Erin's Vist, Part II

While it was fun to travel to Jaisalmer and Jodhpur, I was most excited for Erin to see Udaipur and experience what my life here has been like. Luckily her trip coincided with an unexpected holiday which allowed us to spend more time together. The holiday was a government-sanctioned break for the Rajasthan elections (something all locals have been very focused on recently).

Love Nest Party
To celebrate the election (or rather the work holiday), we threw a party at the Love Nest. As I had mentioned in a previous post, my roommate Alvaro is quite the handyman. With just a couple of sticks, duck tape, and a bed frame, he made a ping-pong table. While everyone has loved the ping-pong table, the best part has introducing my international friends to Beirut.

Chittorgarh
On the day off, Erin, Fizzy, and myself took a day-trip to Chittorgarh, an eighth-century fort that some claim as the greatest in Rajasthan. Within the fort walls, we visited some palace ruins, the victory tower, a palace garden, and a few temples. The entire fort was quite beautiful and the palace ruins seemed like the most ideal site for a massive paint-ball competition.


One of my favorite memories is not related to the fort or history of the city. As we were leaving the victory tower, we were approached by a couple of boys who were selling postcards. This is not a unique sight at any tourist location around the world. What was different about these boys were that they were selling postcards that they made.

They sold postcard drawings of tigers, peacocks, monkeys, maharajas, and my favorite, Ganesh. I was not sure if they were going for a “youthful motif” in their art or if they just were not that good. Either way, we all supported their entrepreneurial spirit and bought some postcards to support the cause.

Udaipur City Palace
In Udaipur, I finally made it to the City Palace. It is a gorgeous site and parts of it have been turned into hotel/restaurants (where Erin and I had our Thanksgiving dinner). We spent one afternoon touring the palace grounds and the museum. While breathtaking from the outside, the inside/museum was similar to many of the other palaces that I have seen in India: extravagant living quarters, great views of the city, and beautiful architecture all around. I think my favorite part was this courtyard that had intricately designed stained glass artwork all along the walls.

It was a great week and so fitting that Erin’s trip started with Thanksgiving because it reminded me of how grateful I am for my friends and family. In other news, the Love Nest has a new tenant, Rachel from the US. She lived in China during the summers growing up, backpacked from Paris to Istanbul, and is returning to the States in a couple of months because her book is getting published. Oh yeah, she graduated from high school last year and is eighteen.