Udaipur

Tuesday, 11 November 2008 (Al)
Checked out of our hotel Mewar Haveli and into another down the road so we could stay a 4th night in Udaipur. We really like it here. Its a little more relaxed than the other cities and we've enjoyed chilling out for a few days, not feeling the need to do any siteseeing. Nevertheless, if we were to do any, it would be today, so we hired a rickshaw driver for the day and headed out. First the City Palace. Frankly I'm a little palaced, forted, and templed out. Its like the endless number of cathedrals in Europe. They're all pretty but they start to blend into one another. Just watching and talking to the locals is far more interesting.

After the palace we headed to 'Animal Aid' - a hospital for all animals that are injured by cars or humans and in need of emergency care. Seeing the way they drive over here and the way they treat animals is very different to back home. Cows roam as they want and are often hit by cars. Dogs are viewed as being bad animals that all have rabies, therefore should have rocks thrown at them to keep them away. It couldn't be further from the truth. Of all the dogs we saw at the sanctuary there wasn't a vicious one amongst them. They were paralysed, had missing legs and tails or covered in sores and ticks, but all seemed content they were getting some love and attention in this place. We listened to stories from the manager Julie, who came for a 2 week stint and was still there 2 yrs later. The place was owned by 2 Americans who gave up and sold their two houses in the US to keep it running each year on top of the small contributions they get from the public. These guys do an amazing job. I honestly thought it would be depressing but rather it was pretty uplifting to see the animals being cared for and seemingly happy with it. We took a couple of the dogs for a walk and spent some time patting the others. Don't worry Mum, I know what you're thinking....they all had their rabies shots. After a few hours we gave a contribution and left.

Our rickshaw driver then took us to a local cultural village (near Shilpi). It was a govt setup to show Mewar history, culture, art, music and housing. Our driver was close to finishing his guide tour exams so he came in and acted as our guide. His uncle was an artist specialising in minature paintings and after proving his skills on Wendy's nail, we bought one of his paintings. I've got to stop this habit of buying paintings/pictures wherever I go. I'm rubbish at bartering still, even after all these years. We headed off and enjoyed a nice early dinner with our driver until we returned back at the hotel for another sunset over the lake. They call Udaipur 'The Venice of the East' and it deserves the title as it really is beautiful during both day and particularly at night. The photos will never do it justice. You just have to see it for yourself.