As soon as we got to Udaipur we loved it. It had been a long day with a 15 hour journey covering 480km (our new best!), so when we arrived we were happy to see that it was well worth the effort. When we first got to Udaipur and marked Nukkad Guest House on google maps, it took us to an area around 4km from where it actually was. We were driving around for ages trying to find it, but just ended up going around this big garden and a beautiful wedding venue. As lovely as it was, we wanted to find out guesthouse ASAP so called and told them we were lost and where we were... And then our credit ran out. At this point it was around 10:30pm, and stress was building. Thankfully though with the help from the TripAdvisor map and locals with directions, we finally found the tucked away guest house and flopped onto our bed.
The cute gateway to the bridge
Donkeys!
Udaipur is a lovely small city, and where we stayed was one of my favourite places in India. It's all winding streets just big enough for a car, and there are two big lakes with rooftop restaurants scattered around them for the perfect view. It's touristy, with a lot of guest houses on every corner, but as we were there in May when it's quite hot, there weren't too many people around and you didn't feel squished in the small streets.
Children swimming in the lake at Udaipur
We didn't actually do a lot in Udaipur. I mean we could have - there was the City Palace (which looks so pretty at night all lit up on top of the hill), Mansoon Palace (on the mountain, which makes for a great sunset), evening dance performances, but we just wanted to relax and just be there... And Nukkad guest house made this pretty easy. The guest house was beautiful. It's almost like a Moroccon riad, with Arabian styles and the whole middle of building hollowed out to keep it cool. It's decorated really nicely with labelled pictures of the family on the wall, hanging plants and other decorations, as well as stained glass windows.
Our home for a few days
The prettiest place we have stayed in India for sure!
A man using a coal-filled iron for his ironing business, just outside the guesthouse
Our room was very comfortable too with soft mattresses and a fan that was perfect! So many times we've woke up in the night freezing at other places, so it was nice to not have this. We had hot water showers too, but mind your head going into the bathrooms - the stone ceilings are so slow and we had a few minor bumps! Sadly we didn't have any of the pretty coloured glass windows as we went for the room that cost 400 rupees, but I think the window rooms were only 100 more.
A view over the rooftops and lake of Udaipur at night
There is a castle on a hill... or rather a palace
A view over the lake from one of the many rooftrop cafes
They also offer a yoga class on the rooftop too which I participated in one day. It was an hour and a half of stretching and breathing exercises, and you paid whatever you wanted by donation. I put in 100 rupees and so did most of the others. I still don't know where I am with yoga, I've only tried a handful of classes here and love the idea of practicing every day and feeling the benefits, but it's just a bit slow for me I think. Maybe that means I need to do it more though, to actually slow down and take time to relax and meditate. Who knows! I just felt a bit restless at times and wanted to move onto the next bit... But it definitely make my legs ache!
Attempting some yoga moves with Max
Raju and his wife also offered cooking classes for his wife at 600rupees, but it sounded like you just watched his wife make four curries and you just wrote down the recipe and method. He did say that we would make our own chapatis and parottas in the class, but we wanted to do the whole thing ourselves really so gave it a miss. I hope we can find a decent class though where we can actually make the food and compare our dishes. Ash really wants to learn how to make a yummy curry from scratch like his Gran used to, so fingers crossed we can find somewhere to do it!
There are loads of places to eat in Udaipur, and we had some pretty nice meals there. We went to a place called Millets of Mewar for lunch one day, as I'd read it was a health cafe and was really craving some veg and vitamins! It was a really nice place, and the menu offered a lot of vegan dishes, and healthy alternatives to popular dishes. They used millet and fluten-free-grains for a lot of dishes, and were into their whole foods. I had a soup/salad/chapatii combo which I enjoyed, but Ash's Rajasthani curry sadly wasn't so good - it was like a soup! To be fair we don't know what a Rajasthani curry is supposed to be like, but the taste and consistency didn't appeal to Ash! I would recommend this place though if you want a break from the fried snacks (as yummy as they are) and heavy curries.
Loved the menu at Millets of Mewar!
Ash's curry. Looks much thicker here than in reality!
My cucumber, spinach and pomegranate salad with cashew nut dressing
The perfect place is you've been away for a while eating crap, and want some healthy goodness
It's a pretty hippy-ish spot!
I also found Udaipur a really nice place to just wander around. Ash took one day to take the rickshaw for a service at the mechanics, so I went for a wander around - ie got lost in the maze-like streets! With loads of shops and stalls, I found Udaipur a really good place for shopping, and so as a typical lone woman in a town, I went and did some! As much as I wanted to, I got nothing for myself (although easily could have bought myself a suitcase full!) but came away with a few nice gifts to send back home to my family. They have alsorts on offer, from traditional shoes and jewellery, to clothes, materials, hand carved ornaments and decorations. We were even thinking we might go back there one day with empty suitcases and get loads of bits for our house.. When we have one that is!
A painting studio & shop, rammed full of framed art
Women carrying their bags through the streets of Udaipur
The rickshaw getting a service at the mechanics
Local children at the mechanics
So many kids play with old tyres, rolling them like an old Victorian hoop
While Ash was at the mechanics, I went out wandering and made some friends
Cows, dogs, donkeys... now horses too
Loved the outside of this small temple... beautiful!
We would definitely recommend visiting Udaipur if you're heading to Rajisthan. It's just not like anywhere else in India we've been, it feels so relaxed and almost European. It's the ideal place to enjoy a meal on one of the many rooftops and overlook the lake the mountains in the background, and watch the hundreds of bats fly through the sky at sunset every day.
Udaipur at night