Udaipur. The City of Lakes

It was a civil hour start today, after we had checked out the horses tied up in the coral. Beautiful creatures but I wish they wouldnt keep their animals tied up and it would be nice if they had something green to feed on. 

But thats another story. We are on our way to Udaipur, the lake city where we will stay two nights plus some.   It was only about four hours away and the time went quickly on excellent roads. Our hotel is a tiny place with maybe 12 or so rooms, all lovely but sans electric jug. Damn! no morning or bedtime coffee for me.  Tough life this is. 

We bade goodbye to our driver Mr Singh and tuk tuks were hailed to take us into the township where we had lunch in a typical tourist type restaurant. The street food and dark dingy lanes are not forthcoming so I may as well resign myself to the fact that this is like a coach tour without the coach - made for the tourist and not the traveller. 

Our first stop was the Jagdish Temple. . The first Hindi temple we had seen. 
Baggy, in intense detail, described every facet of the intricate carvings on the outside of the temple and told the story about the significance of each type of carving. Fascinating and very beautiful. 

We had a few hours free time after lunch so one of the young ladies and I went for a wander around a very touristy area then caught a tuk tuk back again. I was desperate for a coffee and the Rainbow Cafe really delivered. Perfectly brewed espresso in a demi tasse cup with rich crema sitting atop  the coffee. One of the best coffees I’ve had in ages. 

Udaipur is very touristy. For the first time since I arrived I have seen masses of pale skinned tourists and lots of tourist shops. But it is also very pretty. Clean streets, traffic that is busy but not insane, lots of trees and some magnificent buildings. Its like a different world and its gorgeous. 

We got to see the city from a different angle when we did a boat trip on the lake passing by some incredibly beautiful large hotels and catching stunning views of the sunset. 

Dinner was next, again in a lovely outdoor tourist restaurant where I tried the butter chicken to see how it compared to what we have at home. Well chicken is chicken and the sauce was tending to the same colour but that is where the similarities stopped. This version had a thick rich tomato based sauce which wrapped itself round succulent pieces of chicken (boned just for the tourists). The sauce had a bite but barely any heat and the sweetness was just that which came from the onions and tomatoes. No connection between the two at all and I know which I like the best. No contest. 
I got a sneak look into a tandoor while they were cooking. 

We walked home after dinner and happened upon a procession. It could have been a wedding except that where the bride should have been were three young kids. I hope that young girl was not a bride. 

A group if women in beautiful saris were dancing along with the procession and they pulled us in to join them. 
What a fun and a lovely way to end a night.