Udaipur, City of Lakes

We flew from Aurangabad to Mumbai, and Mumbai to Udaipur this afternoon. We arrived and immediately sensed the tranquility of this lovely, romantic city. We checked into our hotel the Kankarwa Haveli and set out for an afternoon of window shopping and a visit to the Jagdish Temple.

Here is a narrow lane that leads from our hotel to the main street . . .

We walk for a few minutes and locate the Jagdish Temple. Yes, quite a few steps to climb to enter the space.

We pose before this Lord Shiva statue . . .

A view of the street from the temple, of course with a cow . . .

The Kankarwa Haveli--Paul and I really enjoyed this hotel. It has a spectacular view of the lake and is well worth the stay despite the modest amenities.
Here is a photos of our sweet little blue room . . .
View of the Lake Palace at sunset. Yes, this is the Lake Palace in Udaipur that is famous in the James Bond film Octopussy.

We ate at a neighboring hotel that offered us the spectacular sunset view of the Lake Palace. They had wonderful kebabs and almond crunch sundaes.

The next morning we ventured out to the City Palace. Though, the maharaja do not presently stay in this palace it was still beautifully maintained and spectacular to see.

A view of Udaipur from the City Palace.

We leave City Palace and go for a stroll through Udaipur. After lunch at the Savage Garden, we encounter this cow napping on the street. The following morning we rise early for breakfast before we drive to Ranakpur Temple en route to Jodhpur. As you will see, Mom and Dad got a little lost on the way to breakfast. We are at the rooftop restaurant when we heard them trying to find the way to our location.

The Ajanta Caves at Aurangabad

Today, we left Pune and drove to Aurangabad to begin our week long adventure through Northern India. We began our journey by stopping at the Ajanta Caves. This past summer when Molly visited we went to the Ellora Caves. The Ajanta Caves were beautiful, but Paul and I decided that the Ellora Caves still remained our favorite as they had the feeling of being in an untouched and more natural state.

Here we are at the beginning of the series of Buddhist caves . . .

A panoramic view of the entire sequence of caves . . .

An angelic statue . . .

Paul with his parents in the large Buddhist cathedral-esque cave . . .

We leave the Ajanta caves and travel to Aurangabad to sleep for the night before we leave for Udaipur. Here, we view the spectacular sunset in the Indian countryside.