Udaipur: Sunrises and sunsets!!

I was all jittery while planning a travel in corona times but the traveller in me couldn't keep calm so after going back and forth with respect to the places I wanted to travel to, I finalised Udaipur. I booked my bus and then started scouting for hotels but a little bit of skepticism was in place.
After starting from Delhi last night at 9 pm with lots of excitement and zeal to explore "venice of the east", the journey was of 15 hours.

I reached Udaipur at 11 and took an auto for Chandpole, where my hotel was. One tip here would be to use OLA because of autowallas asking for a mouthful of money. After reaching my hotel which was this super beautiful cozy place, Keekoo, and getting an early check-in, I got ready and donned my "Ghumakkad" shoes.

I started with the most hyped-up place, Dudh Talai which is a part of Lake Pichola and probably the cleanest one as well. With Taj Lake Palace sitting in the middle of the lake and the sun rays bouncing off the water, scenes were beautiful!
I stopped for a lunch at "cafe yoga" which is a place on 5th floor of an old home and has beautiful views of Lake Pichola.

My next stop had to be a historical place and it was Baghore ki Haveli. Ticket to that place is of 55 rupees and this place belonged to the prime minister of Mewar Kingdom so is a good reflection of Mewar architecture. Haveli has five sections: Wedding, Weapons, Turban( with a super big turban), puppet and terrace. It is on the Gangaur Ghat of Lake Pichola so next place had to be the Ghat. I came to know of a cultural dance show called "Dharohar" at 7 pm and they start selling the tickets at 6:15 pm. I went to the Ghat and soaked myself in the beauty of this place and then came back to Baghore Haveli to catch the show.
Dharohar is a beautiful cultural folk dance show which shows some interesting dance forms performed in Rajasthan on different occasions. Because I was tired after an overnight journey I walked to my hotel which is near Chandpole and Baghore Haveli, gangaur Ghat and City palace are stone's throw away.
My hotel had a beautiful restaurant from where you can catch the sunsets and that's what I did.

After a good night's sleep, I woke up early to catch the sunrise at Fatehsagar lake which honestly I found more beautiful than Pichola. It was a distance of 1.5 kms from my hotel and I decided to walk. After reaching the lake, you have an option of renting a bicycle and then move around. Sunrise was beautiful and I went to all the beautiful corners around including "saheliyon ki baadi".

After a scenic bicycle ride, I walked to my hotel and had a good breakfast to start my day. Got ready and then decided to cover the most popular place there "City Palace". Such a beautiful huge structure with narrow passageways take you back in that era. After a much needed lunch at "palki restaurant" in the city palace, I started walking towards nowhere and explored the local market.

It was the time to catch the most beautiful sunset of my life, from Ambrai Ghat. This is where a portion of Dhadak and Ram Leela were shot. This place took my heart away and I couldn't get myself to not look at the setting sun or to leave that place. To make it possible. I decided to have an early dinner at "Ambrai" restaurant. This has impeccable views of Lake Pichola but an average service. I had walked for 18 kms on this day so decided to call the day off.

Eh? Where do I go today? Jheel kinare? Yes! I went to Jheel Cafe to have breakfast and the sight is breathtaking. You are like sitting to look an endless Lake Pichola which haa birds taking a flight and the sun shining in delight.! Btw, foodie in me says their breads are fluffy and differently tasty.

Because it was a weekday, I had to work for a couple of hours and then I decided to have the dish of the state, that is dal baati churma. I went to "Tribute" which was like a walking distance of 600m from my hotel and the owner there welcomed me and he was so warm and good. Food is scrumptious and super tasty!

I had already covered most of the places but one place that was recommended by all was "Sajjangarh Palace or the monsoon palace", to see the dim lights of the setting sun. You probably would need a scooter/car to go up tha palace but I took an auto first and then rented a scooty from the foothills, after getting a ticket. Ride is amazing but be very careful because there are tiny little rocks which can make you fall specially while descending. Sunset was beautiful and the architecture of palace was different. I signed off for the day and snuggled up in the corner of my room with a chai and book!

This was the last day and I just did not feel like leaving! I got up early, went for a stroll and then packed up everything to check out of my hotel. While having breakfast I saw this beautiful temple that I would cross everyday which was "Jagdish Temple". It is a beautiful temple and they were singing bhajans and I just sat there for 15 mins and completely lost track of the time.

I walked to Dudh Talai but then decided to go to Karni Mata Mandir to catch a bird's eye view of Udaipur. You can walk upto there or can take the ropeway which costs 110 rupees per person. This was the last place I visited in Udaipur and skipped Bahubali Hills and Ahaar Musuem, to cover them in my next trip!

With this I fell in love with a warm place like Udaipur where people are nice, sunset are ethereal, sunrises are super beautiful and Keekoo is courteous! I boarded a Delhi bound bus at 9 pm.