (The total fare was 100; frankly I didn’t have any small bills and didn’t want the fare to disappear before we got where we wanted to be.)

Meanwhile someone put a wine-bottle sized container of petrol in the auto, which had been sputtering since we started this trek. All kinds of hands flew and angry words were exchanged as the driver came up short w/ cash for the ride, so a minute later someone came out w/ a small hose and siphoned out the wine-bottle sized amount of petrol!

And another guy appeared with a 7-up bottle of petrol instead, which apparently the driver could afford.

Then off we went to the pool! The auto guy wanted to hang out until we were done to assure himself another fare but we passed; I wasn’t too confident of his auto, nor did I want to be held to his timetable.

Kids had fun in the water – it was a lovely facility – and they chased pigeons until it was time to head back to the hotel.

Word on signs: on this trip (and since arrival in India) some of the signs in English that I see kill me. “Ruby Thursday” (not sure if they’re trying to do an offshoot of Ruby Tuesday?), Hot Showars, Bear and Wine (with Beer spelled appropriately below), English Wine (who knew the English had a reputation for vintnering?), “This area prone to accidents.” The list goes on.

The return auto ride was much more normal – nicer vehicle, driver was very cordial and not frazzled. There was even a bar on one side to help ensure a passenger didn’t slip out.

As we passed down the hill and around a bend the sun was setting – a big golden red circle with pink/peach filtering around it. We climbed up to our rooftop restaurant for a view, then got ready for the special Rajasthani dance program at the Bargore ki Haveli. It’s performed nightly in an old haveli courtyard under the stars. The building was originally a guesthouse and is lovely, white with frescoes/niches for oil lamps inside. A big tree shot up in the middle; its leaves falling on us during the performance.

The people at the hotel – who were so good to us – escorted us to the haveli when Jai was late.

For the audience thick blankets had been laid over low benches and the gorund. We opted for the gorund up front so were very close to the band and action. The first song was to welcome us, then dancing began – all traditional, most originating in Rajasthan. One young woman (the first dancer) danced w/ a pot of fire on her head, bending, moving quickly, twirling, the whole bit.

Two older women then performed, seated, with bells on their arms, legs and feet.

A puppeteer, typically hidden but in this case exposed so we could see his art, handled 2 puppets (separately) to music.

The first was a female puppet doing all kinds of dance moves. The 2nd was a male puppet whose head kept popping off and the puppet kept reaching for it, first with arms, then legs – fun and light-hearted entertainment.

Other dances included one where a group of beautifully costumed women swayed to the music, a dance that is performed as an exhibition of pride in culture, family, purity.

The grand finale was a middle-aged woman who danced with pots on her head – a Western Rajasthani dance (area of water scarcity so women learn at an early age to banlance more than 1 pot of water, carrying it from the village well). More and more pots were added as she danced. She even got down on the floor – with pots on her head – to grasp a scarf with her lips – and she danced on glass and on a pie-tin shaped object, making one side of it go up, the other down, more and more rapidly as she spun around. The last few pots had to be added by her helper as he perched on a stool – for a total of 10!

She danced for a very long time and what a sight. We took photos with her at the end, then sought out the Abrei restaurant, which our guide recommended. It is set on the water – a stunning nighttime view of the hotel in the center of the lake (THE place to stay if you have deep pockets when you come to Udaipur – it was featured in the James Bond movie Octopussy!) and the Jag Mandir, which we’d toured earlier.

I had a rajasthani lamb specialty, which was fabulous, and the kids had the freshest chicken they’ve had since we arrived; the water warned me it would take a few minutes longer to prepare as the chefs had to cut it up first. Wonderful meal and much enjoyed by the kids, who’ve been troopers about trying new things but certainly enjoy the familiar. (They are a bit skeptical of all the food that comes in sauces.)