Day 250 - Jagdish Temple and City Palace in Udaipur

Thursday, March 14, 2019.

The best part about staying at this hotel is that breakfast is included and it is good, especially the chai. (Which is actually made with the owner's cow's milk!) After breakfast, we crossed the bridge, and I was happy we made it alive because there is hardly any sidewalk and there are two lanes of cars, motorcycles, cows, and people all wanting to cross at the same time! I really don't know how this country manages to function but it does!

We walked to what seemed to me like the old town and visited the outside of the Jagdish Temple which is a large Hindu temple in the middle of Udaipur in Rajasthan, just outside the royal palace. It has been in continuous worship since 1651. A big tourist attraction, the temple was originally called the temple of Jagannath Rai but is now called Jagdish-Ji. It is a major monument in Udaipur. Wikipedia.

After seeing the temple, we walked to the City Palace. We were told not to go inside because it was not worth our money, plus the outside was huge. The palace is big and impressive. When we walked through the gate, there was a police training and it was so nice to imagine all those soldiers with their nice green and brown uniform lined up next to the palace. There were many entrances where we couldn't go but we walked all around the different areas of the palace and its green areas. I suggested to have a drink in a nice cafe outside the palace but when we checked the prices, we decided against it.

We continued our walk for a while until we decided to go outside the palace to find decent priced food. We found a small restaurant near the gardens and decided to go there because we hadn't finished touring the gardens of the palace.

The food would have been good if we hadn't seen our waiter picking his ears with Guinness World Record holding fingernails. I really wanted to say something but Gregory told me not to, mostly because they didn't speak English and we were the only Westerners there. We also caught the same waiter combing his hair with his hands.

I don't know if India is all dirty or if I'm just constantly seeing all the dirt and trash and poop on the ground. We decided to laugh at the incident and ignore the fact that he put his dirty finger in our dishes when he brought it to us! Plus we must be doing something right if we haven't gotten sick yet (knock on wood).

After lunch, Daniel got his ice cream and was thrilled. Sunshine got a coconut!

We walked back to the gardens because our tickets were good for the whole day. We walked to the boat landing. No one wanted to take a boat ride, so we just rested and admired the view. I have to say that the water is cleaner on this side of the lake and the gardens were nicely maintained. It was nice to get away from the dirt and the noise. I imagined that this is how the wealthy British people used to live while the poor lived their daily lives outside the palace in the crowds and noise. It hasn't changed. [Gregory's note: how sad is it when the best thing you can say about an Indian palace is that it feels like you're not in India?]

I wanted to stay longer but everyone was ready to go back to our small hotel which was starting to grow on me. Gregory still wants to move because our room, where we all hang out, is too small. [Gregory's note: it's one room with a tiny sitting area. The view is nice, but...]

For pictures please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/pFG1idVcNwp4P2hT8