Udaipur, Rajasthan: City of Love and Light — Planned Five Days, Stayed Two Months
/Wedding season in Udaipur, a popular Rajasthani destination activity for Indian nationals, typically begins in the fall each year. The timing depends on favorably astrological alignments of the moon, planets and stars to foster an amicable and fruitful coupling, we learned. During this special time, Udaipur is a city of lights and romance with frequent fireworks filling the evening’s sky. It’s a pretty magical place even without the weddings as attested to it’s history as a major international tourist destination forever!
Our planned five night visit here was part of a swing through the rich and storied region and state of Rajasthan southwest of Delhi where our journey had begun a week earlier in the fall of 2017. By the fourth evening we looked at each other asking, ‘why are we leaving the day after tomorrow?’ Without a sufficient answer, we tossed out a not-too-expensive non-refundable domestic plane ticket and canceled the onward hotel reservations we’d made.
Suddenly being in no rush, we moved into the wonderful Udai Kothi hotel where we stayed week-to-week, surprisingly for two months. We came to know every shopkeeper around the hotel, often sitting in the evening and sipping Indian tea and beer, learning so much about their lives and deepening our knowledge of India. Other travelers too suggested future destinations for us that enriched our remaining four months in India. We left Udaipur after the new year 2018.
It was such a wonderful romantic experience that generated rich, lasting memories and many friendships that have withstood the passing of time, now nearly seven years later.
Weddings during our stay were ubiquitous, and frequently lasting three to five days! It’s customary for strangers (wedding crashers!) to be warmly welcomed as guests — something we did more than once!
We snapped this wedding celebration image on december 12, 2017 at the Amet Haveli hotel on Pichola lake
