Udaipur

Tuesday, 28 March 2017

In the late afternoon / early evening, we took our hotel’s boat ride around Pichola Lake in Udaipur. The light at that time of day gave a magical cast to everything.

Udaipur Old City comes right up to the lake.

This footbridge crosses the end of Pichola Lake near the dam. There are three inter-connected lakes in Udaipur; all are man-made, but very old.

Boys enjoying an evening swim. (It’s always boys, never girls. Girls are not allowed to swim in public.)

The huge City Palace. It’s about 500 m long.

There are several small islands in the lake that have been completely covered with structures. This is the Taj Hotel.  The only access is by boat.

The Taj Hotel is in the left foreground. The City Palace in the background.

Another island is Jagmandir. It is used for occasions such as weddings and special events.

The tower on Jagmandir.

The west end of Pichola Lake is largely undeveloped.

I called this a “fuzz tree”. The fuzz is actually spider webs! We saw numerous other examples of these webs, but in much smaller quantities! (I guess I’ll have to quit complaining about our eastern tent caterpillar nests back home!)

This paddle-wheeler was labeled a “de-weeder”. The paddles aerate the water, while the scoop in front can scoop up algae and debris. (Update: Look what showed up on Atlas Obscura 19 April 2017 -- a similar scooper for Baltimore's Inner Harbor.)

As we neared the dock, a pigeon hitched a ride on the outboard motor.

Our boat and hotel staff. Thanks for a wonderful ride!

I’ll give a pitch for the Udaipur Trident Hotel. The hotel is very nice, and the staff is superb -- there are none better.