the romance of rajasthan

Jaipur's a great city to visit, i can see why it's one of the recommended stops on short stays in India.

The city center is a quick 330 rupee taxi ride from airport. The Umaid Mahal palace proved a pleasant place to stay, but a bit of a hike from the interesting places. Saturday, we headed early to the Amber Fort and Palace, a cool a place as India has to offer. An imposing massif straddling a strategic hillside, it's the india you see in books. Super cool history and amazing places to wander, even without a guide. By afternoon, our trusty tuktuk driver had us at the Dera Amer elephant safari, half-an-hour outside of the city limits. The ladies picked it as their giant splurge item in India, a $100 luxury that proved well worth it. From our sweet lime juice welcome at the gate to the final all-you-can-eat bonfire dinner, we savored live as prince and princesses. We bathed and scrubbed our new elephant BFF, the friendly Rangmala. Afterwards, we painted her snout before hoping aboard for an hour-long canter through the desert brush. Drinks and appetizers around a fire, even no-haggling shopping. It was a pretty awesome way to spend a day before crashing back at the hotel.

Sunday, we strolled through the old city, where the aging building facades are a pleasant sanstone with a tink of pink, giving the city its nickname. The city palace is uninspiring, but the Jantar Mantar astrological park is cool, but it doesn't make much sense without a guide. Hawa Mahal, though, is the perfect architectural gem to wander through and snap pictures from each and every angle. Dinner at Mediterrano, a rooftop Italian rooftop, offers great views and even, should you push, special tea.

But pound for pound, Udaipur might just be the most darn pleasant place i've been in India.

We took a night sleeper bus from Jaipur, just finding the right spot was a nerve-wracking exercise in clueless wandering that isn't recommended for the new-to-India. The ride, though, proved relatively cheap and relatively comfortable once we were shepherded into our compartments. By morning we were sipping drinks overlooking the beautiful Lake Palace and mountains beyond. The City of Lakes definitely has a unique feel to it amongst indian cities, and the streets are surprisingly walkable. Hotel Mandiram Palace was a great choice, but the best surprise was a tasty burrito dinner with a great view at 1556. The City Palace museum had me at wits end, but the boat ride out to Jagamandir is a perfectly relaxing way to go. The Udaipur airport's a bit of a drive from the city center, but it's quite nice and modern. A great landing point if you can catch one of the rare direct flights to/from Hyderabad.