Udaipur, India – Venice of the East

In the morning, I was back to my old self and ready to take on the day!

We were heading into beautiful Udaipur which is also know as the “Land of Lakes” or “Venice of the East” and was going to be unlike anywhere we had visited in India. Surrounding Lake Pichola, it had a more tranquil feel and promised a different kind of experience.

Perfect.

Our first day was a pretty easy day with lots of free time to explore. The only activities we were invited to participate in was a visit to a textile store and an evening boat tour.

I decided to go to the textile store because I was just happy that I felt good enough to do anything! Also, I had been feeling a little regretful that I never got a scarf at the last place that we had been. Louise had gotten a beautiful wool scarf and I had been a little jealous about it ever since. Also, recently Kevin got me on the wool train and I wanted to expand my collection. I love wool! It is so soft and warm and dries so quickly. So I found myself a nice grey wool scarf to take as a memento from India.

I have had no regrets.

Later that afternoon, we grabbed Kevin and headed onto the boat for a trip around the lake. It was nice to be able to watch the sunset and get a good view of the city.

Above, in the middle of Lake Pichola is the Lake Palace which was used by the king as a summer palace between the 18th and 19th century. After being totally deserted after time and weather took a toll on its structure, it was eventually converted into a luxury hotel in the 1970’s with an additional restoration completed in 2000. Today, The Taj Lake Palace has been voted the most romantic hotel in the world at a nightly rate of $1000!

Needless to say, we did not stay there. But we did enjoy its view.

After the boat cruise, we headed for dinner. Sukhi let us know that the Italian food was quite good at this restaurant so we could not resist ordering pizza. To be honest, we were both starting to lose our interest in Indian food. I like curry but I usually only have it a couple of times a year.

I just need a little a more variety in my life!

Notice my new wool scarf! It is timeless – a real investment!

The next morning, I was up early ready for some yoga. I was pumped to finally get a chance to get some exercise and have a yoga experience in India!

I don’t know what it is about yoga and travelling for me but the two just never work out. I left my yoga teacher training in Costa Rica with the best of intentions. I was going to get on that yoga mat, every damn day, to continue with one of things that changed my life.

Now, I am not going to give a list of excuses why that has not happened. Because that is what they are – excuses. I mean, I trekked through Europe with that yoga mat strapped to my backpack for four months planning to use it. It just did not happen. Well, it did. Four times in four months.

Needless to say, I did not bring my yoga mat on this trip. I told Kevin that I did not need a daily reminder of my failure!

Anyway, I was finally excited to get some yoga in! And what would you know? The teacher did not show up. I do not know what happened, but no yoga was done that morning.

Fortunately, however, we were directed to go on the roof top of our building at one point to see if if the teacher was there and we got to catch these amazing views of the city.

At least I did not get up early for nothing.

After breakfast, we headed through Udaipur to the City Palace. It began construction in 1553 and took nearly 400 years to complete! With every new King, came new construction which has contributed to massiveness of the palace. It was very impressive with panoramic views of the lake and city.

After the palace tour, a few of us headed to an Indian cooking class! I absolutely loved the Thai cooking class that I took in Thailand and was excited to learn more about Indian cooking.

We learned how to make Chai, Roti, Khadai Paneer and a couple other dishes.

As always, the eating was my favourite part!

To enjoy our last evening there, I headed back up to the rooftop of our hotel to enjoy a couple of beers and watch the sunset with Kevin and others from our group.