Udaipur

We are now in lovely Udaipur. Udai-pour is more descriptive--it rained like a monsoon today for several hours, which is unheard of in November. It should be dry and in the 80's. We have this fantastic hotel room that is right on the lake which is in the center of the small city. Our room has this sweet little terrace that over looks the lake. We can see a beautiful white palace built on an island. MT went to get an Ayurvecdic massage and I sat on the terrace and stared at the sunset last night.Our room has three walls with window views. I was woken at 5:30 AM by women and children jumping in the lake for their baths. This was from a bathing ghat that was at the base of two Hindu shrines. It sounded like any group of kids jumping into cold water--shrieks, then laughing and splashing and moms scolding their kids to not splash their siblings.

At that same ghat the night before, during my sunset viewing, big bats--bigger than crows--flapped and glided  from the tree next to the hotel. The tree shelters bats as well as the Hindu temples below.  Through the tree, I could see women doing their rituals with candles at the shrines. A little later, men practiced their ritual of drumming and chanting. Incense smoke rose through the tree and the flying bats to my terrace perch. Across the water the castle lights and the lights of the hotels and mansions came on. MT came back from his massage like a noodle. He said that it was completely different than any massage he had had before and it included an herb in the oil that warmed his skin. His brain was noodle-like, too, for a while.

We had delicious dinner on the rooftop cafe and then went for a little stroll. The town is laid out like the tiny medieval towns of  Italy on the sea--rambling streets, some streets too small for cars, steep walkways, arches, and bits of ruined buildings.

The power went out and came on again--caused by the rain according to the internet cafe guy. I lost a bit of the draft. Mental note to save drafts.  I even read about the need to save drafts for this very reason.

Anyway, last night we heard overly amplified, obnoxious and distorted loud music. We sought it out, thinking it was some sort of live music venue. It was a groom being led in a procession--think Monsoon Wedding or any Indian wedding scene in a movie with a scene with a red-turbaned groom sitting on a decorated horse. The first part of the procession was a small car with musicians going very slowly while other musicians
walked along side the car. Next came women (female relatives of the groom) in red and pink saris, then the groom on the horse, looking a bit self-conscious, then more relatives, then a small truck with a portable diesel generator. Around this whole scene approximately 10 boys and men held light fixtures made of several bulbs to light the scene. The lights and music were powered by the generator.  The group went to different intersections where the women danced and the groom looked more self-conscious.

Done for tonight.