20th February 2014 (Day 12) Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

 

We saw something of the interior of the City Palace, Udaipur two posts ago.  The City Palace adjoins Lake Pichola and this is a view as we were walking into the City Palace.  The structure seemingly floating on the water is the Lake Palace.  It was built from 1743 to 1768 by Maharana Jagat Singh II as a summer palace.  These days it is an ultra-luxury hotel.  Behind the Lake Palace atop the hill in the distance is the Monsoon Palace.  In the distance to the right is a modern hotel that mimics a traditional palace.

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Another view of the Lake Palace behind an outer wall of the City Palace, through a portal of the City Palace.

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From high in the City Palace, this is the Lake Palace again.

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There are not very many boats on the lake.  The one in front is similar to one we would board to go to Jag Mandir Island Palace, further off down the lake.

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And here is Jag Mandir from a distance, from the City Palace.

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We are now in one of those boats and first we cruise past the shoreline below the City Palace.

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These four elephants were guarding the island as we docked at Jag Mandir.

Construction of Jag Mandir was started by Maharana Karan Singh (1620-1628) and in 1623 Prince Khurram (later Emperor Shah Jahan) stayed here while in revolt against his father Jahangir.  The palace is named after Maharana Jagat Singh I (1628-1652) who completed construction.

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Looking down at the ceiling, on a table top mirror.

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A ceramic xylophone.  It worked well.

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Here is an overall view of the City Palace, as we returned from Jag Mandir.

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The light is fading.

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Boatmen in front of the Lake Palace.

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And the sun slowly sets ….

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Later that night three of us descended to the city for a meal at a local restaurant.

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The restaurant was beside a canal and this is a view across it.  I didn’t bring my tripod but made do with a fence post.

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City lights with movement.

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The three of us returned to the Hotel in a tuk-tuk.  It was probably a bit overloaded anyway with three  Westerners and it didn’t make it all the way up the hill.  We didn’t have far to walk at the end, though.

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