The Terrific3 travel blog

We started our second full day in Udaipur with a 6ish AM wake up, thankfully, after a late-ish night yesterday.

I’ve been feeling restless due to no real exercise for almost a week (except a tiny bit of swimming) and knew I HAD to find a way today. The hotel has a cobblestone paved hilly driveway that is about 0.1 miles long and was perfect for a quick 20 minute hill run which was the longest I could get away from the kids. Sun was rising and it was gorgeous. And even 20 minutes provided the relief from the lazy butt feeling and bloat I had accumulated over the week.

Our driver picked us up at 930 AM and we picked the guide up en route to the first temple. The plan had been to go to 3 temples but he informed me that the third temple would likely be super crowded due to it being Sunday and we decided to skip it.

Our first stop was the ancient temple of Nathdwara which a Hindu temple which was constructed about 1500 years ago (!!) and unfortunately much of it was destroyed by the invading Turkish Muslims when they arrived, including tearing off the facial figures of the carving. This was my absolute favorite place of the day. The ancient energy that emanated from this temple was palpable and resonated deep in my body, making me feel like I just wanted to sit and wander and spend hours there. It is hard to describe except that it was just a mixed feeling of awe and deep calm and peace. The carving and temple remains were so gorgeous that you could feel all the love and work put into them, all marble carvings. Our guide told us this was his favorite place too and he often comes here by motorcycle in the mornings for his morning meditation. (He did then mention he wished I had time to sit on his motorbike to come with him one day. I acknowledged that would be nice. I was trying to walk the boundary of being nice but not overly receptive. Besides, it was all a fantasy that was impossible to come to life for him. Let a guy fantasize, and I was enjoying the mild flirting and attention. Btw I appreciate those of you who’ve reached out and made sure I’m safe as you don’t trust Indian men. This guy is pretty chill and harmless. I never felt unsafe or violated. And though he pushed the professional boundaries of being a guide, he wasn’t overly aggressive and always respectful). He told me his forefathers were priests at the temple and that was his special connection.

Anyways here is the gorgeous temple.

We next went to an active temple in Eklingi. It was busy and about a 20 minute line to get in and we weren’t allowed inside photos so I have a couple outside. After this, my guide asked if I wanted to try the special food of this town which was a fried chili pepper dipped in batter and filled with spiced potato . Of course I did. He bought it for me and it was DELICIOUS and a bit spicy.

Next stop was a local art gallery which was a co op. The artists are descendants from the artists who did paintings for the royal family and the art was amazing. The kids were set up to do some painting on silk paper—a perfect plan so they could try to sell me stuff :-). I fell in love with a painting by right when I got there and an elephant figure with painting on it. I ended up buying both. Investing in art from abroad is worth it to me as it brings back pleasant memories to have it in my house.

Next stop was lunch and this place was INCREDIBLE. It’s called Poppy by Royal Repast. The kids got calzones and I swear they were as good as any place in Italy. The dough was fresh and airy and the marinara and mozzarella ratio was perfect with a little crusty Parmesan and garlic on top. Poor S hated the garlic on top and talked about it for hours later. My aloo gobi (which isn’t usually an exciting dish) was just the perfect blend of cauliflower, potato, and spices. And the boondi raita was the perfect accompaniment.

Our next stop was to be a cruise on pichola lake but we had time to spare and Gigi convinced us to go to a store he works with that sells Cashmere scarves and blankets and bedspreads from Kashmir. Their stuff was gorgeous and I ended up buying myself a bright pink cashmere scarf. Now I have so much stuff I bought in India, but it’s all B so beautiful—clothes, jewelry and art and this scarf. Plus the kids got to buy lots too.

The cruise on Pichola was lovely and we stopped on the island that houses Jagmandir palace. photos above. I bought the kids ice cream, they eat and ate them and our tour guide wanted to take me privately to the adjacent garden. We walked for a bit and I felt some awkward flirty energy and was too shy to say anything or know what was going on. He insinuated again that he would love to take me on a date tonight (the guy sure is persistent) but understood that wasn’t possible as I had the boys. I acknowledged it would be fun but didn’t dwell on it too long. Soon into this walk, Z came to look for me as he doesn’t like beings as at from me for more than 5 minutes and phew one was rescued.

We then rode back, found our driver, got some jalebis and got to our hotel by 530., showers, hour so entries, table tennis, packing, dinner and bed.

I think we all had pretty wonderful days. The pace of touring was slow and relaxed and we did a variety of things without rushing through. The boys got good food and activities and were happy.

And I got some harmless Middle Aged male attention which has opened my mind to dating in general again, as I’ve been closed to it for a while. in fact he’s still texting me saying he can meet tonight, even at the hotel, since kids are sleeping. No thank you, I told him. I’m in my PJs and ready for bed. And despite being a bit more open to dating, the reality of I still value good sleep over a date any day, and we have to be up at 520am for our 830am flight to Mumbai, and then have a FULL day of touring Mumbai. I guess I’m just not that adventurous or interested though I’m intrigued.

Good night y’all until tomorrow. This tired mom is off to bed.