Udaipur is known as the "Venice of India," and we were eager to find out if this comparison rang true. (Secretly wishing there was also comparable gelato). We have been traveling from busy city to busy city and we found Udaipur a nice break from the madness. We stayed at Jheel's Guesthouse right on the lake and they serve coffee drinks from a legit Espresso maker with baked goods, so our stomachs welcomed the rehabilitation. We also were able to breathe a sigh of relief that we weren't being bombarded on the streets. We could actually walk! And the cow dung density was finally in our favor. We were here during Diwali so there were a few nights of fireworks at every corner and I feared for my limbs and ear drums.

Oh, and you might recognize the floating palace in the lake from the James Bond movie Octopussy.

Below is a view of our guesthouse facing the lake... We visited the nearby City Palace which is also perfectly set on the shore.