Dec 082013
We began our morning with a tuk-tuk ride to a small Hindu temple. We have been in tuk-tuks in most every city, and every time we do they are a different color combination. I don’t know what that means, but it is funny.
We circumambulated the temple, just as in the Buddhist temple you always keep the holy spot on your right. We then went into the temple and made offerings and received blessings.
We then walked a block or so to the Temple Palace.
These are all glass mosaics – they are everywhere in the palace and indescribably beautiful.
Udaipur is a town that, oddly enough, could call me back. It is, in an odd way, very cosmopolitan. The streets are a tad cleaner, and the city air is a tad clearer. Udaipur is a city of lakes. The Raj’s palace, which, in this town is actually about 4 is built in clusters around these lakes. Way up in the hills is the Monsoon Palace (we did not visit this), built to enjoy the monsoon rains. Then there is his actual palace, which holds a great museum, and now is a hotel. Then there was the Rani’s summer palace, it sits in the middle of the lake, it is now a 5 star hotel, and is where Octopussy was filmed.
We visited a third little island which served as a palace for one of the many Raj’s that had to leave his home town for a while due to warring factions. This island now serves as a little park, and a wedding venue.
During our half day in Udaipur, both Mom and I kept trying to decide if we were on the klongs of Thailand or the banks of Lake Como, as I said, in a weird way it is very cosmopolitan.