We were all wondering what to expect when we got to Udaipur. The last stop on our Rajasthan tour, it is usually characterized by the sun setting over a beautiful lake, but we had heard that the lake, the centerpiece of the town, had dried up. A couple disappointing monsoon seasons had left the lake extremely shallow, and we were told to temper our expectations.
The drive into Udaipur was filled with its share of bumpy roads as usual, but the last kilometer or so of the drive was completely unexpected. Our hotel was right along the “lake” and in the middle of a giant cluster of buildings, and we took a road that was barely wide enough to fit a single car. So when another car came the opposite direction, we were barely able to squeeze through.
The lake ended up being almost completely dry, but that’s okay. It was fun to see what’s happening with the dry expanse that used to be underwater. There were children playing cricket, people digging, and, of course, cows. That was remarkable to me—this area is potentially the most valuable property in town (the hotel that is supposed to be surrounded by water has 1500 rupee dinners and I’m sure the rooms are similarly expensive), but instead it’s just a well-placed commons. I know the town wants the lake back so that Udaipur can regain its picturesque quality, but I’m not going to be praying for rain. I kind of like the idea of children playing cricket on Udaipur’s dried-up tourist utopia.
Our first Udaipur sunset was spent on the city’s rooftops. Udaipur has all these great buildings that are a three or four stories tall and have restaurants or bars on their rooftops. Many of them show Octopussy every night at 7:00 p.m., since part of the James Bond film was filmed here. We had drinks on one rooftop and then had dinner and watched the sunset from another. We had a nice family-style meal that was a good survey of Indian food (it’s sad how little Indian food I’ve eaten in the last couple days). During the meal one of the elephants that was roaming down in the lake area let out an incredibly loud noise that made everyone take notice. On the way out I saw a sitar player and asked him if he knew “Boris the Spider” (for old time’s sake).
The food of the day could have been anything from our dinner tonight. I thought the chilli (that’s how they spell it) butter chicken was especially good.
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