Our backpacking trip: Dia 254 / Day 254

El dia comenzo bastante temprano, nos levantamos durante el recorrido del tren pero todavia faltaban un par de horas para llegar. Cuando los estudiante universitarios vieron que me desperte me invitaron a sentarme con ellos y conversar. Eran mas o menos 8 o 10 en el mismo vagon, venian de un torneo deportivo. Estuvimos conversando un rato y sugirieron lugares para visitar en otras provincias. El tren paro en la cima de una montaña por un rato y me hicieron bajar con ellos y tomar fotos.

Llegamos a Udaipur a las 9:30am y le pedimos a un Tuk Tuk que nos llevara al lugar que nos recomendo el muchacho frances que conocimos en Ahmedabad. Bueno, por si no lo habian notado, aca las cosas no son como uno quiera sino como ellos quieran; y no importa cuanta planeacion le ponga uno al viaje… sencillamente no funciona asi! El señor del Tuk Tuk nos ofrecio llevarnos a otro lugar y que si nos gustaba que nos podiamos quedar alla, que si no nos gustaba nos llevaba al otro lugar… le aceptamos la propuesta. El lugar estaba bueno y limpio, con una terraza y una muy buena vista de Udaipur. Negociamos el precio, como todo aca es negociable, y nos quedamos en Kaser Palace Guesthouse.

Dejamos las mochilas en la pieza y fuimos a desayunar en el restaurante que queda en la terraza del hotel, buena comida… nada especial, pero la vista es maravillosa!

Nos fuimos a caminar por el pueblo y vistamos el Templo Jagdish. Construido en 1651, tiene un tallado en roca muy bonito.

Cuando ibamos a almorzar entramos a una tienda donde habia un pintor pintando miniaturas en seda. Estuvimos conversando con el por media hora o algo asi y nos mostro muchas de sus pinturas y hablamos a cerca de la India. Fuimos a almorzar a Lotus Café, donde comimos Kale Papad ki Subzi, un delicioso plato tradicional de Rajasthan.

En la tarde estuvimos visitando el Palacio de la Ciudad, es el segundo palacio mas grande en India despues del palacio que visitamos en Mysore. Alli conocimos a Nitin, un guia local que nos explico la historia del palacio, fue muy agradable e interesante.

Despues fuimos a Sajjan Garh, mejor conocido como Palacio Monsoon. Este palacio esta localizado en la cima de una montaña; como palacio no tiene nada que ofrecer, no lo han sabido conservar, que lastima. Sin embargo, la atraccion del lugar es venir a ver el atardecer, el cual se ve muy bonito.

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The day started early, we woke up after the train ride from Ahmedabad, however there are still a couple of hours more to go. As soon as the university students that were on the train saw that I was awake they invited me to sit with them and chat. They were like 8 or 10 of them on that wagon that were coming from a sports tournament. We talked about everything and they even suggested places to visit on another provinces. The train stopped on top of a hill and they all wanted me to get off and take pictures with them.

We arrived in Udaipur at 9:30am and got a Tuk Tuck driver to take us to the guesthouse that the French guy we met last night in Ahmedabad suggested. Well, it does not matter how much planning you have put into your trip to India, I will assure you, it will be disrupted! The Tuk Tuk driver offered us another guesthouse and if we liked it we could stay there, if not he will take us to the place we told him… we accepted. The place was surprinsingly good and clean, with a very nice rooftop and a million dollar view of Udaipur. We negotiated the price, like everything in India accommodation is also negotiable, and we stay at Kaser Palace Guesthouse. We left our backpacks in the room and went for breakfast located in the rooftop of the guesthouse, nice food… nothing special, but the view was well worth it.

We went for a walk around town and visited the Jagdish Temple. Built in 1651, it has beautiful carving throughout.

On our way to have lunch we ended up in a small shop where we could see the artist doing miniature silk paintings. We sat with him for a good 30 minutes looking at paintings and taking about India. We went for lunch at the Lotus Café, where we had Kale Papad ki Subzi, an amazing traditional Rajasthani dish.

Later we went to the City Palace, the second largest palace in India after the one we visited in Mysore. We met Nitin, a local tour guide that explained the history of the palace, it was very enjoyable and interesting.

We then went to Sajjan Garh, better known as Monsoon Palace. Located at the top of a hill, this place has nothing to offer other than a beautiful sunset. We were quite disappointed about the stage of this place, not well preserved at all. However, the attraction here is to come and watch the sunset, which was very nice.