What a city! The city of lakes. The city of ghats. The city of temples. The city of havelis turned to hotels. The city where water works disrupts roads and tourists. The city where Ola & Uber go to die. The city where you are always wrong… wait, that’s just any other Indian city! Regardless, we roamed around this city according to our modest plans and covered most of it as planned.
Here’s a rundown of our 3-4 days trip.
28/01/2023
Keekoo Udaipur: Where we had our first breakfast. It houses (cages) a lot of exotic birds like macaws, budgerigars, cockatoos, parrots, etc.
Ambrai Ghat: Since we were early and couldn’t check-in to our hotel, we roamed around the area. Going past all the shops and hotels, through a narrow passage beside a grand hotel, through a ticket guy selling access for half an hour at ₹20 per person, lies Maa ji ka temple and a Hanuman temple and the surrounding area is known as the Ambrai ghat. (The Ambrai restaurant is on the other side, part of that grand hotel mentioned before.)
Bloom Boutique: Our hotel for this trip overlooking the not-so-beautiful parts of the Pichola Lake, but who are we to complain.
Jagdish Temple: One of the most elaborate temples in this city filled with as many temples as lakes!
City Palace Udaipur: Apparently every major city in Rajasthan has one (just like Jaipur has one). This palace hosts a museum as well and one can view a lot of royal stuff including antiques, paintings, artillery, etc. The palace obviously boasts grand architecture which is well-preserved with intricate designs to marvel at all around.
Boating on Fateh Sagar Lake: Having an allergy to water being around me, I slept at the hotel while the others took, what they tell me was, an enjoyable ride. I take their word for it.
29/01/2023
Pratap Gaurav Kendra: A park dedicated to one of the bravest warriors, Maharana Pratap. One hour or so is spend in a guided historical tour of Mewar, which includes light & music shows in various rooms and a ~10 minute movie at the end. After that you can climb the hill on top of which rests the huge statue as seen below. Due to shortage of time, we didn’t indulge in this climb.
Saheliyon ki Bari: People may say this site is over-rated but we liked it a lot. Flowers and sahelis and fountains and sahelis and birds and sahelis and a small art museum, what’s not to like!
La Pino’z Pizza: Better than Domino’s! Maybe that’s what their tagline should be. We reached the Chetak circle area to eat at Domino’s but it doesn’t exist there because the information in Google maps is wrong (it didn’t even let me correct it!). So we entered this place right in front of us and we didn’t regret it. Enjoyed their pizza-ware immensely. Hope you do too!
Under the Sun Aquarium: Now this was a disappointment because it claimed to be the largest public aquarium in India. I have seen ‘public’ aquaria in Busan (South Korea), Boston (USA) and Bangkok (Thailand) and this one in Udaipur could have fitted in just one wing/floor of those! Even ignoring the size issue, it houses mostly fishes, just a couple of varieties of crustaceans and one (literally ONE) sting ray. It does not even have turtles, seahorses, starfish so you can forget about sharks or penguins or other ‘exotic’ species altogether! And even after ignoring the variety issue, by the time you reach the end of the gallery, people have started selling you massages, pedicures, 3D photography and souvenirs which starts feeling real fishy. (Instead, it’s much better to walk around the nearby Fateh Sagar Lake!)
30/01/2023
Karni Mata Temple: A small temple atop a hill to be reached by a ropeway. There’s not much to say about the site though. If it weren’t so hazy/foggy, one might have witnessed a better view of Udaipur.
Bahubali Hill: It’s known as “the wedding clickers” on Google. It’s nearly a 1 Km hike from bottom to top. But to actually see the view easily found on the web, you have to trek on a few more rocky and pointy places. Is it worth it? I’m not sure especially if it’s still hazy!
Badi Lake: Also known as tiger lake (I’m told). Quite a serene view and one can sit at the corridor sort of thing constructed on one side of the lake. Enjoy a picnic of sorts with family and friends.
Sajjangarh Fort: There’s a zoological park too here which we did not visit. One disappointing trip to an aquarium was enough. There’s not much to this fort (also called Monson Palace), one can roam around in half an hour and then sit around having a meal or just taking in the city view if that’s your thing.
South Grills Rooftop Restaurant: We returned back to the city and went to this rooftop restaurant for a late lunch. Nice view and nicer food. Enjoyed the relaxing food time here.
Bagore ki Haveli: The last place on our travel list. It is a haveli-turned-museum which hosts a cultural dance show at 7PM everyday. They sell a limited number of tickets (due to limited seating capacity) and you have to get them at least a day in advance but this was definitely worth it.
Gangour Ghat: Just beside the entrance to Bagore ki Haveli is this ghat without any entry fee. A brilliant view of the opposite shore at night as you can attest.
31/01/2023
Gangour Ghat: After checking out of our hotel, we roamed around the streets a bit and visited this ghat again for a daytime look. Sadly no pictures were taken after three days of photography-fatigue. There were lots of pigeons feeding and wedding photographers milling around here. We observed them from afar for a while.
Trilok Anna Restaurant: Our final stop for a quick lunch before heading to the airport. There are more than half-a-dozen tables with 4 times the chairs but it still feels a bit cramped. The food was nice and freshly prepared in the kitchen upstairs. Recommend it if you are in a hurry.
That’s it for this post. For more photos and videos, check out the relevant OneDrive album link on the right. Till next time
