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Nicole's
Travelogues and Budget Travel Tips..
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UDAIPUR, INDIA
I caught a 7:30am bus from Jodhpur to Udaipur. The journey was only supposed to take 7 hours but it IS monsoon season! We had a break at a local lunch stand 4 hours into our journey and then ran into a road block. The bus had to turn around and take the back way through small villages - small villages that weren't equipped to have large buses traveling through! The scenery was beautiful - green hills, rock walls, small temples, goat herds, etc. We got lost and the The journey took 12 hours with no bathroom breaks except for the one after 4 hours. Good thing I didn't have anything to drink! I finally arrived in Udaipur about 7:30pm and caught a tuktuk to my hotel, Pratap Bhawan Guest House. Pratap Bhawan is run by Colonel NS Rathore and his wife. He LOVES drinking whisky with you at night and telling old military stories. He's a character!
The grand City Palace on the banks of the lake compliments the palace along with the Monsoon Palace (Sajjan Garh) on the hill above. Udaipur is also the centre for performing arts, craft and its famed miniature paintings.The Shilp Gram festival is a center of attraction during the season.
Maharana Udai Singh II founded Udaipur in 1568 after his citadel Chittorgarh was sacked by Mughal Emperor Akbar. The legends says that Udai Singh was guided by a holy man meditating on the hill near Pichola Lake to establish his capital on this very spot. Surrounded by Aravali Ranges, forests and lakes this place was less vulnerable than Chittorgarh. Maharana Udai Singh died in 1572 and was succeeded by Maharana Pratap who valiantly defended Udaipur from subsequent Mughal attacks. Maharana Pratap is the most revered Rajput icon and gallantly fought the Mughal at the Haldighati in 1576. Mewar continuously defied foreign invaders and has a history of bloody battles until the British intervention in the nineteenth when a treaty was signed to protect Udaipur. Upon independence Udaipur merged in the union of India.
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What is a Masala Dabba? It is a round stainless steel box with seven round compartments along with a small teaspoon measure which fits in the box. A good masala dabba will have a tight fitting lid in between the lid and the compartments of the box to ensure that the spices do not mix. What spices are usually kept in a Masala Dabba? Brown Cumin Fennel Seeds (Anis) Brown Mustard Seeds Turmeric Powder Coriander Seed Powder Red Chilly Powder Fenugreek Seeds
Indian Chai Recipe Ingredients: Method:
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drivers all left the bus for 20 minutes arguing over which back road to take. One road we took was really the wrong one because it had a sharp turn that the driver couldn't make and we had to back up about 15 blocks and go find another road. It was pretty funny! 
Udaipur is known as the Venice of the east. It is also called the "City of Lakes". The Lake Palace on Jag Niwas Island in the middle of Pichola Lakes is the finest example of its architectural and cultural explosion. 
The weather was great in Udaipur (especially after 102F degrees in Jaisalmer!), only about 75F degrees and no rain! YEAH! During the previous week, Udaipur had experienced the most rain in 33 years - so the famous floating hotel (that was in movie Octopussy) was evacuated and the lobby was underwater. Ha ha so I guess I shouldn't have said that the weather was great (many of the lake front properties are being flooded) - I should say that the temperature was great!
While in Udaipur, I loved hanging out on the rooftop of my guest house to read and drink beer. Mmmm there is nothing better! There was a gorgeous view of the lake and other people's rooftops. You could spend hours watching life go by - neighbors were hanging laundry, smoking, playing cards, sweeping their roof, etc. I didn't get much reading done because I was soaking in the sites. One night, I joined a few of the other backpackers and we went to rooftop restaurant for dinner and to watch Octopussy (which was filmed in Udaipur). Most restaurants show the movie at night - or will show it if you ask. If was funny seeing "Octopussy 7pm" signs on every other hotel. OMG!!! I forgot how horrendous old 007 movies were. Ew! It was so corny, not to mention the crap way they portrayed the Indians.
One day in Udaipur (we keep saying OOooooh-dye-pooooor), I took a cooking class with Shakti from The Spice Box. We cooked Chai (tea), Kadai Paneer (veggie/cheese dish), Malai Kofta (fried potato balls with sauce), Aloo Gobi (potato and cauliflower dish), Veggie Buyani (veg rice), Safron tea, and Chipoti (bread). It was the best food I've had so far in India!!!! We each were responsible for cooking a dish in front of everyone else with the recipe and ingredients laid out in front of us. The teacher would tell us what to do so there was no way we could mess up. I cooked the Malai Kofta and it was delicious!!!! We had huge lunch at the end of the 2 hours enjoying our masterpieces. Mmmmmm! It was soooo goooooood! I don't know if I can replicate it because I have about 10% of the spices we used but it was easy if you have everything. 
