Our Top 5 “Must Dos” in Udaipur, India!

COUNTRY: India
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching Placement
WRITTEN BY: Christina Poon

1. Bagore Ki Haveli
Located in the heart of the market is an architectural splendour. Situated right by the lake, the building highlights the picturesqueness of the city. But what’s even more exciting is that we get to watch a cultural dance programme inside! The programme exhibits 4 different kinds of traditional Rajasthani dances, ranging from puppet shows to chime bells dances to the most exciting dance of all, where the dancer performed with 9-10 pots on her hands on sharp edges of metal plate and broken glass. It is not only culturally rich but also immensely entertaining! Put this on your list!

2. Go exploring on the weekens
Teaching and lesson planning can be exhausting, so make sure you get yourself some downtime to unwind. Go explore the city to refresh your body, mind and soul! Jaipur, the Taj Mahal, national parks - there's SO much to see.

3. E.A.T
As I’ve mentioned in my last blog, all food is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. We fundraised to allow us to provide a meal in the local school and the boy’s home we teach in. Hence, we get the opportunity to enjoy a meal with these exuberant and lovely children and consequently learning all these names for food - such as subji, poori, dahl, chapatti, nan etc. But there are so much more to try other than just the savoury meals, traditional Rajasthani sweets include gulab jamoon, dahlia pori and many more. Gulab jamoon from the streets in markets are pretty awesome.

4. Shopping
Though Udaipur is not famous for it’s shopping, it has all it needs to please all of us. We bought merchandise, souvenirs, clothing, home wares and saris and so much more. Nevertheless, we have noticed most shops in markets sell similar products; therefore, walking into shops and asking for prices are crucial to buy the same item for a cheaper price. And now I’m sure all three of us can proudly say we are awesome at bargaining. Most importantly, we made friends with some shop owners. Chakil, an owner of a clothing store not only offers us chai while we shop, but also takes photos with us and writes our name in Hindi for us, making shopping a genuinely fun and relaxing break from our long days of teaching.

5. Meet the people
Most people are very nice and friendly. As mentioned above, all shop owners are super welcoming and often offer you chai tea. They would even ask their son to guide you to the nearest ATM! The school kids or even just random children in the streets are often excited to see you and will always wave to you and call you didi (elder sister). Yet, it is still true that touts exists (men will tell you to shop in their brother’s shop for commission), so while you enjoy the amiability of the people, you still need to look and judge and I’m sure you will enjoy Udaipur as much as anyone of us!