Udaipur 2

Even in Pune, even after 9 months in India, I am still pretty rapt just by the view out the side of the rickshaw, and Udaipur was no exception.   The cows in Udaipur do look particularly healthy though.  Pune sees more water buffalo and garbage.

I visited Udaipur's cenotaphs.  Royalty are usually burned (like most Hindus) and their ashes given to the Ganges in Varanasi or other holy places, but monuments are built to them all the same.  If under 12 years old, their bodies don't have to be burned to allow reincarnation and purify their souls.  They are buried instead with large grave markers.  Wives that perform Sati are given yet other special remembrances here, panels showing them with their husbands that also indicated how the man died; with a sword or astride a horse to indicate death in battle, hands at his stomach to indicate illness, and lower if he died of old age.

I also visited some markets in Udaipur.  My general mistrust/fear of bugs is only heightened by the wide variety of unfamiliar bees, wasps, spiders, centipedes and whathaveyou.  They can still be kind of pretty and there are sometimes romantic clouds of butterflies besides.

I thoroughly enjoyed the traditional Rajasthani dance and puppet show offered nightly near my hotel.  My camera had trouble capturing the event, but it was quite the spectacle.  Demonstrations of epics, glorifications of household duties, and a very strong necked woman danced first with one pot, then two, then three, then six!  Performing special feats at each stage, ending with a dance on broken glass.

Boaz and I had considered going on a several day horse safari, if he had been able to join me there.  I took a half day horse ride instead and met a lovely British couple that joined me for dinner later.

 

My butt and I are happy we didn't do the longer trek though!  The countryside is beautiful and we even passed some nomads with their camels and herds of goats, but my posterior paid dearly for the pleasure of  it all.