Today we arrived in Udaipur. We had a brief flight after a morning of sightseeing in Delhi. I found Delhi to be a busy and pressured place to be. It is a big, big city with not much ambiance. I am sure if I stayed there more, I could figure out its beauty. However, I felt the pressure of the traffic, the noise of the streets and the press of the people to be a bit much. We stopped at a few historical sites, but it was mainly a long drive. However, the bright spot was the carpet store we found ourselves in. OK, the guide knew where to take us. We now have the perfect bedside rugs and a new living room carpet!

 

Getting through Delhi airport was a breeze even without a “handler”. The flight was comfortable and quick. Udaipur was a refreshing change. There are only 500,000 people living in Udaipur and it is a beautiful city. There were relatively fewer street people here compared with other smaller communities through which we have travelled. Arrival at our hotel was a pleasant surprize. It was literally a palace. The Maharana (i.e., King) of Udaipur still lives in part of the palace complex. When India gained independence, the royal families were given a pension. The government stopped the pensions a few decades later. Around that time, the royal families started converting their palatial homes into hotels. We had a lovely string of rooms with balconies overlooking the city. We settled in then started to explore. We had dinner overlooking the lake. The palace we were staying overlooked the King’s summer palace and “pleasure palace”, both of which were in the middle of the lake. The Monsoon palace overlooks everything from high on a hill. We finished dinner and had an early night. Dale & I both caught colds so sleep is helpful.

We had a wonderful time exploring the castle and surrounding area! It was truly amazing.