Udaipur certainly has its charm, a city built around lakes rich I what the colonialists surely described as "sha-ge-wa-re". After exploring the winding, twisting, up and down paths off the main roads the it was finally time to see the main tourist sights that this "Venice of India" had to offer.
The city palace sits proudly on a hill, an enormous edifice build over successive generations since the 15th century (don't quote me for a history essay please). On facade is 244m long (that's bloody long). The palace is rich in Rajasthani architectural details, from multi-coloured glasswork and finely covered mirrored rooms to romantic palazzo style courtyards with amazing views of the lakes.
In the afternoon, Simon, a New Zealander I've been traveling with in Rajasthan had the idea to take some old bikes and go for a ride around the lake. After some negotiation on a fair price to hire the two 1930s style steel bicycles, they were huge and heavy, I'm talking really heavy. The seats were fixed so that my knees would scrape against the handle bars, and there where no gears but we took on the open road and headed into the hills. (oh yeah, no helmets either, sorry mum)
For my first time on a bike in a fair while the going was very shaky but soon I got the hang f it and we began riding down old roads past farms and the odd military base until we could go no further. The landscape was really different to that in the city, rough dirt roads and a backdrop of fort topped mountains. On the way back we found a great spot to watch the sunset on the lake. I treated myself to some good mango icecream and we called it a day. I just hope my legs will forgive me in the morning.
Up at 4am tomorrow morning to catch the bus to Jodhpur.
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