India 2016 (part XXIII): Udaipur

Udaipur, Rajasthan:

City Palace of Udaipur as seen from Jag Mandir

On the weekend after returning from my trip to Lucknow and Kushinagar, I travelled to Udaipur with a friend.

Udaipur is certainly one of the nicest places in northern India! It has around 400,000 inhabitants, but the actual city centre is tiny and pleasantly located along the shores of Lake Pichola. Here you find the most prominent sights including the grand City Palace, the small Bagore-ki-Haveli, and the intricate Jagdish Temple. One of the most popular activities is a boat tour to and from Jag Mandir. Nevertheless, the best thing about Udaipur is the relaxed atmosphere in its rooftop restaurants and along the ghats offering views of the lake and its islands. No wonder that many movies were shot here, including James Bond’s “Octopussy” and more recently “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”!

I also visited the Maharana’s collection of vintage cars including the Rolls Royce used in the James Bond movie, but actually going there is only useful for car fanatics. Further afield lies the Monsoon Palace offering spectacular views of Udaipur and the sunset.

Rajasthan’s countryside

prepare for landing!

Lake Pichola in Udaipur

Lake Palace

panorama of the Lake Palace

near Hanuman Ghat

the Monsoon Palace in the distance

people swimming in Lake Pichola

panorama of Lake Pichola

breakfast with a view

beautiful Jagat Niwas Palace Hotel

hotel entrance

Bagore-ki-Haveli

puppet collection

Lake Pichola

Bagore-ki-Haveli

the largest turban in the world!

Bagore-ki-Haveli

in the armoury

at Gangaur Ghat

Lake Palace

old and new

Jagdish Temple

Maharana’s car collection

vintage car

James Bond’s Rolls Royce

sign board

vintage car

Maharana’s car collection

evening light

monkeys enjoying the sunset

lights of Jag Mandir

fruit bats

Jag Mandir and thousands of fruit bats

Lake Palace

rich breakfast

visiting the City Palace

view of Udaipur

entrance to the City Palace

pretty painting

impressive beard

view of Jag Mandir from the City Palace

Jag Mandir

courtyard in the palace

view across Udaipur

beautiful mural

Brahma

Vishnu with Lakshmi on Garuda

Durga

courtyard of the City Palace

terrace in the City Palace

panorama of the Lake Palace

Lake Palace

nose picking?

room in the City Palace

City Palace

fantastic inlay work

another courtyard

room in the City Palace

mural

pretty painting

at the entrance/exit of the City Palace

arches at the entrance of the City Palace

entrance of the City Palace

city centre of Udaipur

Monsoon Palace

panoramic view of Udaipur

Lake Pichola

Monsoon Palace

view of Udaipur from Monsoon Palace

taking selfies

view of Udaipur from Monsoon Palace

hazy sunset

Lake Palace

Monsoon Palace behind Lake Palace

Jag Mandir

Jagat Niwas Palace Hotel near the City Palace

on the boat tour

City Palace

Lake Palace

Karni Mata Temple

Jag Mandir

City Palace

panoramic view of the City Palace

Wire-tailed Swallows

Jag Mandir

Monsoon Palace behind Lake Pichola

Jag Mandir

On our last evening in town, a heavy monsoon shower hit Udaipur – fortunately, we were sitting safely inside a restaurant and could enjoy the mayhem as you can see in the following video.

After the rains passed, the atmosphere changed quickly and we got to see a beautiful sunset before leaving to the train station!

sunset in Udaipur

first class back to Jaipur

For the first time on my many journeys through India, I took a first-class coach (1AC) and i cannot complain, it really was comfortable! After so much travelling, I stayed in Jaipur for the next weeks before work brought me to Kolkata at the beginning of July – you may check out the following post to read about that!