Monday 7 March

This morning, we saw Udaipur in the light of day, city of hills and lakes, where we found cows, camels, and elephants on the streets. (Cows in the street, our guide explained, our reincarnated traffic cops).

Out entire morning was spent at the Maharana's City Palace. Before the British colonized what we know of as India in 1858, the area was primarily a series of principalities, Udaipur among them. Started in 1859, the city palace was expanded for over 200 years and subsequent rulers each added on their own sections. As a result, it's an interesting mishmash of architectural styles with wandering corridors, narrow stairways, and surprising courtyards. We took a lot of photos which will, undoubtedly, do no justice. While in the area, we also strolled through a bazaar area and visited a Hindu temple on a celebration day, which is not unusual since one scholar has listed more than a thousand Hindu celebration days.

After lunch and a bit of respite, we then cruised to an island in the center of Lake Pichola from which we admired the setting sun reflecting off the buildings of Udaipur.