I wanted to do some offbeat things in Udaipur apart from just visiting palaces and forts. So I decided to do a cycling trip. The trip was early in the morning and started just before sunrise.
The first stop was at Fateh safar lake. The place around Fateh Sagar lake was very different from the Pichola lake. Pichola lake is the middle of old city. Narrow lanes and lot of shops and buildings around it. Fateh sagar lake is like a lake in a modern city. Strange that they are just 2km apart but so different.
The road around Fateh Sagar lake is broad and scenic. It’s an 8km long road and one side of the road is filled with eateries. I visited the place again one evening to watch the sunset. The place felt so different as I was on another side of the lake.
The ride was to a place called Badi lake. The stretch had a good combination of uphill and downhill. The cycle had gears with complex gear controls on both sides. It was difficult to understand at first but after riding for a while I got used to it. The tour guide made a statement which was interesting.
With more money, you want to buy cycles with gears and cars without gears
On the way we saw a dam gate built to release water from the lakes to irrigate agricultural lands. I was told that the lakes in Udaipur are connected and are at different levels of elevation and get their water from different catchment areas. They let out water from a lake above if another lake is drying up. I think that’s the case in every city.
Badi lake was away from the city. It was a less known place for tourists. It had almost nobody. It was huge and apparently the deepest lake in Udaipur. Like all other lakes of Udaipur this was also man made. We sat there for for a good 30 mins enjoying the lake. I was the only person on the tour. So it was just me and the guides. We had some interesting conversation on various topics.
There was a viewpoint above a small hill. My guide didn’t want to take me there. He said “The place has become popular with tourists and it’s become very dirty. You will not like the feeling going there. This side of the lake is still unexplored and beautiful.” A common problem in all places I suppose.
The trip back was via some villages. You just travel 10km from the city and you can see a perfect rural village. Strange how close it was to the city. It was very calm there. Just us and our cycles.
It was a good 4 hours well spent early in the morning. On the way back we stopped by Fateh Sagar lake to see some recent structure built by an architect from Jaipur. If you are into modern art, this is for you. Its called “A Window to Nature”. There are many such structures around the lake.
I have been on a cycling trip before and I hated it at the end of it. It was a long trip for about 2 days and I thought that I hated cycling as it was too much for the first time for me. This morning cycling ride at Udaipur was for just 20km. While the ride was not tiring or long and the views were stunning, I still hated riding the cycle. Note to self: You don’t like cycling.
Endless thoughts 