Its been a while since my mind traveled on those empty roads. Therefore, it was time to pack my bags. 10 days, 1 state, 4 cities, with my girlfriends. Off to a place where every lane and by-lane has a story to tell. Rajasthan which translates to ‘Raj’ i.e. rule and ‘sthan’ place has one of the oldest histories specifically pertaining to Indian royalty. 7 February, 2020, a date chalked enthusiastically began with an early morning flight from Vizag with a layover of 3 hours in Hyderabad. Not only was I traveling with my best friend for the first time, but also had a very close friend fly down from Mumbai, who I longed to meet for 2 years now.

Adorned with palaces, lakes, intricate carvings, marble craftsmanship, jharokas is the City of Lakes, Udaipur, our first destination. We planned a stay of two and a half days to tour Udaipur and another city close by. Palace, museum, street shopping and restaurants, we did a fair job. Permissions from family, hotels booked and car arranged-thus began our Rajasthan Road Trip at about 4:15 pm.

Since half a day gone by, we unanimously decided that street shopping followed by winter night rooftop dinner would just be ideal.

Hathi Pol Bazaar- After making a call or two and taking advice from internet guru, we headed out to this highly recommended market place in the city established around a structure called Hathi Pol. Shops built on parallel sides of the road houses clothes, jutis of camel leather, brassware, souvenirs and much more. Short of time? Markets with assorted buys is just apt. Weariness from travel lasted only until our eyes fell upon colorful bandhani clothes. Bandhani a traditional Rajasthani tie and dye makes for a beautiful wear. The more traditionally the cloth is done the more it ups the cost. We suggest you brush through the shops before making the final purchases to avoid unreasonable prices because negotiation is a ‘yes-yes’ here.

Walked, bargained, shopped and we were now at “hungry”. Headed towards Chandpole, we stopped at the bridge commissioned across the lake. Reflection of palace hotels built in the middle of the lake and everything around, we couldn’t take our eyes off…

Sun & Moon Restaurant- Situated in an alley, one has to walk up here if in a four wheeler. Overlooking the famous Pichola Lake, you have a multifarious menu and rooftop seating designed at three different levels to pick from. While awaiting the order, it was nice to sit down and gasp the mist and freshness of a winter night. Although, the food failed to match the online hype we will definitely go back for a quite rooftop night like this. Wooden seating mostly, warm food and an amazing lake view is what we sat through for 1.5 hours until we started freezing and it was time to leave.

Accommodated at my friend’s guest house, we went back to some social media spamming while tucked in warm blankets.

Day 2

Perks of waking up at home, our caretaker made us the best breakfast. Freshly made hot aloo bonda and poha, balanced with a fruit, all energized for a new morning. Headed out at 10 am, we covered two places before lunch- while one is a favorite for vintage collectors the other one had the most breathtaking view (let me treasure that for a later blog).

Khamma Ghani- What is this place! Our first expression as we walked in. Left minutely from being flabbergasted, the seating did it. We were speechless, period. Let’s flashback a little! Time for lunch, we contemplated upon places to remain closer to our next tourist attraction. And Khamma Ghani seemed inconvenient! Almost settled upon another restaurant we decided otherwise and here we were. Aesthetic, ambiance, food- possibly everything. Treat to eyes and palate both! While in Udaipur this restaurant built by Lake Pichola is a must visit for all and only good reasons.

Stomach full, next up was the place that we couldn’t wait for. But let’s stick to this blog theme and skip to a nearby market area we visited thereafter.

Ghanta Ghar- Built surrounding more than a century old Clock Tower is where this market derives its name from. Essentially a paradise for jewelry buyers, you will not only find traditional jewelry and ornament craftsmanship here but also decades old sweet shops, clothes, home decor and leather journal vendors. Varied vintage items like old cameras, antique utensils can also be found however owing to be a huge foreign tourist attraction spot, these things are sold at skyrocketed prices.

Hotel Fateh Garh- Owned by someone known, we were invited at this exceptional boutique hotel in the city. The specialty of the hotel is in its construction style. Built from laying down the first brick not only does it resemble a royal palace but has also been constructed from bricks of demolished palaces of the city. Swimming pool on the terrace here was only to enjoy and not to click, which also makes me wonder, that one is sure to enjoy this property towards the end of March when temperatures are much bearable. Hot coffee and warm hospitality are sure things here.

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Fateh Sagar Lake- This parallel side of the lake wakes up every night to thousands of footfall to its ‘Night Market’. Mostly, street food to offer, it has more than 25 shops here. While some are famous for cold coffee, some for their sandwiches. You also witness one of the most common sights of North India, especially Rajasthan. Several pregnant ladies, children aged below 10 years selling balloons and toys, sharing one common pair of slippers leaving the other one bare foot walk on a freezing winter night is heart breaking.

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There is a strange but convincing understanding between these children, the vendors and the people. Hunger stricken children when request for food, all you do is walk up to the vendor, place an order for the kid, pay for it and ask him to deliver across the street and they are happy to do it. Without any chaos, you then see these kids enjoy their time with their friends and enjoy their meal.

Anyway, that was our Day 2! Our Day 3 was planned to tour a fort city, a drive of about 3 hours (one way) from Udaipur. Yet another morning that we looked forward to without knowing what it had in store for us. It was not all things good. 😀

P.S.: You will soon a see comprehensive blog post that will document all the Forts, Palaces and royal museums that we visited. And a city wise post about the food and shopping episode in each place.