We are now in North India and the weather is cooler than in Mumbai and South India. We are pretty excited because we are most familiar with and love North India cuisine.
Udaipur
Udaipur, a relatively small city (population of 1/2 million) is known as the city of lakes. The lakes are all man made and fill up during monsoon season. We had a wonderful guide and had a lot of fun in Udaipur.
We started the day visiting a temple in the middle of the city which had beautiful carvings. We then made our way to the City Palace where part has been made into a museum. The royal family still has their private residence there. The Palace is beautiful with detailed carvings and paintings. Udaipur is known for miniature paintings and we admired some beautiful work at the palace. These paintings portray daily life, special occasions as well as traditional myths. The details in these miniatures are incredible to see. We bought a painting and I’m looking forward to getting it framed.
From the Palace we could see Lake Palace which has been made into a hotel where only those who are staying there or have made reservations to the restaurant can go. We went on a boat cruise around Pichola Lake to Pleasure Island. Again, we were pretty spoiled because while other travelers piled into one boat, we had a boat all to ourselves. Pleasure Island was the summer home of the royal family. It was relaxing and we enjoyed the wonderful views of the palace and the lake.
Next we went to the Old Palace and had a tour of the Crystal Furniture. The story is that the Maharana commissioned the furniture and it arrived the week after he died. The furniture was put in storage where it stayed for over a hundred years. Everything was made of crystal including a crystal bed. We then went to the grand room for a relaxing cup of Darjeeling tea.
One thing that I’m very sad about is that I can’t eat any street food (a good chance that I will get sick). I love Behl Poori which is available at my favorite Indian Restaurant in Toronto – Bombay Behl. We passed many stalls and I longed to stop for a snack …
Jaipur
We had an early start today. We caught a 7:40am flight out of Udaipur to Jaipur. Jaipur is known as the pink city. The city was painted the traditional color of welcome in honor of Prince Albert’s visit in 1883.
We visited the City Palace which is the residence of Jaipur’s royal family. The palace buildings on the palace grounds are all painted yellow to differentiate it from the rest of the city.
We started at the observatory which was built in 1716 by Maharaja Jai Singh. Young especially enjoyed this part of the tour. This Maharaja is known and the Genius Maharaja and was very interested in astrology. He had sophisticated instruments built that still work today.
The Palace was beautiful and we enjoyed walking around. It was nice to hear that the current Maharaja is really well liked. The current Maharaja’s father is known as the most handsome Maharaja. He died in England in the 1970s playing polo. The current Maharaja has a daughter so her son who is 11 years old is the next heir.
I am amazed at the detail and beauty of Indian Palaces. There are pillars carved of marble, glass inlaid mosaics, and intricate painted designs that look like wallpaper.
We saw a traditional Rajasthan dance last night. The women dance with pots on their heads. It was quite impressive as one girl put more and more pots on top of her head and continued dancing.
This morning, we started at the Amber Fort & Palace where we rode an elephant up the hill. These elephants are brought in from the neighboring villages by their trainers as far as 10km away. The elephants all have official government numbers and are only allowed to make 5 trips up the hill with tourists.
This was where the Maharaja lived prior to the City Palace and we found the history interesting. There are 12 apartments for the Maharaja’s twelve wives. This was the most “touristy” place we have been so far on our trip (we leave for the Taj Mahal in Agra tomorrow). We have been fortunate in that most of the places we have visited have not been crowded.
We then drove to Samode where we toured the palace, had a delicious lunch, and rode a camel through the village. The camel ride was a lot of fun but we definitely felt like a spectacle. We were two of maybe 20 tourists at this palace so it was a lot quieter and we were the only tourists in the village as we rode through on a camel.
I should take a minute to talk about all of the animals we have seen in India. It is quite common to see cows, goats and pigs just wandering around the roads. We have also seen donkeys, camels and elephants. My favorite are the monkeys that you can see hanging out in trees, on ledges and on buildings.
We are now relaxing at the hotel. I caught a cold yesterday and am hoping that I can kick it quickly. We have an early morning start tomorrow as it is a 5 ½ hour drive to Agra. We are going to see the Taj Mahal!
Udaipur
Udaipur, a relatively small city (population of 1/2 million) is known as the city of lakes. The lakes are all man made and fill up during monsoon season. We had a wonderful guide and had a lot of fun in Udaipur.
We started the day visiting a temple in the middle of the city which had beautiful carvings. We then made our way to the City Palace where part has been made into a museum. The royal family still has their private residence there. The Palace is beautiful with detailed carvings and paintings. Udaipur is known for miniature paintings and we admired some beautiful work at the palace. These paintings portray daily life, special occasions as well as traditional myths. The details in these miniatures are incredible to see. We bought a painting and I’m looking forward to getting it framed.
From the Palace we could see Lake Palace which has been made into a hotel where only those who are staying there or have made reservations to the restaurant can go. We went on a boat cruise around Pichola Lake to Pleasure Island. Again, we were pretty spoiled because while other travelers piled into one boat, we had a boat all to ourselves. Pleasure Island was the summer home of the royal family. It was relaxing and we enjoyed the wonderful views of the palace and the lake.
Next we went to the Old Palace and had a tour of the Crystal Furniture. The story is that the Maharana commissioned the furniture and it arrived the week after he died. The furniture was put in storage where it stayed for over a hundred years. Everything was made of crystal including a crystal bed. We then went to the grand room for a relaxing cup of Darjeeling tea.
One thing that I’m very sad about is that I can’t eat any street food (a good chance that I will get sick). I love Behl Poori which is available at my favorite Indian Restaurant in Toronto – Bombay Behl. We passed many stalls and I longed to stop for a snack …
Jaipur
We had an early start today. We caught a 7:40am flight out of Udaipur to Jaipur. Jaipur is known as the pink city. The city was painted the traditional color of welcome in honor of Prince Albert’s visit in 1883.
We visited the City Palace which is the residence of Jaipur’s royal family. The palace buildings on the palace grounds are all painted yellow to differentiate it from the rest of the city.
We started at the observatory which was built in 1716 by Maharaja Jai Singh. Young especially enjoyed this part of the tour. This Maharaja is known and the Genius Maharaja and was very interested in astrology. He had sophisticated instruments built that still work today.
The Palace was beautiful and we enjoyed walking around. It was nice to hear that the current Maharaja is really well liked. The current Maharaja’s father is known as the most handsome Maharaja. He died in England in the 1970s playing polo. The current Maharaja has a daughter so her son who is 11 years old is the next heir.
I am amazed at the detail and beauty of Indian Palaces. There are pillars carved of marble, glass inlaid mosaics, and intricate painted designs that look like wallpaper.
We saw a traditional Rajasthan dance last night. The women dance with pots on their heads. It was quite impressive as one girl put more and more pots on top of her head and continued dancing.
This morning, we started at the Amber Fort & Palace where we rode an elephant up the hill. These elephants are brought in from the neighboring villages by their trainers as far as 10km away. The elephants all have official government numbers and are only allowed to make 5 trips up the hill with tourists.
This was where the Maharaja lived prior to the City Palace and we found the history interesting. There are 12 apartments for the Maharaja’s twelve wives. This was the most “touristy” place we have been so far on our trip (we leave for the Taj Mahal in Agra tomorrow). We have been fortunate in that most of the places we have visited have not been crowded.
We then drove to Samode where we toured the palace, had a delicious lunch, and rode a camel through the village. The camel ride was a lot of fun but we definitely felt like a spectacle. We were two of maybe 20 tourists at this palace so it was a lot quieter and we were the only tourists in the village as we rode through on a camel.
I should take a minute to talk about all of the animals we have seen in India. It is quite common to see cows, goats and pigs just wandering around the roads. We have also seen donkeys, camels and elephants. My favorite are the monkeys that you can see hanging out in trees, on ledges and on buildings.
We are now relaxing at the hotel. I caught a cold yesterday and am hoping that I can kick it quickly. We have an early morning start tomorrow as it is a 5 ½ hour drive to Agra. We are going to see the Taj Mahal!
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