Wherever I was looking there was only water…we were in the middle of a lake on a small boat. The boat shakes badly with even a slight movement of our body and our fun may convert into real life drama. But we were least bother of all those things as it was giving us tremendous thrill & fun. One must experience this if you in Udaipur. The city of Romance, beautiful Lakes, Palaces, Foods and Markets...there are several things one can do in Udaipur...
I was here with my office colleagues to attain our annual Rendezvous. Our stay was arranged at Hotel located at bank of renowned Jaisamand Lake. This lake is Asia’s largest manmade lake. Our journey begins from Jaipur. We all left Jaipur by train at 2000hrs and reached Udaipur early morning. A bus was arranged to take us to Jaisamand. Within in two hours we reach at the bank of the Jaisamand Lake. Here several boats were waiting to take us to another side of the lake, at our hotel. This lake is really very huge and I have never expected that Asia’s largest manmade lake is situated in my state i.e. in Rajasthan. And when the boat begins running…ooohooo…wow…that was very thrilling & amazing feeling for all of us as wherever you see, there is only water and water…Within few min. we reached our hotel. Rooms were big and spacious including bathroom. We spend one and half day in the hotel. We enjoyed a lot like disco dance till late night, food, atmosphere, climate, peoples, everything was just perfect. It was month of December and there was mild cold. The whole experience was amazing. Next evening we all headed towards Udaipur City.
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| Nehru Garden |
We reached Udaipur City around 1600hrs, believe me it’s a beautiful city, known for magnificent palaces and lakes. We first went to Savage Garden restaurant to burn our hunger. The food was awesome so as the place and peoples…J.. Post that, we went to see the famous Fateh Sagar Lake, which is beautiful and big. It’s an artificial lake constructed by Maharana in 1678 and located at north-west of Udaipur. In Fateh Sagar Lake, there are three small islands; the largest of these is called the Nehru Park, the second island houses a public park with an impressive water-jet fountain and the third island is the address for the Udaipur Solar Observatory. Every year a festival called the Hariyali Amavasya Mela (Green New Moon Fair) is organized at the lake precincts, in the month of August/September.
We hired a boat to take us to the Nehru Park Island. Our boat was shaking very badly with even a slight movement of our body, and we all were laughing & enjoying, it was tremendous thrill moment for us. The island has very beautiful garden with lush green grass and several kinds of flowers. We spend an hour there and took a round of the whole island.
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| View of Fateh Sagar Lake side |
After returning from the island we all took a long walk on the footpath, which is build all around the Lake side. There are several fast food shops besides the Lake. Every evening several tourist visit this place, both local and outsiders. As it was Sunday, there was no place to even walk properly, every shop and street was crowded badly. In the middle we also enjoyed tea. It was close to 1900hrs, we all then decided to take our dinner as we also have to catch our train at 2130hrs.
We went to Mewar Haveli Rooftop Restaurant which was located on the opposite side of the lake side which was giving us very beautiful lake view. The restaurant building was built in a traditional Indian style. There was also a water fountain installed on the terrace with light effect which was making the atmosphere more elegant. We all enjoyed traditional Indian food and said bye to this beautiful city Udaipur.
ABOUT UDAIPUR:
Udaipur is said to be a “city of lakes” or better known as "Venice of the East". It is also said to be India’s most romantic city. It is located at southern part of Rajasthan state and surrounded with good numbers of mountains. You will find Udaipur city very normal till noon time, but the moment evening arise, it turned into heaven, just because of beautiful lakes, Mountain View, delicious foods and wonderful markets.
GETTING TO UDAIPUR:
Udaipur is situated at southern part of Rajasthan state. It is 418 km from Jaipur which is 6 hour journey by road, 254 from Ahemdabad, which is just 4 hours journey by road.
By Train: There are daily trains from New Delhi and Jaipur to Udaipur like – Mewar Express or H. Nizamuddin from Delhi & Jaipur.
By Flight: Dabok airport, also known as Maharana Pratap Airport, is 24km from the city centre. There are daily flights from Delhi, Mumbai and Jaipur on Jet Airways, Indian Airlines and Kingfisher Airlines.
By Bus & Taxi: Udaipur city is well connected with most of the cities of Rajasthan and Gujrat and there are several regular AC & Non-AC buses are available, both Govt. & Private. Private Taxies are also available from cities like Ahmedabad, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaipur etc.
ACCOMMODATIONS:
In Udaipur city, there are numerous places to stay, few names of good hotels are:
Economic - Hotel Padmini Palace, Krishna Ranch, RTDC Hotel Gangaur Palace, Mewargarh Palace and Hotel Kumbha Palace and many more.
Mid Range - Mewar Haveli, Jagat Niwas Palace Hotel, Mountain Ridge and Jaiwana Haveli and many more.
Luxury - The Lake Palace Hotel and The Oberoi Udaivilas.
MUST SEE:
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| Udaipur City |
Like Jaipur, Udaipur City has ample of places to visit, and believe me, one or two day is not sufficient, one must stay here at least for 5 days. So, few places one must see are:
Palaces & Tourist Places - Udaipur City Palace (Pichola lake), Amar Vilas, Badi Mahal, Durbar Hall, Fateh Prakash Palace, Krishna Vilas, Manak Mahal, Mor Chowk (Peacock Square), Zenana Mahal, Rang Bawhan and Sheesh Mahal.
Lakes - Fateh Sagar Lake & Pichola Lake.
Other Attractions - Saheliyon ki Badi, Gulab Bagh and Zoo, Doodh Talai, Nehru Garden (Fatehsagar) and Bagore-ki-Haveli.
EAT:
Udaipur is a food lover destination, there are ample of good restaurants and resorts for your hunger like - Aapni Dhani, Mewar Haveli Rooftop Restaurant, The Whistling Teal, Savage Garden, Cafe Edelweiss and Bawarchi Restaurant. Apart from these, you can find several fast food restaurants and dhabhas in Udaipur city.
