Hi, everyone! This week, let me take you to see another side of Udaipur, India.
We’ll go for a cycling tour, visit a local house for a cooking demonstration and vegetarian lunch, and climb hundreds of stairs to a small temple on top of a hill.
Whew, sounds like an active day, eh? The group tour and I were in Udaipur for two days. The second day was also memorable for me and I enjoyed it so much.
Now, let’s go!
Cycling Tour and Sightseeing in Udaipur, India
Okay, so I had prepared the outfit for the cycling tour, brought my phone instead of DSLR, and applied sunblock all over my face and hands.
After breakfast, some tuk-tuks came to pick us up and brought us to the meeting point of the cycling tour. Felicity, Molly, and I shared were in the same tuk-tuk.
After around 20 minutes ride, we noticed that we slowly went to an outskirt area and started to feel worried. “Is the tuk-tuk going in the right direction?”
Then we saw Athi and Auke’s tuk-tuk, which drove by faster and eventually ahead of ours. The three of us sighed in relief. “Okay, we’re good!” ๐
The tuk-tuk finally stopped in a remote area, surrounded by nature. Aah, it’s a nice place for a cycling tour! No wonder we had to go far, far away from the Udaipur city center.
The sun was up and it was good weather for cycling. A truck and three Indian men were waiting for us. As soon as we arrived, we could see our bicycles lined up.
They were in different sizes, especially prepared based on our heights. They even prepared a kid-size bicycle for me (thank you, Anuj!).
But sadly, that bike was too tough for me to handle – or maybe I was too scared.
“Miss, this bike is for 10-12 years old!”, said the vendor.
Yeah, but… I didn’t feel safe if both of my legs couldn’t touch the ground. How could I balance the bike, especially when the road gets bumpy?
Even the seat was too tall for me (I’m 141cm) ๐ญ
Then my crush came over to assure me that I could do it. He stood in front of me and held the bike, so I didn’t fall when climbing on it.
And Felicity shared some tips (thanks girl for diverting my attention coz my heart beat so fast when he was in front of me).
But in the end, I gave up. If I couldn’t handle the bike, I didn’t want to be a burden later on, in case I fell.
Okay, now you know who recorded the video above ๐๐๐
Eh? So what’s this blog post about if you didn’t join the cycling tour?
Well… I did join the cycling tour. Except, I sat comfortably in the truck!
In the end, one of the bike vendor guys had to ride my bike so I could sit in the truck. Poor guy… sorry but thanks!๐คฃ๐คฃ๐คฃ
During the cycling tour in Udaipur, we had a few stops. We saw some lakes, mountains, langurs, old trees, etc…
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Cycling Tour, Tea Time and Trying Sarees in Udaipur
Next, we had a short break for tea time at a local’s house. I was happy because I was finally able to sit down with the group and talk.
All the things that I missed when they were cycling!
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We sat on the floor and waited for the host to prepare hot masala tea and snacks for us. It turned out the lady of the house was frying papadams – thin, crispy crackers made of bean.
Usually, papadams are made of lentils or chickpeas, but they can also be made of potatoes, rice, black gram, etc. You can either deep fry or bake them until they’re crispy.
Suddenly, the host invited us to the kitchen to see how it was cooked. Some of us even tried frying the papadams! It turned out you just have to fry it for around 1-2 seconds ๐
After we finished the papadams and masala tea, the lady asked if we wanted to try sarees. Yaaay!
Saree or sari is a traditional female Indian attire. It’s a garment that’s draped around the body, usually made of cotton or silk.
At first, I didn’t want to try the saree because I hadn’t found the pattern or colour that I liked. But then she brought an orange and turquoise saree with a floral pattern. Yes, ma’am!
Afterwards, we continued the Udaipur cycling tour. We met some local children, they were happy to see us!
After cycling for some time, we stopped at another local house for a cooking demonstration and lunch.
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Cooking Demonstration and Vegetarian Homemade Food in Udaipur, India
What is travelling without eating nice, local food? Wait, let me rephrase that.
What’s a cycling tour without nice, local food cooked right in front of your eyes, in a local’s house? ๐๐๐
Although I didn’t sweat as much as my friends who had been pedalling for more than an hour, I was anticipating the cooking demonstration.
The host prepared a lot for us to see and eat, such as:
- Fried vegetable pakora
- Varieties of roti (Indian bread) with butter
- Vegetable curry
- Lentil curry
- Rice
- Hot masala tea with extra ginger
All of them were made from scratch right in front of our eyes, and they were very delicious!!! Especially the rotis and butter… Dear God, thank you for Indian food!
I forgot the name of this bread… It’s a bit thick but tastes really nice eaten with butter
A man is making chapatis for us
Deep-fried vegetable pakora
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Yes, give me lots of vegetables!! I need fibers~~
Too bad Auke was still having a stomachache, so he didn’t eat much. Then, he had only rice and homemade yogurt for lunch.
Aaw, he missed the best part of the cooking demonstration in Udaipur! ๐ฃ
But he said the yogurt was nice and his stomach felt better after eating it ๐ The host was very kind to specially prepare yogurt for him.
By the way, if you’re a foodie, check out this interesting article about food tourism! I agree with the writer that joining cooking demonstrations (or cooking classes) when travelling can help local businesses.
The cycling tour and cooking demonstration are part of the group tour package, so I didn’t have to pay anything.
The families that hosted us for the tea time and cooking demo already received some money for their services. So after lunch, we gathered some money as tips for the family.
After saying our goodbyes to the family, we departed to the next stop. Aaah, I really wanted to join the cycling tour as my tummy was already full…
I guess my dream came true because not long after we departed, we stopped.
“Okay, now you have to walk,” the truck driver said.
YES!! This way I could have a flat tummy ๐๐๐
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Cycling Tour and Back to Nature in Udaipur, India
That day we did more than just a cycling tour and attended a cooking demo in Udaipur, India. At the end of the cycling tour, we had a tour around a field.
We walked past some crops, learned how to use a machete to cut the grass, and saw a unique machine pulled by cows to produce sugarcane juice.
Here are some photos of our field trip:
Did you see the young girl sitting on a long branch, pulled by the cows? I’d love to do the same, so I tried my luck…
Just when I was about to start, the cows peed. So, I had to wait for a while until they finished in order not to get kicked or peed ๐
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But when I was about to sit, the cows walked off! Silly me, I chased after them ๐๐๐
Our local tour guide said they might be scared of me because they were unfamiliar with me. Oh, okay, at least I tried! ๐
The field trip lasted for less than an hour. At the end of the trip, some tuk-tuks were waiting for us, ready to transfer us to the hotel.
We had some free time to rest and had a group dinner. Anuj took us to a different, fancy rooftop restaurant overlooking the lake.
The food and view were very beautiful, and great company! I made so many friends from around the world: Denmark, the UK, the Netherlands, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Belarus, and India.
What’s better than having great food and great company at the end of the cycling tour? ๐ฅฐ
On top of that, the restaurant played nice songs! Those oldies like Abba, disco songs, all those evergreen songs…
Alright, friends! That’s the end of our cycling tour and cooking demo in Udaipur, India. Thank you for reading my blog, I hope you enjoyed it ๐๐๐ธ
๐ 15% OFF ALL TOURS! Click below and enter my discount code: ๐
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