By Dan
Tuesday 11th of July 2017
Udaipur, not to be confused with “You Jaipur”, which happened often to Richelle and I when talking to locals and led to a few laughably confusing situations, is the white city of Rajasthan. It’s best known for its lakes and the buildings that sit upon the lake’s shores. What you may not know though, is that it’s also known for its miniature paintings, most of the masters of the art can be found here. So if you’re planning on buying a piece of art and you’re also visiting Udaipur, wait till you get here. Don’t buy it in Jodhpur or Pushkar, like us. Although, it’ll be cheaper. But art is not something that should be chosen based on price. So wait till Udaipur.
I’m going to be upfront with you. Richelle took all of the photos for this part of the trip. In fact, she’s been taking most of the photos for some time now. It’s because lately I’ve become extremely bored and disenchanted with photography. It’s hard to explain, but I find myself getting angry at it, choosing rather to engage with my surroundings than capture them. Richelle and I have fought about this a few times in the trip – my annoyance has been growing for sometime. Each time Richelle presents a compelling argument, but I think, like any art, photography is a personal experience, and I can’t help but feel, personally, more like a stereotypical tourist when holding my camera. I also think it might have a great deal to do with my recent commitment to pursuing a career in writing. As a writer you must be able to describe situations, places and people to someone else, and you must be able to do it well. I feel like I, and most of society, lack this ability. Everything is amazing or awesome or wonderful, but I struggle to be able to say why or to use other words. And I think I partly blame photography for this. Letting the machine do the talking rather than using my mind and expanding on the moment. So, what may appear as me being lazy is actually me trying to be more active in another part of my life. This doesn’t mean I’m not taking photos anymore, I’ve been taking photos with Richelle’s camera. It just means that I’m trying to be a better thinker so I can write something awesome. It also doesn’t mean that I’m above it. I know some amazing photographers, including Richelle, who help me see how essential photography is for our world, I just personally don’t think I’m much of a photographer.
Okay, take a deep breath, back to Udaipur. Richelle and I were stunned the moment we arrived at our old haveli sitting on the lake. Our home for the next few days was called Lake Pichola Hotel, not the most original name but the place and people were...amazing. That’s not because I have no other words to describe them, I have many words – like kind, beautiful and committed – but because it and they really were amazing. In particular the owner Chandra, who greeted us every morning with the enthusiasm of a young puppy and was generally interested in us as people. He also had two dogs Moona and Lola, a labrador and pug respectively. Any place with dogs is a big bonus for us, especially Richelle. So, obviously, Moona and Lola loved the new found attention that we lavished them with. Our stay at Lake Pichola also included a buffet breakfast and a pool, both were taken complete advantage of as we stuffed ourselves and waited 45 minutes before going for a swim each day.
Each morning we woke slowly – Udaipur lacked the pace and pressure of the other cities – and we spent our time watching the sun rise over the city, until it was time for breakfast and a swim. Richelle is a natural explorer and planner, so we always had something to do, I would groan at the insistence but also appreciate it. Otherwise I’d probably be stuck up in our room reading on the balcony all day.
We spent our days wandering the old town and exploring the palace and it’s extensive museum, which included a sculpture exhibition with works dating all the way back to the 10th Century. This time we neglected the audio tour due to the outrageous price. The place had a wonderful way of putting you in a good mood and we even allowed ourselves to get swindled into an art class, which was pretty fun and offered us a chance to change our focus and pace for a couple of hours. Unfortunately, two hours isn’t enough time to complete a masterpiece, so we purchased a couple of brushes for a couple of hundred rupees and decided to continue our artworks later. We could have stayed, but the master was charging us 500 rupees for the hour, so I was eager to leave before he squeezed us for any more coin.
We had some memorable dinners In Udaipur, I believe all of them were looking out over the lake. Two of them were at amazingly expensive restaurants, and the other two were in our room eating noodles. I’m honestly not sure which I preferred. I love the guarantee of being uninterrupted in our room, but I also loved the chocolate brownie with a view of the palace at Upré.
Each night a great horde of bats would migrate across the lake, off to feed on a seemingly unlimited supply of food. They flew above us in vast numbers, in complete silence. These were not the screaming fruit bats I was used to in Australia. They seemed to rely heavily on the group’s instincts, no bat looked like the leader. And I wondered how they found their way if they were separated, as I watched the isolated ones circling blindly till they stumbled into a new group. It would take hours for the whole horde to reach their destination, flying well into the night, only to sneak back before the dawn and sleep through the day; regathering their energy for the next evening.
The final evening of our trip was yet again dedicated to another sunset and we ate cornettos on the lake whilst fending off desperate selfie suitors, who were always on the hunt for the next selfie with a shiny tourist from the west. We made our way home and got an early night; the next morning we had to rise at 4:30 to make our flight for Goa. Sadly, we it was too early to say goodbye to Moona and Lola. I hope they understood.