Talking Covers: Trip to City of Lakes

Hey everyone,

In the mid week of Feb, 14 I took a short trip to Udaipur known as City of Lakes. I went with my husband and friends.

Udaipur is such a mesmerizing place - adorned with scenic mountains and lovely lakes. Since we went in February, ideal time to visit , the cold was enjoyable. But then February is also the peak season for weddings over there, so one must do the advance bookings for the stay arrangements and be ready to shell out more then what is normally charged.

Since at that time we were already at Jaipur, we took a taxi to Udaipur which is 6 hours drive away. The road is comfortable. Our stay arrangements were done at Hotel Inderprakash-reasonable hotel with well built rooms and basic amenities. It is just opposite the Lake Fatehsagar. It's a beautiful location. Since we reached in the afternoon and was bound by time constraint, we immediately had our lunch at the hotel itself (Its really weird in Udaipur- you don't get lunch anywhere after 3:30 p.m and dinner after 10:30 p.m) and went for the sightseeing. Our driver first took us to Chetak Smarak where history behind kings of Mewar, famous Haldoghati Battle and Valiance of Great Maharana Pratap and his faithful horse Chetak is depicted. Up the slope there is a memorial of Chetak with a small garden nearby which also offers great view of city.

Our next stop was Saheliyon ki Bari which in earlier days was use by Queen and her minions to stroll around and have girly fun. Now it is a well maintained garden with fountains not so well maintained. From there we headed to City Palace sound and light show. Now City palace is the major attraction of Udaipur mainly for its grant grand grandeur . Light and sound show is basically a history lesson in Mewar Dynasty , quite informative though. And the city palace looks breathtakingly beautiful bathed in golden coloured lights . Since it is the the banks of Lake Pichola , it gives the dazzling view of Lake Palace, Jag Mandir , Uday Vilas and other luxury hotels. One can just stand over ether and gaze for infinity.

Next morning we started with Breakfast on the street corners of Lake Fatehsagar and had the yummiest Pao-bhaji -it was really tempting. Then we headed to Lake Pichola boat ride . It's a 20 mins ride and gives you a tour of all the heritage locations -locations where all the celebrities get married (you can only feast your eyes on this locations while sitting in the boat ).

Word of Caution- if you are planning to take a tour of City Palace and ready to shell out more and are really hell bound on taking a tour of a heritage, don't waste your money on this ride.

My husband really wanted to goto Jag Mandir and hence we took the similar boat ride from inside the City palace by paying triple the price with the only addition of extra inside tour of Jag Mandir. It was a boat ride of 1 hour . The most famous thing that guide could recollect about this heritage was that Raveena Tandon got married here. Anyway the tour inside was worth the hefty price we paid. The heritage is elegantly built, very well kept and of course gives amazing locations for photography. The terrace gives the serene view of Lake Pichola . There is also a restaurant inside it; however we didn't had the lunch over there. Since we were running for the time and two repititive boat rides had made is more precious, we ran for the tour of City Palace.

Now City Palace is the primary attraction of Udaipur. It's a magnificent palace showing rich heritage and culture of Mewar Dynasty . Guide takes you around the tour of king and queen place, their courtyard, bedrooms, guest rooms all done with Belgium glasses, Ivory made doors , and fine embroidered work on the walls , all preserved and well maintained . It's a must visit in Udaipur. Tour takes around 1.5-2 hours though we missed on Crystal Gallary and Vintage car collection.

After that we ran for Sajjangarh. The fort is built atop the mountain and road is very curvy and steep. But it's a great view for sunset and thankfully me managed to reached 15 mins before sunset. From atop you also get the view of green lush valleys and miniature view of Udaipur. The valleys and mountains reminded of the exact locations used in movies like LOTR and GoT. It's a peaceful place.

The day was ended with the dinner at Ambrei restaurant by the lake, the perfect ending for the perfect trip.

I had so much fun visiting the City of Lakes.