It’s been a year since my last post, and I’m getting ready to return to Udaipur for my fifth visit, like the swallows to Capistrano. It never fails to amaze me that I still have a list of things in Udaipur I haven’t seen yet. After four visits, I should have hit all the touristy highlights by now. But I still haven’t gone to Bagore ki Haveli or seen the dharohar dance performance. Haven’t been to Bharatiya Lok Kala folk art museum nor strolled the gardens of Saheliyon ki Bari. I haven’t seen the sunset from the Monsoon Palace. And I want to do all of these things.
I have another list of Udaipur restaurants to try. Since Nirmal gave up management of the Island Tower guest house several months ago, I hope we’ll be getting out to more different places to eat since we won’t be having our meals there any more. Udaipur is a city of half a million, so there’ll always be new restaurants to try, but there are about a half dozen I’m really interested in, including Upre with its spectacular lake view.
Nirmal and Rafiq are planning another road trip. This time we’ll go to the state of Gujarat, which lies between the Arabian Sea to the west and Rajasthan to the east. Nirmal has mentioned we should visit Sasan Gir, a national park and the only place the endangered Asiatic lions can be seen. We’ll go on a jeep tour of the park. My new safari hat just arrived! The fun starts when I land in Udaipur on May 2.
Travels in India 