Radiant Rajasthan!!

“Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself” --Rajasthan being one of the largest states in India, receives a wide number of footfalls every year. Rajasthan serves a mixture of numerous colorful cultures, practices, cuisines that would interest any traveler.

How to Reach there: Best way to reach is to take a flight to Jaipur which are dearer to the pockets.

What is the best season: October to Feb is a tourist season as the temperature is pleasant and eases the travel.

Day 1(Jaipur): We landed at the pink city at 8:45 AM post a 2-hour flight from Bangalore in the month of January. As the tour was booked with a packaged company, we had a driver and guide assigned. Sankranti in Rajasthan is celeberated with kite flying at every house. As we landed 2 days post Sankranti, we could see several (more than 100s) kites stuck in trees and buildings along the entire Jaipur city stretch.

This city continues to hold a mixture of old and new culture which can be clearly experienced in all the structures. The path that leads to Hawa mahal is covered by fort-like old buildings which are pinkish in color. One gets to indulge in these colors throughout the travel and its not hard to agree to the fact that Jaipur is the pink city.

Hawa mahal can be visited only from outside and it definitely forms an unmatchable background for your insta uploads. We also visited jantar mantar which is an astrological and scientific treat to the eyes. This marvel creation definitely takes a bow. Visited the city palace which is very well maintained. You can get a picture of the royal proceedings in these mahals.

There are huge shopping options in Rajasthan from a wide variety of sarees, dupattas, sandals, Gems, art works and musical instruments. Lunch was at ‘Namasthe Rajasthan’ who serve very tasty veg food along with a glimpse of rajasthani dance. Visited the jalmahal that can be viewed from far and then headed to Amer fort. This is a very huge fort surrounded by mountains on all sides adding to the beauty. This fort looks beautiful at night with lights but its not bad to visit any time during the day. I recommend a stay in Haveli than a normal hotel.

Day 2(Jaisalmer): We headed towards Jaisalmer at 5:00AM. This journey takes almost 7-8 hours by road. There are night trains between Jaipur and Jaisalmer, but the morning journey by road gives you a closer look of the Rajasthani village life. You can get some lip-smacking lunch on the way. Visited the haunted village of Kuldhara and reached Jaisalmer Desert Camp around 3 :00 PM.

Most of the Camps here comes as a package inclusive of evening snacks+ camel ride (sam sand dunes) + Dinner+ Rajasthani dance at night. There is no additional payment to be done for any of the activities even if the camel guy insists on showing you some unexplored places in desert. We went on a camel ride on the beautiful sam sand dunes. This desert is an I- candy that helps you soak in some vitamin D during sunset. Capture some of the best moments on the deserts, soak in some sun, get along with the camel for some bumpy rides and get back to the stay.

The guests are re-welcomed by Rajasthani dancers and the stage is set for a DJ. The rajasthani gals dance to the beats of local and Bollywood beats and make you dance with them. Have the scrumptious dinner and get back to sleep. This place is very cold at nights and hence carrying woolens is necessary.

Day 3(Jaisalmer sight seeing): This morning it rained heavily in the deserts of Rajasthan which is a very rare sight. We were lucky to experience the same. We headed out to visit the Jaisalmer fort which is built with golden colored rocks. These golden rocks are famous here and are used in the construction of all the houses which makes the city shine in golden color when viewed from the top of the fort, making it the ‘golden city’. Bhada bhaag and patwa haveli are some of the must visits with some beautiful art sculptures

Day 4(Jodhpur): Headed out to Jodhpur at a distance of 150 kms from Jaisalmer. We explored the nook and corner of the majestic mehrengarh fort- a must visit. There is an elevator constructed newly to take tourists on top of the fort. Every house in Jodhpur is painted blue to beat the heat, making it ‘Blue City. Visited Jaswant thada and Umaid Bhavan which can be covered easily along with the fort visits

Day 5(Jaipur): We started back to Jaipur from Jodhpur. On the way we had plans to visit Pushkar and Ajmer Dargah. Pushkar is a small temple town where there is a camel fair conducted everyday. Lot of foreigners are seen here as the place offers a good shopping experience. There are very good singers and musicians who sit and play the native instruments near all the tourist spots.

We also visited a bullet baba mandir, where a bullet bike is treated as god by the locals as it has a history of its own. Reached Ajmer post lunch. One needs to take an auto to reach the entrance of the Dargah as the private vehicles are not allowed beyond a kilometer. There will be huge number of devotees however the fast-moving queues helps you reach the shrine, take blessings and get back.

Accommodation:

1.Khandela haveli Jaipur

2.Welcome Desert camp

3.Golden Haveli Jaisalmer

4.Niky International Jodhpur

The package was provided by Aamantran tour costing around 37k for 2 people inclusive of stay , transfers and guide.

The trip was coming to closure with us reaching back in Jaipur at 6 PM to catch our flight to Bangalore. With this trip, we covered 3 main cities of Rajasthan. Considering the number of days, we had for the trip, we could not cover Udaipur. I can’t wait to visit the city of lakes soon!!

All that was running in mind when on the flight was "Kesariya Baalam, padhaaro maare des!! "

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