Udaipur, Part III

We sure had a busy morning with FaceTime.  Starting at 7:30am, we talked to Vinny’s entire immediate family including his parents, Vinny Senior and Bernie, his older sister Ashra, her two kids Savannah and Shiloh, his younger sister Toni and her husband Doug. They were all together to celebrate Toni’s birthday so we figured it would be a perfect excuse to crash the party.  Second up, at around 8:30am, was my sister, my mom and our family friends Aimee, Carole, Mae, Chris and Kate.  Last but certainly not least, at around 9:15am, was my friend Lindsey and her husband, Clement.  All three FaceTime dates were our morning but their evening so we watched them eat dinner.   They just plopped us on the table and continued on.  It was pretty funny.

Today was our last full day in Udaipur but it sure was a low key one.  We hung around our AirBnB for most of the morning and early afternoon catching up on life.  I know, how boring is that.  But at least we were doing it together, with a view of Lake Pichola. Since we were quickly approaching the one month mark (which is so crazy!), our main mission was to update our expenses and cross reference our spending with this amazing app we’ve been obsessively using called Trail Wallet.  If you travel, have to keep a budget and are super nerds like us, you need to start using it pronto.  Our family friend, Mark Weinbaum, told us about Trail Wallet before we left in January and we have become kids in a candy store every time we get to log another item.  Everything is tracked from the biggest of accommodations and transportation to the smallest of water and tips.  I could go on for days about how cool this app is but I’ll spare those that have absolutely no interest.  Which is probably the majority of you.  However, as of today, we are trending $13.67 under our per day budget, which is heavenly.  Some days we’ve been way under and some days we’ve been way over but it seems to average itself out. Go us.

After we were done with our private math club (I felt like one of the Denominators in Never Been Kissed with Josie Grossy), we went for a leisurely walk throughout town, over the bridge and to the other side of the lake.  We had lunch at Upre, inside Lake Pichola Hotel, which like most places in Udaipur, are right on the water with fabulous views.

What would be a complete day without watching the sunset?  We felt the same way so we headed to Monsoon Palace which sits on the edge of an enormous mountain with three hundred and sixty degree panoramic views of the entire city.  To give you some perspective, here is the Palace, far away in the distance, from Fateh Sagar Lake yesterday.

It was a windy, somewhat nauseating hill you have to drive up to get to the top.  But when you get there and take a deep breathe, letting the wind slap you in the face, it was all worth it.  You are on top of the world.  One way you look offers cities, lakes and houses.  The other way you look offers mountains, hill tops and dry terrain.  As you can imagine, this isn’t a well kept secret so there were tons of people.  And everyone was from somewhere different.  You could tell the way they dressed, the way they looked, the way they talked and for some, the way they smelled (ewww).  I felt like we were having our very own Olympics with all the various countries being represented in one place, with one goal in mind – to see the sunset (not as competitive, I know).  Even the monkeys wanted join.

And here we are.  It looks like a fake backdrop or a green screen but it’s not, I promise…

For nearly two hours, we sat and watched as this big ball of fire dropped, minute by minute, second by second, until it completely vanished behind the mountain peaks.  The countdown was like the iconic ball drop in Times Square on New Years Eve.  But way more beautiful, a lot warmer and no Ryan Seacrest.

Check out the sky after the sun went down…

I have two random thoughts to share with you if that’s alright.  One is that we tend to see some of the same people over and over again.  While in Udaipur, we saw the same two young German girls on four different occasions on three different days.  When we were in Jodhpur, we saw the same British family on three different occasions on two different days.  We are all tourists wanting to see the same things, I get that, but I still think it’s odd that we decide to go on the same day and at the same time.  However, the weirdest of them all was when we saw the British lady from the rooftop in Jaisalmer (the one with extreme plastic surgery) in Udaipur.  This was two cities and eight days later for us.  I guess the world just isn’t that big after all.

The second is that the James Bond movie, Octopussy, was filmed throughout Udaipur, including the Monsoon Palace and the Taj Lake Palace Hotel (which, just like the Taj Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, doesn’t let outside guests in.  In the famous words of Stephanie Tanner, “how rude”).  The city of Udaipur still has a lot of pride that a Hollywood blockbuster film was shot there, even though it was in 1983.  A majority of the hotels show Octopussy on a projection screen every night.

This completes our four nights in Udaipur.  I’m leaving a very relaxed, happy girl.  The picturesque surroundings, breathtaking views, royal past, various historical monuments, white marble palaces, architectural temples, beautiful lakes and colorful gardens are what made me fall in love this enchanting city.

After an incredible past four weeks, our North India chapter has officially come to an end.   From deserts to lakes, cities to villages, planes-trains-and-automobiles, it’s been an unbelievable journey with highs and lows but we’ll ride that rollercoaster any day.  The experiences we’ve encountered, together, will be forever remembered.  Some were eye opening and heartbreaking while others were magical and endearing.  Nevertheless, we will embrace them all and hope to never forget what the locals have unknowingly taught us about life and survival.

Tomorrow morning we are waking up at 4am, getting picked up at 5am and flying to the South at 7am.  I’m eager to see what Kerala, otherwise known as “God’s Own Country”, has in store for us.  Their marketing slogan is “Slow Down” so I think I’ll like it a lot.

See you down there soon!