Pushkar to Udaipur (by Niki)

The next day in Pushkar proved as relaxing as the previous day. We explored the city a bit further and although we tried to resist, we were often tempted into the shops. Having enough of that, we found a really great rooftop cafe and spent a couple of hours researching our future travels and trying to get some ideas about where we might want to go and which things were important for us to do. It is always exciting planning a new endeavor but it can feel overwhelming at first.

While staying in Pushkar (and Jaipur for that matter), it was virtually impossible to find any eggs or meat to eat. I think in Pushkar near the holy ghats it is actually illegal to sell or consume these items! As a result, we have had a completely vegetarian diet for 10 days and it has been an interesting experience. I was trying to reflect on whether my body felt any different but perhaps ten days is not long enough to notice. I will admit we were excited to see eggs appear again in the menus of Udaipur although besides eggs, I am going to keep it up!

In the evening we had booked a camel trek and I was very excited about it, like I am about anything involving animals. We met our two camels, Jimmy and Carlu and in my opinion we hit it off instantly! They were so comfortable around us they were relieving their bowels in no time. Seeing camels up close was exciting because they are such a large, imposing animal. To climb on top they have to lay down and arch up with you on their back- a slightly disconcerting experience but because of their humps, I felt pretty secure. I enjoyed the ride much more than the elephant ride because I felt like I could connect with the powerful animal who was letting me ride on his back, rather than the bulky saddle put on the elephant.

The trek was so relaxing and although I wasn't comfortable, our guide let Josh take the reins to his own camel. It was hilarious to see Josh try and make his stubborn camel go faster, but eventually they figured it out. We stopped for a beautiful sunset out in the sand dunes and while our camels literally rolled around kicking up sand, we took in the sight and relaxed. It was a wonderful evening!

The following day we were off to Udaipur, the most romantic city in India people say. Our train experience was a little stressful and it had me wondering about train travel in India and whether it really is the quintessential experience. We arrived at the station and although we thought we had the right platform, it turned out that we were wrong and we literally had ten minutes to figure it out. The problem being that the screens at the platforms were burnt out and weren't showing the train numbers so although you can try and ask someone, you would have to go on faith alone that they were right. This was of course what we did but as we started to enter the train we realized that there was no berth number or seat numbers on our ticket so we have no idea where to go. We looked for a train attendant who could direct us but having found nobody, we ended up sitting anywhere and moving every time someone claimed the seat as their own (stressful!). Eventually we discovered that we were in the wrong place and although one would intuitively think a "first class" ticket would be the best one you can get, that would be a mistake. We were able to stay where we were and everything ended up fine (if you could ignore the mice and bugs scampering around). Only one train was nice and I think unless we could book something like that again, we would choose a different way to travel.

Arriving in Udaipur was also an experience as I quickly realized my error in judgment in the place I booked and I was so disappointed- we were meant to stay for seven nights! The place was so grimy and dingy, you wouldn't want to touch anything if you could help it and it had the worst smell permeating the room. Poor Josh was a trooper as an innocent bystander but I was feeling really annoyed with myself and my frugality (I swear this comes from my Dad... :) ). This is where tripadvisor can really lead you astray because it had 5 out of 5 stars! Needless to say we made a quick plan of escape and by 7 am we were up and at it and arriving at our new hotel which now feels like a luxury! Lesson learned in India: spend the extra $5 a night, it is worth it!

After the hotel switch, our moods were improved and we were pretty excited to see Udaipur. First impressions were fantastic! This is definitely a more laid back city than Jaipur and with the lake surrounding the city center, it has a really nice ambience. We chose to do one of the top sights right off the bat, the City Palace and it was really spectacular. It was the biggest palace in all of Rajasthan and like the others it was built in the 15th century. The palace was vast and not at all crowded so the experience was very relaxing and it was fun to linger over the insanely elaborate rooms full of stained glass, gems and crystals, and velvet cushions. The views of the lake were spectacular too and we decided to go on a boat tour for an hour.

The boat tour was a definite highlight if only because of the fresh air and the breeze off the lake. It toured the coastline and you could get a glimpse of locals bathing (not naked of course) and washing their laundry. There were several ornate building around and in the lake to take photos of like a famous hotel run by the Taj Hotel company. There was a stop over on an island called Jagmandir and we were able to stroll through the gardens and enjoy some peace and quiet.

Now we are sitting in a French bakery, enjoying treats like chocolate croissants and trying to catch up on some blogging. I would say today has been a perfect day and we are both excited to look into trying some courses like cooking or yoga because we have the luxury of time in Udaipur, and frankly, we are sort of "templed out."