Udaipur, a dream etched in stone and reflected in shimmering waters

 

Our 50th year of existence called for a celebration. P had decided that it had to be the beautiful city of Udaipur - a historic city which welcomed tourists. We did not have any other recommendations and so relented

The thought of a trip to a city known for palaces and temples was exciting yet we needed some adventure to draw us there. It was then decided to begin the journey with a safari visit to Jawai - a leopard hotspot.

Sunset while on the evening safari 

Posing (to ward off boredom while waiting for the leopard to make an appearance)

While we flew to Udaipur (in the interest of time) and drove for nearly 2.5 hours to Jawai Bera, we later learnt that we could have taken an overnight train to Jawai or any of the other 2 stations - each of which was only 10-20kms from Jawai Bera - the leopard sanctuary. While I call it a sanctuary, it is NOT because it is not designated as such by the Wildlife department. The guide - Rituraj (interestingly a Zoology + Bschool grad from Maharashtra) informed us that this is a leopard village. 

The 2 leopards we spotted on the morning safari

The leopard cub

The leopards live among the villagers, the Rabaari tribe - known to be nomads who are shepherds. The tribe is dwindling because the youth prefer to move to the cities and work rather than rear sheep and goats. The Rabaari can be identified by their distinct red pagdi and dhoti. In the earlier days these pagdis were made from cloth that measured 15 mts + and were used for not just keeping the head safe but carrying water, goats, drawing water from the well etc...so primarily a multifunctional cloth.

Rabaari trible who was kind enough to allow us a pic

The tribal with his flock

A journey is much more interesting when you have a narrator alongside and that is what we had in Rituraj. He was not just well informed about flora, fauna and birds but also an engaging narrator.

We stayed at Jawai Bera Safari lodge which belongs to Shatrunjay Pratap Singh - a winemaker from Sula (Nasik). The tale goes that the government permitted mining around 140+ sites in this zone. Shatrunjay Singh owned a few acres of land here and realised that this would destroy the natural life and disturn the ecosystem. He filed a PIL in the court and the mining work was stalled when the 9th mine was underway. He then transformed the area into a space where travelers could spot leopards and other wild life. The place we stay was extremely neat, clean, well planned and thoughtfully put together. Aesthetics and practical aspects well woven into the construction of this fantastic lodge. The khansaama's know their business and curated some tasty, homely dishes - we sampled papad aur methi ki sabji, laal maas for a the first time. While the former takes some getting used to due to the pungent fenugreek, the latter is a delightfully tasty dish with just the right mix of spices and well cooked meat.

Dinner at Bera 

Our ~24 hrs holiday at Jawai was well worth it. Rituraj is also a birding enthusiast and knows a lot about the local flora too. His tales about the milk weed plant (whose flowers are offered to Lord Shiva) and whose sap is toxic were fascinating. The striped tiger, monarch have adapted to feeding on the nectar of these plants but the birds who eat these butterflies have an upset tummy. The birds have wizened up and do not feed on these specific butterflies. Such are the laws of nature. He showed us the commoner butterfly too and explained that a particular species of butterfly tends to breed and eat on a particular plant species. These are trivia that make an experience interesting and memorable.

While we tried spotting leopards the evening that we arrived - we were almost out of luck because HRH made an appearance in the wee hours when the entire forest area and rocks were enveloped in darkness. However as luck would have it, we spotted two - Neelam (~12 yo) and her cub (~10mths old) on our early morning excursion. The temperatures in the early morning and evening were very comfortable ~18deg and the open jeep clipping on roads which were open to fields with no trees was a exhilarating experience....the chilly winds beating onto us

I was quite kicked about the compliment I received from Rituraj who said I had a sharp eye and am a good spotter (for the birds). We spotted migratory starlings, egrets, spoon bills, hoopoe, kingfisher, cormorant, little cormorant, glossy corporant, warbler, bulbul - grey and red crested, muniya, wagtail, lapling...and many others. On our way back after leopard spotting we visited a typical Rabaari home and the dam over the Jawai river which is home to some treacherous  crocodile like the one described by Norah Burke in The Blue bead

There was some yummy breakfast laid out for us when we got there. I might be repeating myself here, but the food was wholesome and delicious. It was time to move on to the next leg of our journey.

We visited the Ranakpur temple (a Jain temple, few centuries old). It is simply beautiful - constructed on 1444 pillars with 24 domes and many shikhars (as you can see, I have lost count). Wiki can provide the rest of the information on the temple. There is no artificial lighting - in the evenings they use diyas/oil lamps to light it up. It seemed quite popular among the tourist circuit.

Ranakpur Jain Temple

By evening we reached Udaipur. We were put up at Hotel Lakend which is located by the Fateh Sagar lake. Unlike lake Pichola (another of the 7 main lakes in the city) this one is less congested and populated. The view from Lakend was beatific. There were some purpura trees which attracted sunbirds, warblers and parrots due to their lovely purple blossoms. We had company when the sun was out - the chirping and chatter of these feathered friends.

Hotel Lakend

While we spent a night at Jawai Bera, at Udaipur we spent 4 nights. We ticked off most places on our list :

1)The city palace museum - the guided tour was interesting. However we landed there on a Saturday and oh boy! all of Gujrat had packed off their schools for an excursion. So yes, the museum is well curated but no! weekend or holidays are definitely not the time to visit

2)Jag mandir palace - an island palace which is accessed through the City Palace Museum premises. The Royalty lets it out for events and so there is nothing much to be done here except loiter around in the manicured lawns and admire the luxurious life that the royalty once led

3)Saajangarh monsoon palace - this place was again quite crowded although we visited on a weekday. It is at a high point and recommended for the sunset views. It is home to langoors and so beware of carrying food there. There is a biological park which we skipped as we had little time.

Atop Saajangarh palace

4)Temples galore - Jagdish mandir, Eklingji and Nathdwar (Srinathji is the chief diety), Sahasrabahu or Saas bahu temple. While the first and last have intricate architecture with delicate work ; Eklingji and Nathdwara are for devout folks because one queues up to spend a few seconds in the premises....I dont quite recommend them unless you are there for the blessings

Sahashra bahu temple

Jagdish mandir

5)Ghats - to be honest after having spent a vacation in Benares, these ghats did not quite enthuse me. But for those who have not been to Benares - the Ambrai and Gangaur ghat may feel like a place to hang out in the evenings to feel the pulse of the city. It is kind of noisy and so not quite my idea of a hangout place.

View of Lake Pichola from Restaurant Upre. The ghats are around the lake

6)Food! of course - there are multiple Misthan bhandars (Puliwal and Jodhpur misthan bhandar being quite popular) for chaats. We satisfied our hunger pangs here....Cafe Jheel ginger(continental food at affordable prices but a lil high on spice), Cafe Ambrai (had safed maas, panfried noodles - good), Upre restaurant (laal maas with roti, fish n chips, some brownie with vanilla icecream), Bawarchi (rajasthani fare....did not suit P...we had thaali), Raajbag (the food here was the best so we had most meals here...grilled fish in lemon sauce, masala khicdi, laal maas, fish n chips and something else), Royal repast (the decor was great, the food good, prices a little steeper than the others)

Cafe Ambrai

Outside Ambrai @ Amet haveli

7)Shopping - the area around the city palace has good stuff (mostly street shops) but the prices are a wee bit higher than the Hathipol bazaar. Rajasthan and color go hand in hand. The shops display such a wide hue of colours. It makes lovely pictures. While we picked quite some from the street shops, we have yet to judge the quality. Bargaining at both these places is a done thing. What we picked - all cotton - lehenga, palazzo and kurtis. We also picked some bed covers from some regular shops. T also picked some silver and other costume jewelry while I admired her enthusiasm.

What I will remember for a long time will be the Jawai trip and the beautiful scene around Fateh sagar lake. It is truly an amalgamation of color, culture and heritage.

Our detailed itinerary for those interested....

Day	Description	What we did	Stay	Contact details
1	Landed at Udaipur airport	Drove to Jawai Bera Had lunch Evening safari	Jawai Bera Safari lodge	ask me in comment box
2	Jawai Bera to Udaipur city post lunch	Morning safari Dam visit Rabaari homevisit Drove to Ranakpur and then Udaipur	Lakend	ask me in comment box
3	Udaipur sightseeing	Visited Udaipur City palace museum Jagdish mandir Shopped around on the street markets	Lakend	ask me in comment box
4	Visit to Eklingji and Sahasrabahu	Post breakfast we drove to the two temples	Lakend	ask me in comment box
5	Udaipur sightseeing	Visit to Jag mandir palace in the morning and later to the Monsoon palace in the evening	Lakend	ask me in comment box
6	Visit to Nathdwar temple and then exit via Udaipur aiport	Nathdwar temple		ask me in comment box

 Picture credits to P whose Instagram account is @Parijat Punj