We made two stops on our drive to Udaipur from Jodhpur (which were a welcome respite from the aggressive and chaotic driving we were experiencing) – a Jain Temple in Ranakpur and the Kumbhalgarh Fort in the Aravalli Hills:

• Ranakpur Jain Temple: We had learned about the Jain religion and seen Jain temples during our time in Old Delhi and Jaisalmer, but the temple in Ranakpur was the most grand and beautiful of all of them. The Ranakpur temple was constructed by a local businessperson in the 15th century and honors the first of the 24 god-like Tirthankars in Jainism, Adinath (all temples in Jainism honor one of the 24 Tirthankars, but also feature the remaining 23 for prayer around the temple). It is a grand and open-air white marble structure supported by over 1,400 intricately carved marble pillars. We started with the audio headset tour, but decided it was moving too slowly for us and instead spent our time walking around the temple admiring the pillars and beautiful architecture

   

• Kumbhalgarh Fort: Our next stop was the Kumbhalgarh Fort, a 15th century Mewar fortress and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kumbhalgarh is not as grand or opulent as other forts and palaces we saw in Rajasthan. The highlight at Kumbhalgarh is the fortified perimeter wall extending 36km through the hills – one of the longest in the world and aptly named the “Great Wall of India”. We enjoyed hiking up to this fortress and taking in the views of the surrounding valley and fortified walls   

Once in Udaipur, we finally decided to take the opportunity to sharpen our Indian cooking skills and explore the city and its lakes without the pressure of planned activities:

• Cooking class with Mamta: We love to spend our Sundays at home cooking for the week and our weekly menu typically includes Indian dishes, so it was about time we take a cooking class in India to learn how to make them right. Mamta is a loving Indian mother who leads the class with the help of her son, Gautam, who coordinates and kicks things off. We had the best time cooking with Mamta in the family’s kitchen in their beautiful, multi-generational home overlooking Lake Pichola. It was relaxing, fun, and most importantly, informative! We made our way through a menu of chai masala, cumin rice, eggplant and potato curry, yellow daal, aloo paratha and chapati – all incredibly delicious. Gautam also helped set us up with fresh spices and a chapati cooking pan to take home on our way out (many say the reason Indian food in the US is not as flavorful is the availability and freshness of the spices)
   
• City Palace: Our bellies and hearts full from our time with Mamta, we made our way over to the City Palace. Situated on Lake Pichola, the City Palace was originally constructed by Mewar ruler Udai Singh II in the 16th century after he shifted the capital to his newfound namesake city. From that point on, subsequent members of the royal family would go on adding their marks to the complex. What stood out most to us outside of the beautiful views of the lake and surrounding area was the opulence of the various chambers and courtyards within the palace. Every inch of one chamber was intricately painted like a miniature. Another courtyard was surrounded by beautiful stained glass inlays. Another section was dedicated to housing the vast collection of silver from the royal family, including a silver hookah pipe and something called a “swagger stick”

• Sunset boat cruise on Lake Pichola: A must-do activity in Udaipur is taking a sunset boat cruise around Lake Pichola. Luckily for us, we stumbled upon a reasonably priced boat cruise launching right next door to Rainbow Restaurant (see below). Shortly before sunset, we pushed off onto Lake Pichola, our boat full of other foreign and Indian couples. It was very romantic and a great way to see the city from the water, as well as take in some of the other Mewar summer palace retreats on the lake – Jagmandir, a 16th century garden palace, and Jag Niwas, a white marble lake palace turned Taj Hotel. As the sun set over the Aravalli hills, our view was somewhat obscured by a few of the couples incessantly filming and snapping pictures of the occasion (we’re not even sure they saw the sunset)

   

• Rajasthani textiles: Due in part to the entrepreneurial nature of many of the shopkeepers in Udaipur, we spent much of our time in Udaipur shopping for Rajasthani textiles and getting to know the shopkeepers. Our first encounter was a friendly and persistent shopkeeper, Yusef, who tracked us down after we left his Rajasthani antique shop and whisked us away on his old Italian moped to take us through the narrow streets of Udaipur to his tailoring shop. Not more than a hundred meters after walking away from Yusef’s tailoring shop did we strike up a conversation with a very engaging young man, Nicky, who showed us around the area a bit and gave us a few recommendations. This quickly transitioned to us being led into his family’s miniatures shop to learn about the tradition, their upcoming trip to a Rajasthani art expo in New Mexico, and see samples of his work. We already bought a small piece from the artist in Jaipur and had our cooking class obligation, so tried our best to kindly and swiftly entertain the lesson and be back on our way. Next, a laid back, kind, and professional man, Syed, struck up a conversation with us at the sunset boat cruise launch to tell us about his tailoring shop (which, to be fair, we did notice and were impressed by as we passed it on our way to Rainbow Restaurant). Syed told us that he had done custom tailoring work for many celebrities like Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck, and Judi Dench while they were in town filming for things like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (this seemed like a story many shopkeepers in the area tout but he did show us pictures). Lo and behold, after the boat cruise we found ourselves drinking cappuccinos and getting Doug fitted for a custom suit in Syed’s shop. Lastly, Syed’s cousin ran a wool goods shop down the street he told us to check out if we had time – of course, no pressure to buy. We were amazed at how soft the pashmina wool throws were so bought a few for ourselves and friends. A lesson to all – if you entertain a conversation or two on the street in Udaipur, be prepared to do some shopping