Urban Indian

Beer tastes sweet if the boss is paying. Nearly two bus loads of us were off on a short trip to Udaipur, sponsored by our company. While there was the undeniable lure of free booze, Jaisamand Lake Resort – our destination for the two day trip was also reckoned to be a worth the visit.

Old, Worn Out Aravallis View at Picasa Old, Worn Out Aravallis04-Dec-2010 14:06, Canon Canon PowerShot S3 IS, 4.0, 6.0mm, 0.001 sec

Udaipur lies in the foothills of the Aravalli Range, the oldest mountain range in India. It is said that while the Himalayas have grown in size over the years, the Aravalli mountains have shrunk to a much smaller, weather beaten form. The mountains have been heavily mined for stone and have fuelled construction activities in the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

The Gujarati’s love of travel is complemented by their desperation for “Daaru”. And as we crossed the border of “Dry Gujarat”, the demands for a stopover at a local thela started in the bus. The landscape throughout the ride was typically non descript. Gujarat has some of the worst terrain I have seen in all my travels. Even the fields look disgusting with their prickly cotton plants. I wish they could at least grow some sunflowers. The houses and huts all along the road to Udaipur were made of slabs of coarsely cut stome. Hyderabad and the villages around it also had houses built in a similar fashion. The numerous lakes in both these cities can also be attributed to the rocky terrain besides the lack of regular rain.

The Beautiful Lake Resort View at Picasa The Beautiful Lake Resort04-Dec-2010 08:49, NIKON COOLPIX S4, 4.0, 6.3mm, 0.002 sec, ISO 50

We jumped on our boat from one end of the Jaisamand Lake, which, as we later learnt, was the marble dam created by Maharana Jai Singh over the Gomti river to create the largest man made lake in Asia.

The Jaisamand Lake Resort is a beautiful, royal retreat in the midst of this huge artificial lake.

Jaisamand Dam View at Picasa Jaisamand Dam04-Dec-2010 16:46, Nokia E63, 3.2, 4.9mm

Near the resort, on its marbled shores, there is the Hawa Mahal, and a few other palaces on hillocks nearby. The Hawa Mahal was considered to be the Summer Palace of the Maharana of Mewar and the queens it was believed, used to live on the hillocks around. How they commuted, living such far apart and if they were divorced is still a mystery. but here are some views which do explain why the Maharana would not leave the Hawa Mahal.

Noticed a few honeypots on the way back too. Did you know that the honey we usually eat has HUGE amounts of anti biotics – to protect the bees and kill us.

Drugged Honey Bees View at Picasa Drugged Honey Bees04-Dec-2010 14:25, Canon Canon PowerShot S3 IS, 3.5, 33.2mm, 0.004 sec

And finally, another wonderful view of the gorgeous Jaisamand lake resort.

View at Picasa Canon Canon PowerShot S3 IS, 2.7, 6.0mm, 0.001 sec