Day 8 - Udaipur
I woke up with a pretty stubborn head cold today, but if the sniffles are my main health concern here, I'll thank my lucky stars. We piled on the crowded local bus for the 7 to 8 hour ride to Udaipur. A family with a curious baby were sitting on the floor beside my seat. Most if you that know me also know I do not like babies. While the other girls oohed and awed at my new little friend, I kept wishing she would stop staring at me with giant creepy baby eyes and drooling all over my pants. This bus was very crowded and people were actually sitting on the roof. Also, two women vomited multiple times partly on a couple fellow tour members. Not the best bus ride.
We have some time to freshen up and have a quick dip in a murky yet welcome pool before another hectic afternoon bursting with activity.
Off to the lake we zipped in the evening. Udaipur is somewhat mountainous and has many lakes. The lake we visited houses a floating palace (now an expensive hotel) and had a nice vista of the royal palace in central Udaipur.
In the evening, a few of us opted for a cultural exhibition and show. The show consisted of a demonstration of 5 regional dances and a marionette demonstration. The first dance was two young ladies with clay fire lamps on their heads. The second was a traditional desert dance blessing the cows and the lands. The third was two older women with metal symbols sewn in strategic places in their costumes and holding bells on strings. They swung the bell around, playing it on the symbols. The fourth dance is a dance to bring a community of women together and was performed by six young women.
There was a break from the dancing for the puppet demonstration. The puppeteer had a little gypsy woman dancing across the stage, working her hips and flirting with the audience. The sophistication of the puppet's movements was incredible. He even had her pick up a bill with her teeth! After the gypsy was a magician marionette. The magician popped his little head off and balanced and bounced it all over his body. The puppeteer played a tiny whistle in conjunction with the puppets' movements.
After the puppets was the grand finale. One of the older ladies came out with two giant red pots on her head and danced around, swirling and weaving. Then an assistant loaded two more pots on her head. With three pots on her head, she pulled a handkerchief off a bouquet of roses on the ground using her teeth. Then an assistant loaded three more pots on her head. This time she balanced on the edges of a metal plate and used it like tap shoes all the while balancing 6 pots on her head. Then back for three more pots! Now fully loaded with nine pots, she danced on a pile of broken glass. With a final little stack of pots on her head, she zipped around the stage with the pots teetering crazily. The crowd went crazy!
With her fantastic performance complete, the audience was invited to dance with the artists on stage. I went up to give it a try but was totally uncoordinated and in the way. The locals that knew the steps kind of danced me out of the circle...
To end another hectic day, we had a long quiet dinner at a rooftop restaurant overlooking the lake, city palace, floating palace and rolling hills.
We have some time to freshen up and have a quick dip in a murky yet welcome pool before another hectic afternoon bursting with activity.
Off to the lake we zipped in the evening. Udaipur is somewhat mountainous and has many lakes. The lake we visited houses a floating palace (now an expensive hotel) and had a nice vista of the royal palace in central Udaipur.
In the evening, a few of us opted for a cultural exhibition and show. The show consisted of a demonstration of 5 regional dances and a marionette demonstration. The first dance was two young ladies with clay fire lamps on their heads. The second was a traditional desert dance blessing the cows and the lands. The third was two older women with metal symbols sewn in strategic places in their costumes and holding bells on strings. They swung the bell around, playing it on the symbols. The fourth dance is a dance to bring a community of women together and was performed by six young women.
There was a break from the dancing for the puppet demonstration. The puppeteer had a little gypsy woman dancing across the stage, working her hips and flirting with the audience. The sophistication of the puppet's movements was incredible. He even had her pick up a bill with her teeth! After the gypsy was a magician marionette. The magician popped his little head off and balanced and bounced it all over his body. The puppeteer played a tiny whistle in conjunction with the puppets' movements.
After the puppets was the grand finale. One of the older ladies came out with two giant red pots on her head and danced around, swirling and weaving. Then an assistant loaded two more pots on her head. With three pots on her head, she pulled a handkerchief off a bouquet of roses on the ground using her teeth. Then an assistant loaded three more pots on her head. This time she balanced on the edges of a metal plate and used it like tap shoes all the while balancing 6 pots on her head. Then back for three more pots! Now fully loaded with nine pots, she danced on a pile of broken glass. With a final little stack of pots on her head, she zipped around the stage with the pots teetering crazily. The crowd went crazy!
With her fantastic performance complete, the audience was invited to dance with the artists on stage. I went up to give it a try but was totally uncoordinated and in the way. The locals that knew the steps kind of danced me out of the circle...
To end another hectic day, we had a long quiet dinner at a rooftop restaurant overlooking the lake, city palace, floating palace and rolling hills.
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