udaipur (rajasthan), sunday 13 january
we arrived in udaipur yesterday. it's amazing that what seems like a very popular touristic destination in rajasthan has such bad connections from other cities in the state. we took the same marudhar express overnight train back from jaisalmer into jodhpur (7 hrs) and from there we hired a car (6 hrs). the whole journey was exhausting but the road trip was incredibly pretty. it was like a little summary of our whole trip in india in only 200-something km. the landscape was amazing, the sights of women carrying all sorts of items on their heads wearing fabulously colorful dresses, the many temples in the middle of nowhere---including perhaps the largest jain temple in the country, in ranakpur---, the street vendors, the sown fields. we came to a complete halt at least twice because dozens of cows were crossing the highway. herds of goats invaded our lane and our driver honked at pretty much everything that moved, be it a cow to scare her, or a couple of children playing on the side of the road to warn them, or a couple of guys sitting as if greeting them. we concluded that there's a whole system of "dippers" (how they call high beams) and "honks" that drivers use on the highway to communicate with one another. i thought of the new road construction between ranakpur and udaipur as a sign of the rapid development of the country... and we saw our first indian elephant, just there, walking in the middle of the highway!!
the city looks much prettier and nicer than the others we've visited thus far. the honking and crazy driving is still ubiquitous but people are nicer and even the sellers are not annoyingly persistent and even thank you for stopping by even if you made them take 20,000 items out and decided not to buy anything.
unfortunately, we will only stay for one full day since we're leaving for mumbai tomorrow. but we truly tried to make the most out of it! our day in udaipur was a complete culinary experience, consisting of two major events: a 6-hour cooking lesson and a lunch at the lake palace hotel. the class was divided into two sessions: morning and evening. in the morning, we learned how to make indian masala chai (tea)---and meenu's was certainly the best we've had so far!---, pakoras (fried vegetables), curries, masalas and chutneys (sauces), and daal (lentils). the class was imparted by a jain woman, meenu, very young with two beautiful children in her small house, which she also uses as a guesthouse (with only 2 rooms) and as a cafe (with only 2 tables). we were a bit afraid of eating too much in the class because everything was just exquisite but at 1pm we had our super fancy (and expensive!) lunch appointment, which we definitely didn't want to miss! somehow, we managed to eat just enough to enjoy and learn from the first session of our cooking class.
then went to the lake palace for our lunch. this hotel is supposedly one of the most luxurious in the world (madonna even stayed here only 4 days ago). it's set in the middle of lake pichola and overviews the maharaja's palace on the shore. we didn't have to wait even 30 seconds to wait for our boat to cross the lake or to get our waiter's attention. the service was just superb! we ate in a very nicely decorated room, all by ourselves, and the chef even came out to ask us how our food was! the food was delicious---but, of course- i didn't care much for the desserts. as much as i love indian food, desserts in this country are never of my liking---the only exception being the special birthday cake we got for dessert today at lunch, but even then, i was not crazy about that, in much contrast to the rest of the food.
we left the hotel completely stuffed, almost unable to walk... and the worst part is that we then had the 2nd session of our cooking class! then we learned how to make indian bread (chapati, paratha, naan, puri...), samosas and cachori, pulao and biryani (rice), and lassi (yoghurt-based drink... my favorite!) how did we manage to eat all that? don't ask me... but we certainly decided to walk all the way back to the hotel, not without first hitting the street shops, of course!
the city looks much prettier and nicer than the others we've visited thus far. the honking and crazy driving is still ubiquitous but people are nicer and even the sellers are not annoyingly persistent and even thank you for stopping by even if you made them take 20,000 items out and decided not to buy anything.
unfortunately, we will only stay for one full day since we're leaving for mumbai tomorrow. but we truly tried to make the most out of it! our day in udaipur was a complete culinary experience, consisting of two major events: a 6-hour cooking lesson and a lunch at the lake palace hotel. the class was divided into two sessions: morning and evening. in the morning, we learned how to make indian masala chai (tea)---and meenu's was certainly the best we've had so far!---, pakoras (fried vegetables), curries, masalas and chutneys (sauces), and daal (lentils). the class was imparted by a jain woman, meenu, very young with two beautiful children in her small house, which she also uses as a guesthouse (with only 2 rooms) and as a cafe (with only 2 tables). we were a bit afraid of eating too much in the class because everything was just exquisite but at 1pm we had our super fancy (and expensive!) lunch appointment, which we definitely didn't want to miss! somehow, we managed to eat just enough to enjoy and learn from the first session of our cooking class.
then went to the lake palace for our lunch. this hotel is supposedly one of the most luxurious in the world (madonna even stayed here only 4 days ago). it's set in the middle of lake pichola and overviews the maharaja's palace on the shore. we didn't have to wait even 30 seconds to wait for our boat to cross the lake or to get our waiter's attention. the service was just superb! we ate in a very nicely decorated room, all by ourselves, and the chef even came out to ask us how our food was! the food was delicious---but, of course- i didn't care much for the desserts. as much as i love indian food, desserts in this country are never of my liking---the only exception being the special birthday cake we got for dessert today at lunch, but even then, i was not crazy about that, in much contrast to the rest of the food.
we left the hotel completely stuffed, almost unable to walk... and the worst part is that we then had the 2nd session of our cooking class! then we learned how to make indian bread (chapati, paratha, naan, puri...), samosas and cachori, pulao and biryani (rice), and lassi (yoghurt-based drink... my favorite!) how did we manage to eat all that? don't ask me... but we certainly decided to walk all the way back to the hotel, not without first hitting the street shops, of course!
posted by adrián at 00:54
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