Udaipur

For our first night in Udaipur, we hired rickshaws to drive us around for the evening, which gave us the opportunity to really see this beautiful city. It is by far the cleanest, most livable city we’d been in; not that I liked it better (the others had other great qualities), but this was definitely the first glimpse we had at middle class life in India. We went to the lake and saw the many palaces and five star hotels scattered through out the mountains and coast, and then wandered through a magnificent garden full of fountains and sculptures. Finally, it was time for dinner, and we were in for a treat. Udaipur is our guide Shakti’s hometown, so he really knows the best places to go. He took us to the coolest outdoor food court, where we sat at picnic tables with tons of different food stalls around us. The best part was that we were able to sample some of the best, most local food we’d had yet. I had a potato and lentil dish called “Chola Koftka” which was creamy and so perfectly flavored with spices, it was by far my favorite dish of the trip.




The next morning, Shakti had one more surprise for us. His home, which he shares with about 10 members of his family, was right around the corner from our hotel, so he invited us to a traditional Indian breakfast, cooked by his wife. It was delicious. We had fresh bananas and guava, a yellow biryani rice with fresh herbs and spices, a light, fluffy cake made of mace flour fermented overnight, a sweet syrupy cake, and my favorite of all- India chai. The sweet, milky tea has the perfect mixture of spices making it incredibly addictive. After a few refills, we were ready to go for an orientation walk of the palace area.

That day, we walked all through out the palace, where the current Maharage (King) of Udaipur and family still reside. Shakti was able to take us to some areas where you wouldn’t go as a regular tourist, such as the sitting room and ballroom of the five star palace hotel. It was beautiful, but we were all most excited about the evening activities.

At 4 pm we made our way to a local homeless shelter (part of our tour companies campaign for responsible travel) where we greeted the residents, handed out food, and met with the nuns who run the facility. They were incredibly kind to us and all of the people seemed very grateful that we cared to make a visit. We all pitched in a group donation and then left feeling a little sad, but also very good for helping out.

Next, we had our much anticipated cooking class. For a mere $10 we were given a 3 hour cooking lesson and were served a massive feast of vegetarian dishes. They taught us how to make paneer masala, Malai Koftka, spicy snacks called samosas, biryani rice, and chai tea. We cooked, laughed, and at the end, finally ate. It was so cool to see all of the individual ingredients and spices that go into India food, and it definitely served as inspiration for me to try cooking more when I get home. I can’t wait to experiment with all of the new ethnic flavors I’ve picked up!



The last stop of the night was a cultural show of music and dance. It was truly spectacular. Three musicians sat in the corner of the stage (set in a beautiful outdoor courtyard) as women dressed in vibrant, sparkling saris showed us a variety of traditional dances. First, they danced with little gold castinets all over their bodies, then they twirled around with fire on their heads. The final (and most spectacular dance) was a water dance from the desert region of Rajasthan. They explained that in the desert, woman have to walk very far to retrieve water, so instead of carrying just one pot on their head, they can carry up to nine. In this dance, the woman started with just one large pot on her head, and one by one, they added more and more pots, and she continued dancing around the stage. Finally, she had nine pots which probably measured over 20 feet high, and she continued to spin around the dance floor. It was unbelievable. I took some video, so hopefully I’ll be able to post it sometime soon.



So, it was a great time in Udaipur. It was really fun to see another side to our tour guide, as well as experience some different aspects of Indian culture. As of right now, we’re on a train to Pushkar, known for their bazaars and camel fairs. I don’t know what to expect, but I’m sure it will be good.