Udaipur: Day 1

Thanks to yet more barking dogs we had the fan up stupidly high to try and drown them out. This meant it was cyclonic in our room and Chris took to sleeping with his head in the hood of his silk sleeping bag. It made for an interesting sight to wake up next to.

Rooftop breakfast

As soon as the sun came up our room was flooded with light thanks to transparent curtains so we got up and thought about breakfast. Hoping to have a lazy, relaxing morning we were pleased when the guesthouse man told us they could cook us breakfast here. Perfect. We went up to the mezzanine which sits above the rooftop area and above our bedroom and where day beds have wonderful little Moroccan style tables on them for ease of eating while relaxing.

As we awaited our poached eggs and fruit, muesli and curd we took full advantage of having the place to ourselves, lounging around on the beds while we caught up on posting some blogs. Breakfast arrived and, with views of the Lake Palace, we enjoyed our Western style food. As I perused the Lonely Planet I came across a place called Udai Kothi which, thanks to its distinctive rooftop swimming pool, we realised was the big white building next to ours. Funnily enough, it was also the name of the wifi we had been told the password for. Yep...we think our dodgy little guesthouse was taking full advantage of the strong wifi coming from next door.

We decided to go out for a little wander after breakfast but, having barely slept, I was not in the mood for the narrow streets which were overloaded with hurrying, beeping cars and Tuk Tuks. We got what we needed and went home so I could recharge with a shower.

As I got in, the hot water seemed to wash my stresses away. Or maybe it was the fact that the sound of the water was drowning out the banging and chatter coming from outside. Either way, when the hot water stopped working while I still had shampoo in my hair, my calm quickly dissolved.

Regardless, we figured we should go and embrace Udaipur and check out the very tourist-oriented souvenir shops which lined every road. We went from shop to shop comparing prices and tossing up the benefits of buffalo vs camel leather. Having decided just yesterday that water buffalo are one of my favourite animals, this proved difficult.

Little Armani Tailors

We found an enthusiastic, and very flamboyant by Indian standards, tailor at Little Armani. Needing to weigh up which fabric would best meet our needs we had lunch at Cafe Govindas. The vegetarian pizza went down a treat, as did the mango lassi and hazelnut frappe which was up there with the coffee of home, probably thanks to their gleaming instant coffee machine. We also ordered up a salad, the first in our two months of travelling, after reading that they use bottled water for preparation. The tandoori paneer salad wasn't exactly the refreshing salad we were expecting but it was delicious all the same. Cucumber, capsicum and fried paneer all lathered in a spicy tandoori mayonnaise.

Back at Little Armani Chris chose a couple of out-there paisley fabrics and got measured up for two new dress shirts that would be ready by tomorrow, just in time for his birthday. Worn out by the shopping we came home for a couple of hours of rest before we battled the touts again, going in search of dinner.

Lake Shore Restaurant

We tried to get a couple of sunset photos but after being harassed by some locals decided we'd just get dinner instead. Having heard that all of the rooftop places had the same cuisine we ended up back at Lake Shore. Feeling a bit off I settled with poached eggs, toast, roast potatoes and baked beans while Chris enjoyed a curry and rice. Exhausted we headed home to find our local neighbours having a party. All of the banging and dough making we had heard and seen throughout the day had been for this occasion which we later worked out was because, as Muslims, they would be fasting tomorrow. To kill time before bed we sat on the rooftop and chatted with a lovely family who live in the Blue Mountains and a guy who lives in Goa. We compared notes on India before they went out for dinner and we went to bed. We considered moving to the unlocked room next door which didn't face the party outside but thankfully the noise died down after not too long and we were able to remain in our own bed.