Today let me take you people to the city of lakes, a city where lakes rule. A place that is steeped in history, a place that has been built...a lot of people have had a hand in making it. Friends, I am talking about the state of Rajasthan located in the north of India, which is also called “Rangilo Rajasthan”. And ‘Udaipur’ is situated in this state which is also called Venice of Rajasthan.
Udaipur is a tourist destination. The lakes, historical forts present here, craftsmanship and culture have a big contribution in making this city famous. Every year 01 million tourists visit Udaipur, of which 0.2 million are foreign tourists and the rest are Indians. I have been to Udaipur twice, the first time I went in 2013 when I cycled from Haryana to Kanyakumari in which I cycled 3500 km. For the second time with my friends in 2022...we went to visit Udaipur and live Udaipur.
We four friends make a plan that let's go to Udaipur, I was in Himachal Pradesh at that time and was returning from Jalsu Pass track. I get a call from Ravi asking me to reach Delhi quickly, we are going to Rajasthan. After packing my bag from Himachal, I catch a Delhi bus which drops me in Delhi in 12 hours from where I reach Ravi's house. We load our bags in the Isuzu car and leave to pick up the fourth friend in the next three hours. He works in a multinational company in Gurgaon, hardly anyone lives as well as he does. I always tell him that his stress will go away by coming with me to the mountains, but he never listens to me. Even today, with great difficulty he has got 2 days leave.
If you add Saturday and Sunday to the holiday of Thursday and Friday, it becomes four days and in four days you will make life a paradise. We leave at 10 am from Gurgaon which is 685 km away. Sitting in the car, we are talking about reaching there in 10 hours whereas Google Map is telling us 12 hours. We cross Jaipur and have lunch, we eat dal and roti. After about 40 minutes we come back on the road. The roads of Rajasthan are very well maintained so the car talks to the air but the problem is that now speed limit has been imposed on the highways also. We kept the vehicle at a speed of 90-100.
At around 6 in the evening we stop at a restaurant to have tea. The sunset is becoming very beautiful from here, the whole sky is turning completely pink as if nature has hidden itself under a pink blanket. We enjoy tea with this wonderful view. It's been 8 hours since we started and our destination is still 5 hours away. So now we decide that we will take the next break in Udaipur and will not stop before that. And this is what happens.
We reach Udaipur at 11 pm. First of all go to the hotel, check in and then see Udaipur from the terrace of the restaurant. In the darkness of night, everywhere in Udaipur it seems as if a girlfriend has got ready for her lover and is now waiting for him. It seems as if everything has come to a standstill here. Locals and tourists have gone to their homes. Udaipur would hardly ever be so empty. We have dinner and sit on the banks of Lake Pichola. The sound of water mixing with the cool breeze is caressing our cheeks. Udaipur is truly a city of lakes.
We come to the room at around 1 o'clock in the night and as soon as we arrive, we fall asleep deeply on our bed. Next morning we wake up comfortably, after having breakfast we set out to visit Uday Sagar Lake. The biggest advantage of your car is that you do not have to argue with the taxi drivers for the fare. So after reaching Fateh Sagar Lake, about 13 km away, we park the car and start admiring the beauty of the lake. This lake is about 4 km long and 9 meters deep.
While roaming around the lake we saw a shop serving coffee in earthen glasses, we immediately went and ordered four coffees. You can see in the photo that this earthen glass can be broken and converted into new glass, it is absolutely eco-friendly. The sun is strong so we stand under a tree on the lake bank and enjoy the landscape. Our friend who is very busy with his job says that “We should keep coming to such places often, it does not cause stress”. We tell him that we too have been trying to convince you here for many months. Well, he promises that from next time I will devote all my time not only to the office but also to myself.
By afternoon we come back to Lake Pichola and roam around in the market and try some street food. The beauty of Lake Pichola during day time is of a different level. Now we are able to see how many people this lake has provided employment to. The beauty of the city palace built on the lake shore is worth seeing. In the afternoon we have dinner at a restaurant situated on the lake shore and come to the room. In the evening we spend our time roaming around a bit. We sleep early at night because the next day we all have to leave back for Delhi.
And the next day we leave from Udaipur for our respective homes at 6 in the morning. We have lunch on the way and enjoy the sunset and reach home at 8 pm. So this was our trip in which we went to Udaipur which is also called Venice. I hope you liked this journey. See you in the next blog, stay healthy and happy. Thank you...
