Rajasthan Road Trip

Time to take a trip to Rajasthan, one of Jody’s hit destinations, so after doing a lot of research about whether or not to take a train and do it ourselves, we decided to get a driver for two weeks. We did so much in those two weeks and saw so many temples that to write about it all would boar the pants off you. So here are the edited highlights. Agra First stop the beautiful Sikandra or Akbars Mausoleum. Similar to Taj Mahal but less marble and redder in colour.  Then to the very very pretty, Itmad-ud-Daulahs tomb. Known as Baby Taj. it is made of marble just like Big Taj From there the opposite bank of the River Yamuna to see the Taj Mahal at sunset. The sun sank down over the Red Fort. Beautiful Taj Home Stay - Agra Room rating: 9/10 - Clean and comfortable. lovely bathroom Location: 5/10 - about 5km away from Taj Mahal Staff: 7/10 - Rushed us a little Value for Money: 6/10 - much more expensive than we are used to Other comments: Free breakfast, power keeps going off Stay again? Maybe if not on a backpacker budget Day 2 Early start and we were in the queue at the Taj Mahal by 5.45am! It looks beautiful in the pictures but it's nothing compared to the real thing and you are not prepared for just how beautiful this building is. It does render you speechless as your eyes take it all in and you can see why they say it is the worlds most romantic building.  Then 35km west we stopped at Fatehpur Sikri a large palace and mosque built from the red sandstone.  Very photogenic buildings but we had to fight off the tour touts and hawkers outside. It was very hot here too so glad to get back into the air conditioned car and head the 300 km to Ranthambhore.  That was until we had gone 200 km and the road ran out! Rantambhore Arrived at Ranthambhore National Park later that same night and were up early the next morning for our Tiger Safari starting at 6:15am. We set off on a canter truck with about 20 other people to zone 3 of the park to find some tigers. This area of the National Park was beautiful but unfortunately the Tigers were all hiding. We saw plenty of other wildlife, monkeys, deer, wild boar and birds like peacocks, kingfishers & hornbills. Oh well! Ankur Resort - Rantambhore Room rating: 5/10 - comfy bed, TV, no hot water Location: 9/10 - Centre of town for Safaris Staff: 8/10 - friendly Value for Money: 7/10 - little more expensive than we are used to but includes a big free breakfast - cold! Other comments: They do have a small swimming pool onsite, power keeps going off Stay again? Perhaps! Bryan decided the following day, was the day he was going to see a Tiger and set off again on another early morning Tiger safari. Once again these stripy cats eluded him. Hiding his disappointment we set off for our next destination. Jaipur - The Pink City On the way our driver Lalit stopped in a small village as Bryan had said he wanted some shoes. We got out the car and walked across to where a man was sitting on the floor surrounded by handmade camel leather shoes. Bryan found exactly what he was looking for but in a small village like this we had drawn quite a crowd. Mostly children and teenagers had gathered to see ‘the whiteys’. Next stop was a monkey temple where a Holy Man gave us a blessing and a tikka on our foreheads, then wanted to charge us a fortune for it! The next morning and we were taken on first trip to the Amber City about 11km from the centre of Jaipur. It is a huge Palace on top of a hill and it was beautiful. As we arrived there, musicians were playing, dancers were dancing and elephants were bringing scores of people up the hill. The elephants were all painted beautifully and one was even painted like a tiger. Bryan got to see a tiger after all! Whilst in Jaipur we absolutely couldn’t leave without seeing the fabulous Jantar Mantar, a huge observatory with the biggest sundial in the world. It stands at 40m high and is very accurate. it is also one of the oldest so it’s more impressive when you know it was built hundreds of years ago without the aid of any computers. Jaipur was great for shopping, shoes, scarves, puppets and lots of gifts for christmas! Hotel Rajputana Haveli Room rating: 9/10 - very very comfy bed, TV, hot water, air con & fridge. WOW!! Location: 5/10 - out of town but we have a driver & car Staff: 7/10 - friendly but very disorganised Value for Money: 7/10 - far more expensive than we are used to but includes a free breakfast - cold! Other comments: They do have internet but the power keeps going off so you can’t use it. Restaurant is atmosphere sterile! Stay again? Perhaps! Pushkar We arrived in Pushkar this is where Brahma dropped a lotus flower on the earth and Pushkar appeared. The town is around a small lake and has many ghats which lead down to the lake. After checking in to our hotel we walked into the small town. This town is what we call Rajasthan! Small winding streets, market stalls selling all manner of goods, local people full of character, and many dodgy operators approach you offering petals to drop in to the lake and priests offering you blessings. All for a price of course! Pushkar laws say no alcohol, meat or eggs at all. And no kissing or showing of affection in public. So the town is a vegetarian heaven and is full of lovely restaurants with frigid people! Hotel New Park Room rating: 3/10 - Basic, no plug on TV, dribble of hot water Location: 2/10 - a mile walk to town - not good in the heat Staff: 4/10 - unresponsive & disorganised Value for Money: 2/10 Other comments: They do have internet and costs rps 100 a day Stay again? Nope Udaipur Stopping briefly at Ajmer to visit a Jain temple which had golden flying elephants in it. Really!! We spent the whole day on the road to this beautiful city on a lake where they filmed James Bond & Octapussey. As you drive in you could be forgiven for thinking you were in Italy with all the beautiful white columned buildings. Having had a bit of a mix of hotels so far (all of which had been organised by the tour operator)we were anxious to see our next one. Well we weren’t disappointed, it was beautiful. Full of quirky features and coloured windows. We were well happy! We had a great view of the lake from the rooftop restaurant - a great place to watch the sun set. The following day we walked to the City Palace, bought some nick-nacks and had a lovely meal in a beautiful restaurant set on the lake. We loved Udaipur :-) Anjali Havali Room rating: 8/10 - lovely & Quirky Location: 9/10 - right in the centre Staff: 6/10 - friendly but very disorganised Value for Money: 7/10 Other comments: took 1 hour for them to serve breakfast Stay again? Maybe Jodhpur - The Blue City Our hotel here was right under the Mehrangath Castle Fort which when lit up at night, made for a beautiful rooftop setting. This town is a maze of little streets and is an absolute dream for shoppers. The beautiful Rajasthan tapestries hang from every building tempting you inside. In fact they temped Bryan sooo much he couldn’t stop buying them! And pouffes. And rugs. And more tapestries! Jody managed to drag him out of the shops long enough to go up to the fort to see the “blue city” which is the oldest part. Apparently the blue paint on the houses is made from the indigo flower and acts as an insect repellant. I think we might do that to our house! The English Clock-tower was very interesting, it has a lively market all around where we bought spices and tea and then Bryan found a man selling turbans. Just the thing he decided for our trip coming up to the desert!! Krishna Prakash Heritage Havali Room rating: 7/10 Location: 9/10 - Next to Mehrangath castle Staff: 6/10 - Value for Money: 6/10 Other comments:lovely gardens, pool and rooftop restaurant but room not too nice Stay again? May be Jaisalmer - The Golden City The stop over-here for two nights gave us time to visit the Golden City which is a huge golden colour fort up on the hill. The first thing that hits you about this place is the heat. Although only 300km from Jodhpur, being so close to the desert has sent the temperature soaring. We had a nice hotel with a great rooftop restaurant which was great for watching the sun go down and having a nice meal. The best bit though, was that the hotel had a decent swimming pool which we certainly made use of. As you go in the fort you climb up the hill into it and it is full of traders selling all the beautiful rugs and tapestries so it makes for a really colourful walk up. The second day here we went to the lake just a few km from our hotel. It is another Holy place (of which there are thousands in India) so temples strew the lake shore. Then we noticed a lady selling sliced bread which we thought was a bit odd. Then we remembered someone telling us to feed the fish there. So armed with a white sliced, we made our way to the point where they all gather. There were hundreds of them. All with their mouths open waiting for us to throw in the bread. It was like being at the fairground throwing ping pong balls into goldfish bowls to win a prize! Hotel The Royal Jaisalmer Havali Room rating: 9/10 lovely Location: 9/10 - Next to Jaisalmer Fort Staff: 6/10 Value for Money: 7/10 Other comments: Nice pool, nice roof top restaurant Stay again? yes if we went back there Our 3rd night we went on the camel safari which we have written about separately Bikaner This place was just a stop-over for us as we were now heading back to Delhi. However, one place we had to see was Karni Mata Temple, or better known as the Rat Temple. Many people have seen this on tv but what you are not prepared for is the smell. You think we would have learned by now! Yes there are rats and rat shit everywhere. And they put out big bowls of milk for them to drink which stinks too. The rats were in a dreadful condition, scabby, thin and quite sick looking. Some were dead and to be honest, they would be better off killing the lot and getting some healthy ones in. But we couldn’t say that of course. there is supposed to be a white one amongst them and it’s supposed to bring luck if you spot it. We didn’t want to hand around though, the smell was horrendous so sticking with the luck we already have, we got out of there as quick as we could. Hotel Sagar Room rating: 5/10 - 1 tiny window small amount of hot water Location: 4/10 - North side of town, way out Staff: 6/10 - Value for Money: 5/10 Other comments: pretty pained walls Stay again? No, too far out of town Mandawa Again just a short stop-over on the way back to Delhi. We loved our hotel though (once we’d changed rooms for one not covered on damp and outside a rubbish tip). The public areas were beautiful and the painting lavish! They had a small puppet show in the evening. It took him about 45 min to set up his stage and he gave us a 5 minute show. Crazy! We did feel sorry for him though as there were only 6 of us to watch it so we bought a puppet for one of you lucky people as a present. Hotel Heritage Mandawa Room rating: 8/10 - hard bed but nice clean bathroom Location: 5/10 - Nothing here but good stop over point Staff: 6/10 - lovely Value for Money: 7/10 Other comments: Lovely decoration around the hotel Stay again? Yes Overall Rajasthan experience: 8/10 - We loved Rajasthan. full of colour, palaces, forts and lakes. Oh yes and temples. It is really well suited to western tourists but it really is ‘Tourist India’. We would definitely recommend it though as it has some beautiful things well worth seeing. A word of advice if you do go to Rajasthan - bring an empty suitcase with you as there is so much beautiful stuff here to buy - resistance is futile!!!