Venice and Florence Come to India!

The weekend after the Taj, myself and Austin took ourselves off to Udaipur in Rajasthan. It's an overnight train ride away and like a slice of Italy in India. Quaint little city set around a lake with a big marshmallow-like palace sitting in the middle of it. It was also where the Bond movie 'Octopussy' was filmed, ooooh! The night train was surprisingly fine. At least as 'fine' as a 12 hour train can be! We stayed in a Megan-recommended hotel called the Udai Kothi and it was just off the lake with a roof top restaurant and pool overlooking the lake palace. Can't complain. We spent the first day wandering around the city palace which had some stunning views over the lake and the city itself, then we did a little shopping where I picked myself up some of the miniature paintings Udaipur is famous for. That evening, we took a sunset boat ride on the lake and got up close and personal to the palace and watched the sun set behind the mountains. All sounds very romantic!! The lake was a bit dry when we were there so the water wasn't as high as it could have been. Apparently its a great place to be during Monsoon because the lake is full and the palace appears to be floating in the middle of it. It was still pretty when we saw it, but I can imagine it being even better with more water!

The next day we went on of 4 hour horse safari out in the country side and it was great! Amazing scenery and for me a much better way to see the countryside and mountains than hiking in 40 degree heat! This for me, marked the end of a good weekend as I got my fist Indian illness and spent the rest of the weekend in bed :( but all in all, I still really enjoyed Udaipur and would definitely recommend it to anyone!