Udaipur

The city of lakes was a peaceful place for me to process my journey and celebrate how far I’d come. I got a few things done. I wrote an angry email to an old friend about an ongoing conflict. I ate delicious pastries. I met a variety of folks at my hostel, some were interesting. I went to a cooking class which I learned isn’t really my preferred way to learn cooking. Cooking classes feel like such a touristy performance. Oh my god you’re letting me stir? Thank you so much! It’s bullshit. Just give me the recipe and I’ll figure it out on my own. I consulted an Ayurvedic doctor for the first time, disappointed with the results from my Tibetan medicine. I was given a new regimen of tablets and liquids. I also received my very first bloodletting. After mentioning I suffered from hair loss the doctor asked if I wanted him to put leeches on my head to which I enthusiastically replied yes. What a treat. It actually felt really nice. I met a Dane who’d fallen in love or lust and wanted my advice and I told him to go for it. I walked around a bit, saw the things I was supposed to see. I clocked a comical amount of elephant statues. Everywhere you go there are elephants. But I didn’t see any real elephants. Every sunset in Udaipur is breathtaking and the weather is perfect. I took in a traditional concert and dance which was beautiful but also super touristy. I got a job interview for one of the first gigs I applied to on Upwork for video editing and got the gig. A new chapter in my adventure was to begin here. I’m a digital nomad. Gross! But I can’t choose the time I live in. This is clearly what it was always building up to. This was always the desire I was chasing, rotting in my 1350/month Bushwick apartment, scrolling through Tik Tok and feeding the jealous wrath for those lucky perma-travelers. I had to see if it was as nice as it looked. I don’t care about the loneliness. I was already lonely. At least now, I’m free. I flirted inadvertently but consistently with the hostel receptionist and formed a crush on her that never materialized. I took myself out to some nice meals. Trying lamb laal-mas on the rooftop of a luxury hotel was a treat. I felt like a vagabond there but the waiters still treated me like royalty. I ran into Dino and we hung out a bit. He’s still a sweetheart. He told me about the teaching volunteer gigs he had lined up. I’m in part envious of his energy and the style of traveling he has taken up, one of giving and selflessness, caring for others. Maybe that’ll be me someday. I met some unsavory British folks and we went out to eat but I didn’t really enjoy their company, they were like British frat bros, which I shouldn’t be surprised exist but I’ve met so many great British people in India that it did shock me. I believe this is what we call “lad culture”. I had been thinking of cycling through Madhya Pradesh and seeing some of the mysterious interior of India, but time was faster than me, and I felt anxious to be further south before the season ended. I moved to take a bus to Mumbai, and then a train to Goa. Then I could have more time to enjoy the South and reach Chennai, or the ferry to Sri Lanka, without stress. Udaipur burned into my memory as a very nice place, somewhere I should like to return to one day.