In Which We Gaze Longingly At the Forbidden Lake Palace

To state the obvious: bus trips in India are really, really scary. Even my 20-something sense of invincibility is noticeably challenged by the driving techniques of men who use the opposite traffic lane as an extension of their own lane, cars coming in the opposite direction be damned. And yet, time after time, all passengers arrive in one piece to their final destination. It is truly one of life's great miracles (Evan says the night buses are even worse... I don't want to think about it).

And so, after making sure all our limbs and belongings were still where they were supposed to be, Evan and I disembarked Bus o' Death onto the streets of Udaipur, then caught an autorickshaw to Lhal Ghat Street where our hotel for the evening was located. Lhal Ghat Guest House was centrally located, had nice shared bathrooms, and a beautiful rooftop view of the lake. We dumped our stuff in our room, checked in, and wandered off to find some dinner.

It soon became clear why Lonely Planet had kept using the words "romantic" and "for lovers" in almost every description it contained about Udaipur. The streets were relatively uncluttered, and instead of stalls there were actually indoor shops lining the sides of the road, displaying jewelry and brightly colored textiles meant to catch the touristy eye. Evan and I went two doors down to the Rainbow Restaurant, and were immediately seated on their rooftop right by the edge, with a gorgeous view of the lake. Our table wasn't so much a table as a large, daybed-esque seating arrangement with a heavily and brightly tiled short table in the center and rolled pillows on either end. I kind of had to scrunch my legs up in order to fit, and Evan basically had to hang his legs over the side and eat sideways, but the idea of it all was quite majestic. Looking out over the water, we could see the famed Lake Palace, a floating piece of luxurious history, built as an ancient prince's pleasure palace, and today reknowned as one of the world's best luxury hotels. Turns out you can only go out there if you're staying at the hotel or have a dinner reservation, both of which are hard to come by and are generally booked months in advance. So generally, throughout our stay here, it just mocks us from a distant. Some day, palace, some day...

But more than just the Lake Palace, another floating structure reeking of majesty lies a bit farther off in the distance, and is run as a museum which one can visit for a fee. Both are lit up at night, and sparkle off the water surrounding them. As if this wasn't enough, fireworks were soon to be seen exploding in their golden glory over the water. It was too much for Evan and I to resist, and Mom, Debbie, I hate to tell you this way, but in a fit of "this is all too romantic to bear" we eloped that very night. No no just kidding just kidding!! Evan and I ignored it all as we were enthralled by the movie they were blaring, with terrible audio quality, throughout the restaurant. Which movie, you ask? Why, the movie they show EVERY night, 7 pm sharp, that great story of love, danger, and shagging... OCTOPUSSY. And yes, they do actually show it every single night, along with most other restaurants in the area. One can also pay a bit extra at some hotels to stay in room 007. Evan and I wandered around a bit dazed and confused that first night, wondering why every single restaurant advertised at which time their showing of Octopussy would be held, but luckily, Lonely Planet came to our rescue once again. Turns out parts of the movie were filmed in Udaipur, I think at the Lake Palace, and it is now forever entrenched in the tourist industry of the city, almost impossible to escape.

And oh yes, one more notable thing from that evening: Evan. Ate. A. Banana. Which he hasn't done in YEARS. And which was completely not on purpose as it was covered in sauce and he thought it was something else. He still doesn't like it (Jeni, watching him chew it was reminiscent of your blue cheese face).

After spending the night in our fairly comfortable abode, which would have been better without pillows that were rock hard and blankets so itchy I couldn't sleep with them on, we arose to the daylight view of Udaipur, which was just as insanely picturesque as the night view. There's just lush, green mountains everywhere (those in the distance a bit mistier and soft-focus than those in the forefront), all these gorgeous lake structures, and mountaintop castles shrouded in mystery. It's reached the point of ridiculousness, actually. I'm not sure how many more lame pictures I can take of scenery that's just so much better in person.

Evan and I took off for the City Palace, a palace to which we were actually allowed entry (stupid Lake Palace I hate you, but only because you won't let me love you...). A tour guide offered his expert services, which we decided would probably be unnecessary and therefore turned down his offer. As a last ditch appeal to Evan the man beseeched, "But sir, we have the same color shirt!!" This worked, of course, as we just hadn't noticed both Evan and he were wearing red shirts before, but now that it was made apparent...! Okay no, not really. But it was an interesting tactic nonetheless.

The City Palace was a mighty fine place to visit. It had lovely gardens, dazzling rooms made completely out of mirrored tiles, stories of intrigue, war, and sacrifice (we saw the room in which a beautiful 16 year old princess, sought out by two different Kings of competing states, killed herself to avoid making the decision which would inevitably lead her kingdom to war with the rejected party). There was also an entire room dedicated to Ganesh, the elephant god, which turned out to also be an in-store shop (big signs with "no photographs" and then "buying allowed $$$"). Evan and I tried to play the "what nationality are they?" game for awhile whilst sitting in the gardens, and very quickly realized we were really, really bad at it (though not so bad, I think, as some people have been at guessing Evan's. This is often ventured at by street vendors to get your attention, and so I've had people think I'm French, British, Australian, or Italian, all understandable though incorrect. Evan, however, has on occasion gotten Malaysian, Thai, or Japanese. Because those are obvious choices for our fair-skinned, red-bearded friend).

I think my own personal favorite, however, was the museum within a museum, the small Government Museum out of the main complex. For 3 rupees, or just about 6 cents, one had access to a display of molding, poorly taxidermied animals, including a kangaroo whose blantantly sewn patches were starting to come up at the edges, a terrifying monkey holding an empty lamp, and numerous others who looked either possessed, tortured, or both. It was finished off with a fine coating of dust. There were other various random displays, such as turbans, broken statues, and clay tablets on which ancient writing could be found. I wish I could tell you what, exactly, their historical significance was, but generally the explanation plaques (when they existed) were in hindi only. I KNEW I should've learned the language before coming over. Ergh!

We found a restaurant that served dosas for lunch, and THIS time I tried one with cheese baked right into it that gave it a scrumptious hint of Cheddar Goldfish. I loved it.

Evan, at this point, was starting to fade pretty quickly. That banana from the night before, or maybe the sketchy bottled water he'd been drinking, or any number of other things one can encounter in India, was doing a number on my poor buddy, so we went back to the hotel for a rest. We made it out to dinner at this great little restaurant that served Israeli food and had some falafel, pita, and hummus, and then called it a night.

Oh my goodness, just so you guys know, I'VE ALMOST CAUGHT UP COMPLETELY. This is very exciting to me.

Yesterday we ended up not doing so much besides walking around the area and staying pretty close to the hotel, and Evan spent the majority of the day sleeping and feeling crummy. Finally I went out to buy a thermometer and while I was at it bought him some weird-looking pills the pharmacist recommended for fevers and general aches, pains, and bellyaches (I checked the ingredients out online just to make sure, and lo and behold, they weren't poison!!). Turns out he had a temperature of 101, so we turned on the fans, popped in one of those pills, and he resumed the all important task of sleeping it off.

And would you just know it?? Sleep it off he DID!!!

This brings us to TODAY!!

With the great news that he now feels much, much better, we took an auto to some beautiful gardens this morning, where we wandered among the trees and flowers and ruins and marveled at, once again, the beautiful views. The gardens overlooked the other lake found in Udaipur, which has a garden cafe in the middle as well as a floating observatory, both of which happen to be closed today. Still, the walk was lovely, and now, NOW, we are off to find some lunch.