SHIFTING GEARS

Ditch the Pichola rides, ghat hopping, and high teas in grand palaces for a tech-powered, e-bike romp in the Udaipur countryside.

- APARNA PEDNEKAR

IT’S PITCH DARK at Udai Kothi when I punch in my debit card details to unlock the yellow-and-black e-bike for an early morning jaunt to Rayta Hills.

Over sundowners the previous evening at Baromasi, the in-house brewery at the luxury boutique hotel, Udai Kothi, there was talk of luxury fatigue in Udaipur. Mewari grandeur is a relentless force. You try to escape it— and the bridal parties milling around the Pichola—by ducking into the shadiest gully within the old city maze. But a stained-glass window pops out of a blue wall, a stunning ruby earring dangles off a mound of silver jewellery lying by the kilo in a dusty store, and kids fling themselves off Gangaur Ghat to cool off. Udaipur miraculously waves some magical Rajputana wand on the old and mundane, turning them into vintage and atmospheric. Even a visit to a decrepit sword-making workshop by a fifth-generation artist of the Sikligar clan, next to Udai Kothi, turned into a sepia-tinted photo op and story session of royal valour. So, over a mug of homegrown Kalali beer at Baromasi, when a strange gent put forth the idea of an e-biking trip in the countryside, I jumped at the chance. I wanted to do something rugged in Udaipur.

It’s 6 am now and I’m pedalling through the old city, passing by Jagdish Chowk. The trail I’ve booked– on the bike itself, on its tablet interface—is 15 kilometres away, at Rayta Hills. I straddle the e-bike and I’m immediately overcome with nostalgia.