Udaipur, India | 31 December, 2006 | $6.67
On the road you run into a lot of towns that have their own “claim to (Western) fame,” often based on a Hollywood movie. Udaipur is very proud of it’s cameo in the 1983 Bond film Octopussy and every hotel in town seems to offer free movie viewings nightly in the common areas. Sui and I took a short boat ride around the “floating” palace in the middle of the lake which Bond infiltrates but weren’t allowed to go inside—that privilege is reserved for high-paying dinner guests.
Udaipur felt a lot different than previous towns I’d visited in India. One huge difference was that all of the hotels were six stories tall and few had elevators. We took advantage of the height on New Year’s Eve to look out over town and find a roof-top party that wasn’t horribly loud. Once we arrived we found that the quiet party was only quiet because the electricity had gone out and our peaceful New Year’s Eve turned into a headache-inducing countdown to 2007. Sui was so fed up by the noise that she decided to go to bed thirty minutes before midnight, leaving me alone on New Year’s Eve watching Indian children dance inappropriately to horrifying dance music. It wasn’t the greatest New Year’s celebration but it was certainly memorable!
More photos of Udaipur can be found in the gallery or check out the videos of New Year’s Eve festivities below.
Dance! Dance! from Megan Kearney on Vimeo.
Fire Dance from Megan Kearney on Vimeo.