Udaipur- Cityof Lakes and Aravallis, Mewar kingdom

I booked Airbnb with retd. Colonel and his wife, I wanted the home like space as I was going to spend most of the time working and being it was a long stay I need company of people around.

This turned out to be the best stay of my life, it was like I am visiting my own uncle aunty house. They treated me like family, took me along to their farmhouse, aunty herself booked food for the guest and they were also there to talk to all the topics in the world. They helped with going around, shopping, got the best driver as I was travelling alone(I just love when I get pampered).

The more you travel, the more stories you have to share. Ture with every journey you meet new people, see new culture, new experiences.

My travel started with the hiccups, the car got trouble twice on the way to Nagpur to catch flight. I boarded bus, got back to me car and then on second breakdown took auto and reached the airport just on time. And thankfully the flight was delayed so I could .

The day started with hiccups but ended with sweet gesture from my host, who came to pick me up from the airport bus stand. The Udaipur airport is 22km from the city, there is a/c shuttle that runs at the flight timings. The last drop is the center of city, from where you can get auto/cabs to get to your hotels. For me, my host came himself to take me home.

If you plan to stay in old city, check with your hotel if they have parking and most of the old havelis can be accessed only via tuktuk.

I planned to explore the city at slow pace covering places in evening post I log out and I have 4 holidays to go around the city.

Ideally to cover Udaipur and around, you need 3-4 days minimum. Udaipur water supply depends totally on its lakes, which are recharged by the rain water. The kings of Udaipur had done marvellous job in building embankment on the mountains so the rain water flows back to lakes.

I started with Fateh sagar lake, it is the extension of the lake Pichola. Once the Pichola lake is overflowed the water passes to the other lake through the tunnels. There is walking path around the lake, middle of the lake there is an island where you can take ferry to. The lake has chowpathi with multiple options, the most famous is kulhad wale coffee. The sunset was mesmerizing from here, there are mountains on all three sides.

City Palace, what a beauty it is. The palace is kept in a well condition, it is huge with beautiful carvings, paintings all around the palace. The wall are decorated with beautiful colorful glasses and tiles some of them imported from other nations.

There is a crystal gallery annexed to the palace, it has imported crystal objects made right from kitchen items, cutlery to even bed and tables. The place was glowing with the crystal all around.

From the palace, you can take a boat ride to jagmandir. It circles the lake Pichola and then drops you to Jagmandir. It’s a island with small structures and garden for wedding. There is boat every 20min to take you back to palace. Outside the palace the roads on both sides are surrounded by multiple shops, little expensive compared to hathipole.

Karni Mata Mandir is located on Machla magra hills. There is a ropeway and walking path uphill. From the top, you see the panoramic view of Aravallis and whole of Udaipur city.

Badi lake, this can be covered when you go to Sajjangarh fort. The lake is surrounded by mountains from all sides, there are cenatops to sit. The place is not much crowded and the water is clean.

Sajjangarh Monsoon Palace, is built high on mountains to witness the monsoon season. During rain the cloud covers the whole palace, it is small place but the views and the ride uphill is amazing.

Hathipole, the best place for shopping in Udaipur. You get all variety of clothing, mojris, purses and antique souvenirs. Buy from small shops, they have reasonable rates and more variety of stuff.

Saheliyon ke Bari, the place was built for the queens and princess to have their leisure time. There are fountains which runs with the technique of water pressure without electricity. The place was lush green with variety of flowers. One of the fountain is designed in such way that you hear heavy rainfall. I certainly amaze at the technique used years back and they still work and today’s mankind is just copying the same old technique but cannot make it long lasting.

Dharohar- Bagore ki haveli, this is the traditional dance show of Rajasthani culture. They perform different dances of the state explaining the significance of each of them. It happens in the evening from 7-8pm, for peak season they even have two shows.

Light and sound show City Palace, covers the history of Mewar. The show runs in the evening post sunset, the timing changes with the season.

The old city around the City Palace houses the old structures with carvings and paintings on the walls. There are multiple havelis, some turned into homestays and hotels. You can just walk around the narrow paths, up and down on inclined paths. There are multiple shops to buy souvenirs. Also there are ghats on the walking path of Lake Pichola, the most famous and clean is Gangour ghat. You can sit around and relax.

Stay: I stayed at Chinarvilla and Kankarwa haveli both are on Airbnb, one has a home like feeling and other was a haveli.

Food: there are number of restaurants around the lake, you can pick as per your preference.

Getting around: autos are best for the old city, for going around you can easily get cab via the host. Better to explore the old city on foot, the narrow old lanes and architecture will fascinate you.

The old city has narrow lanes, cabs cannot reach all the places so if you have difficulty with walking around or climbing stairs, check the property before you book. Their are lifts but not all the havelis are equipped with it.