India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) (300 page)

Green House
The newest (2009), most luxurious option in Pushkar is located just 7.5km (4 1⁄2 miles) outside town, on the Kishenpura-Tilora Road. Touted as a “most luxurious eco-boutique resort,” its 20 luxury tents are arranged around manicured lawns with indigenous
ardoo
trees and a lovely pool. While the word “eco” should be entirely removed (“green house” refers to the two huge plastic tunnels dedicated to raising a multicolored variety of exotic Dutch rose, and the restaurant and bar, housed in a similar uninsulated plastic, are blasted with A/C during meal times), the other descriptors do indeed hold. The tents are beautifully decorated with comfy beds and crisp new cotton linen; travertine bathrooms have walk in glass-encased rain showers and most of the tents have outdoor wooden decks from where you can watch the sun set and the moon rise over the Aravalli hills reflected in the pool before you.

The Greenhouse Resort, Kishanpur Rd., Village Tilora, Pushkar, Rajasthan 305022.
0145/230-0079
or 0145/322-6137. [fax] 0145/277-3704.
www.thegreenhouseresort.com
.
[email protected]
. 20 tents (8 superior, 8 premier, 4 suites). Winter rates Rs 6,700–Rs 7,700 superior and premier (only bathrooms have walls); Rs 9,700 suites (which have walls). Includes breakfast and taxes. Pushkar mela rates: Rs 13,000 double superior; Rs 15,000 double premier tent and suite. Taxes extra. AE, MC, V.
Amenities:
Restaurant; bar; billiard table; cultural performances; Internet (Rs 100/hr.); Ayurvedic massage; pool; safaris—camel, horse, and jeep; table tennis. In room: A/C, TV, cable, hair dryer (on request), minibar (suites only).

Pushkar Palace
This pretty but dated 400-year-old palace—its thick white walls reflected in the holy waters of the lake—is the best place to stay in Pushkar itself but Green House is the more luxe. The best rooms are the suites below the terrace (nos. 101 and 102)—these are the closest to the lake, with windows that provide serene (or surreal, depending on the time of day) views directly onto it; do bear in mind, however, that such proximity to the lake also means picking up most sounds. In the deluxe category, the corner rooms (nos. 209, 309, and 409), despite being significantly smaller but comfortably furnished, have the best views—you can literally lie in bed and watch the sunsets. Even if you don’t have a room with the best of views (most are set behind the open-air corridors that link the rooms), you can enjoy it all from the terrace, where waiters are on hand to provide the necessary liquid refreshments (be aware that, as elsewhere in Pushkar, no alcohol is allowed). (Pushkar Palace also arranges a
Royal Desert Camp
during the
mela:
351 tents with attached bathrooms and four dining tents).

Tip:
The Palace has a sister establishment, the three star
Jagat Palace,
built on the outskirts of town. The same rates apply for an experience that’s somewhat isolated and disconnected from Pushkar, but with the added incentive of a pool. Many of the public interior spaces are gloomy, the soulless atmosphere clearly designed to deal with large groups of package tourists. That said, it’s probably the most luxurious hotel option if Pushkar Palace and Green House are full, though you’ll need a car or taxi for the 5-minute drive to town; if you want to walk, it’s a 15-minute trek along a dusty main road.

Pushkar 305 022, Rajasthan.
0145/277-2001
or -2402. Fax 0145/277-2226 or -2952.
www.hotelpushkarpalace.com
. [email protected]. Pushkar Palace: 48 units. Jagat Palace: 85 units. Rs 3,450 super deluxe double; Rs 1,100 extra bed. Taxes extra. All meals extra. AE, DC, MC, V.
Amenities:
2 restaurants (only vegetarian); doctor-on-call; room service; camel/horse safaris. Jagat has 2 restaurants, pool at Jagat Palace only, Ayurvedic massage. In room: A/C, fan, TV, minibar.

WHERE TO DINE

Dining options are plentiful but far from spectacular, catering largely to budget travelers more concerned with imbibing marijuana than partaking of quality cuisine; if you’re staying at Seventh Heaven or Pushkar Palace, you’d be well advised to make full use of their dining facilities. However, if you’re up for a culinary adventure of the backpacking kind, you’ll find numerous strange and unusual places around the lake, many of them proud of their multifarious global cuisines, all fairly Indianized. Do be aware that you won’t find meat, eggs, or alcohol served anywhere near the sacred lake of Pushkar.

Sai Baba Haveli Restaurant
is a favorite with young foreign tourists and aging hippies—it serves gratifying baked goods and decent (egg-less) croissants (although their idea of espresso is simply stronger-than-usual coffee). We’re sure most people come here because of the liberal attitude toward smoking intoxicants, which tends to happen in the garden, lorded over by a statue of Sai Baba (“the living god”) himself; on Saturday nights, festivities include a desert gypsy (Kalbeliya) dance program and party. There’s also a rooftop restaurant.
Prems Venkatesh,
a basic eatery overseen by a Brahmin who cooks his delicious chapatis with vegetables of the day and
dal
over a wood-burning fire, is widely considered the best in town for cheap Indian food; ask anyone to direct you there, but don’t expect it to be sparkling clean.

Beware:
Please take special care with belongings and chatting to strangers as over the past few years there have been numerous incidents involving drug dealing and the attendant sexual harassment cases—all involving the notorious
bhang
or marijuana, and no doubt other drugs too. The
Bhang
(or “special”)
lassi
is served at numerous outlets around Pushkar; these seem innocent, and invariably taste sweet, but the narcotic after-effects take awhile to set in and will have you losing all sense of reality (and direction). Be sure you know your way back to your hotel.

SHOPPING

The main thoroughfare,
Sadar Bazaar,
is just over 1km (a half-mile) long, and is lined with tiny shops selling ridiculously cheap (though usually low-quality) clothing, jewelry, leather sandals, excellent music (anything from Hindu temple to Hindi pop to global trance), and the best selection of books in Rajasthan. This is definitely the place to come with empty bags—its almost cheaper to stock up on a new wardrobe here than pay hotel laundry fees, and you can pick up a huge selection of Indian music to listen to back home and make you long to return.

7 Udaipur

405km (251 miles) SW of Jaipur; 260km (161 miles) S of Jodhpur

Udaipur

The “City of Sunrise,” often described as the most romantic city in India, was built around four man-made lakes, the placid blue waters reflecting ethereal white palaces and temples, beyond which shimmer the distant Aravalli Hills, apparently the oldest range in the world, predating even the Himalayas. Udaipur has a real sense of space and peace, and the city is mercifully free of the kind of intense hucksterism that so marks the Indian street experience. This may have something to do with its proud Hindu history, for the city is not only known for its gracious palaces, temperate climate, and beautiful views, but for maintaining a fierce independence from even the most powerful outside influences. It fought bloody wars to repel Turkish, Afghan, Tartar, and Mongol invaders and rejected allegiances with the Mughals, only to acquiesce in 1818, when the state grudgingly came under British political control.