..and of amazing humans. We toured Udaipur and some neighbouring cities during the Diwali break. It was a 10 glorious days of mountains and lakes set in ochre land, of palaces and forts steeped in history, of ancient temples and modern museums, of saffron sun-rises and vermillion sun-sets. There was never a dull moment as we spent all our waking hours taking in the sights, shopping for local crafts, enjoying cultural shows and savouring local and foreign cuisines. Yes, as always, for us it was gluttony before all else.
There is so much that the three of us can talk about Udaipur- it was one of the rare vacations which each one of us termed as the most fulfilling experiences since COVID locked us up. I want to talk about the people of Udaipur. The city is known for its exceptional hospitality and that can be credited, in no small measure, for the huge inflow of foreign tourists. Every person with whom we interacted, left us feeling warm and welcome. That said, we still had a couple of unique experiences which warrant a mention.
1. On day 1, we visited the City Palace. I had managed to get a nagging headache on my way from the airport, nothing new there. The palace was less than 1 km from our hotel. We bought tickets at the counter at about 1.30 pm, spent the afternoon marveling at the loveliness that is the palace and the sublime views of the city and lake from its various vantage points. My head started bothering me quite a bit by 5.00 pm and we promptly made it back to our lodgings for refreshments and a nap. Later that evening, we went for a cultural program close by- so enjoyable that it was the highlight of our Udaipur trip and I am grateful that we could catch the show. On the way to dinner, DH discovered that he was missing money. And it is then that we realised, 8 hours too late, that we had forgotten to collect the change at the City Palace ticket counter. It was all but a lost cause but we were about 200 meters away from the palace and I suggested that we try to get our money back. When we went back to the ticket counter, the staff had already left for the day. I explained my concern to the only person who was still at the desk. He took a few minutes to understand our concern and made a call to the person who had sold us the tickets, and put me on the line. I tried to recount our brief interaction during the afternoon in an effort to refresh the ticket-seller's memory of us. This man, not just managed to recall us but also confirmed that we had paid in excess, and requested the person at the desk to make a refund, while the husband and I gaped in amazement! I can't think of another place where this could have happened.
2. After receiving our refund from the City palace, we started looking for a suitable place for dinner. This being the first dinner in Udaipur, the husband was really keen on a traditional dal-bati-choorma thali. We spotted a few policemen patrolling outside Jagdish temple and I decided to check with them on the local restaurants. One gentleman policeman, Anil Kumar suggested Krishna dal-bati, presumably the most authentic restaurant which was about 5 km from our location. He even got an auto-rickshaw to ferry us to the place. We thanked him and his team profusely, boarded the auto and set off to Krishna. When we reached the restaurant, guess who we found at the venue! Anil ji had followed us to the restaurant to ensure that we reach the right place. He even confirmed the fare charged to us with the auto driver, lest we got overcharged. Over the next few days, while passing by the palace or the temple, we met Anil ji a couple of more times, and he continued to guide us on our local excursions.
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