Jodhpur to Udaipur
5 hours by car
2 nights

Udaipur! The City of Lakes. Udaipur was our favorite city in all of Rajasthan. It was absolutely beautiful. At this point, Brian and I were completely over palaces and forts and said to hell with it and just roamed around the city on our own.

We walked around allowing ourselves to get lost through the tiny maze of hilly streets. We finally had our first mango lassi which took over an hour to prepare because the restaurant kept losing power. We explored the entire city by foot as cars and even rickshaws were too big to fit down the narrow streets. It felt like we were in Venice, even though we’ve never actually been to Venice. It had that whole city surrounded by water appeal, and we were loving it.

We spent two nights here but wish we had stayed the three nights we had originally planned. We did end up walking around the Jagdish Temple and admired the City Palace and Taj Lake Palace from afar. Udaipur was also where Brian and I bought all of our outfits (and more) for my cousin’s Indian wedding (her fiancé is Indian) including a beautiful vintage lengha I was told was worn by wives and daughters of the Maharajas. I’m fairly certain none of the story is true, and I overpaid by 190%. But I love it, so its okay!

JMB Sweets

Udaipur is also home to the best Pyaaz ki Kachori I've ever had. It's a great breakfast (or snack. Or breakfast snack. Really you should just get one!) for anyone visiting Udaipur, and don't forget to order a fresh batch of crispy, mouthwatering jalebi for breakfast dessert (because having dessert after every meal is necessary in India). 

While most of the pictures we have been sharing show the beautiful side of India, there is another side that can't be ignored. It's what, I'm sure most people (myself included) imagine when they think of India. And even in Udaipur, one of the cleanest cities in all of India, and the most beautiful we have seen to date, the other side still pokes through. I'm talking of course about the trash. All the trash. The burning of trash (which is worse than just seeing it everywhere), the constant littering of trash, and the complete disregard of wanting to keep your village, your city, your beautiful country clean!

I would walk thirty minutes with an ice cream wrapper in my hand, passing countless piles of rubbish along the road and tucked into corners, feeling foolish looking for a trashcan, but I always found one. Honestly, when you think about the number of people living in this country (1.3 billion!!!), it's no wonder they are dealing with a trash problem (among many, many other things).

However, despite all of this, Udaipur still remains one of the most beautiful cities in India (we fell in love with a couple more), and after two beautiful nights, we were off to Pushkar, a holy city in Rajasthan.

S+B