Alright, don’t remember exactly where I left off so I guess I’ll just start at the beginning. Scratch that, I just flipped though the last few pages of this journal and found that I’ve already introduced that we are in Udaipur.
So anyways, I’ll recap yesterday in Udaipur which was pretty good. All of our days are actually turning out to be that way so I am happy. We started off our stay by going to the palace which is the main attraction in the tourist area in town. According to the tour info it is the largest historical palace in all of the state of Rajasthan which is impressive because there are many to compete with. The first construction was started in the mid 1500’s (relatively new by Indian standards) with subsequent additions continuing until the recent decade. The palace is cool to walk around in, many stairs and narrow hallways built by design to confuse potential invaders. We checked out some of the royal apartments and looked at some decent old art work portraying one of the several kings who lived in the palace going on hunting expeditions for tigers and other wild animals as well as some interesting portrayals of elephant fights put on for amusement in the palaces courtyard.
When we were done staring at the palace we went over to another section of town by crossing a bridge that connects one side of town to the other, possibly on an island or peninsula. We sat down at a restaurant called Ambrai that looked back over the lake and to the palace and city on the opposite shoreline which is built up to many stories and looks more like a cliff of humanity and ancient architecture than a shoreline. We saw an epic sunset and just relaxed. We also snapped a photo for three women, one of who turned out to be from Oakland across the bay from where we live back home.
We then decided to catch lunch which actually happened more around dinner time. These super late lunches seem to be occurring commonly over here because our heads are always busy on a swivel taking in India and we just forget about lunch. We went to a restaurant that I really wanted to try because it was on one of my favorite TV shows, No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. It was an authentic locals type thali joint, thali being vegetarian curries served on a large stainless steel platter. The restaurant was called Natraj. Most thali restaurants here are all-you-can-eat places where you sit down and are given a platter that has several small independent ramekin sized steel bowls on top of it. You are then barraged by a crew of servers who instantly start filling your bowls with curries and soup like stuff as well as dishing out big spoonfuls of the more solid foods like rice, potato curry and naan bread onto your platter. It’s a crazy thing because you’ll be hunched over trying to eat everything in front of you and the moment you think you have an edge on it all a large ladle or spoon instantly shoots into your tunnel vision and refills your finished portion and you’re right back where you started. I loved it. I wish I knew the names of the food I was eating but all I could do was try to keep up with what was piled onto my plate. The best part of this all-you can-eat marathon (my specialty) is that it only sets you back 70 rupees, or just under two dollars US.
Once again we were the only westerners in the whole place, which is a good sign. If Indians like it that means it’s good, and once again we sat face to face with two random Indian gentlemen. This time we did not attempt conversation which was probably for the better and which we didn’t have time for anyways trying to keep up with all the food being thrown at us. And yes, once again it was an intense but great experience.I forgot to mention, for reasons which will become obvious in a moment, that on the way to the thali place we stopped by a small hole in the wall shop, almost literally, with a man sitting on the floor with several large pots of murky water in front of him to get a bhang lassi. A lassi being a very prevalent curd drink in India and the bhang part being marijuana tea. Now just a quick disclaimer here, I’m not a stoner or a pothead by any stretch of the imagination, and bhang, which specifically is only the dried marijuana leaves, is completely legal in India. I really wanted to try it and hey, Anthony Bourdain tried it here on TV and if Anthony Bourdain walked off a cliff I would definitely follow him. The man in the shop used bucket water and some other normally shocking unhygienic techniques to make my drink, but I was going for it nonetheless. Let me tell you that this stuff is no joke. I floated around the streets of Udaipur for the rest of the night. Thankfully Kevin chose not to partake because otherwise we probably both would have ended up wandering lost in the desert or talking to holy cows all evening.
If it isn’t obvious yet I have to say that I am really enjoying this travel experience so far. It is a huge culture shock and things surprise/astonish/scare/amaze me around most every corner. Right now we are very close to Pakistan and will be getting closer in the coming days. It’s a trip to think about being so close to a place with such strained relations with India and also the fact that it is next door to Afghanistan. It is an even bigger trip to think about being halfway around the world, literally, at least 24 hours on a good day, from home. Whoa dude, that is trippy. I can’t feel my hands. Just kidding. But I’m not kidding about how huge the distance and well as the difference the everyday way of life here feels to me from what I am used to.
Oh, and I also found out through talking to a group of English women and one woman from Holland that staring is a super common thing to encounter, even worse for women who get stared at by Indian men for pretty much entire eight hour bus rides as well as get snapped cell phone pictures of blatantly in their faces. Don’t let that scare you though if you are a woman thinking of traveling here because they were all having the time of their life.Alright. Gonna find something to do for the day now. More later.
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