Rajasthan demystified

An invitation to a destination wedding gave us the perfect excuse to plan a trip to Rajasthan! And of course, being the meticulous wanderers that we are, we wanted to explore every nook and corner of the largest state in the country. But paucity of leaves meant that we had to prepare an itinerary in such a way as to get a feel of the huge state within a short span, and that too, in the most economical way. Not the ones to back away from challenges, we racked our brains, researched extensively, discussed at length with our dear friend (the groom-to-be), and finalised our itinerary.

Day 1:

Unlike a typical Rajasthan tour, which starts from Udaipur or Jaipur, we took a train from Mumbai to Kota. We left from Mumbai on a Friday evening, and reached Kota on Saturday, around mid-morning. Amongst other things, Rajasthan is known for its lip-smacking food. Hence, our food exploration journey started from Kota itself, with the famous hing (asofoteida) kachoris. We had booked a vehicle, and our driver was familiar with the best kachori shop in Kota (Ratan Sev Bhandar), so that became our first halt after starting our road trip from Kota station. Luckily, when we reached the kachori shop, they were frying a fresh batch, and we got to savour fresh and absolutely delicious kachoris.

Our next halt was Chittorgarh fort, the first tourist spot on our itinerary. We had our lunch at a small restaurant just before entering the fort. This is one of Maharana Pratap’s several forts in the state. We learnt a lot about this great ruler during our trip. While the fort is huge, the maintenance seemed inadequate. Most of the structures were in a dilapidated state, and the gardens needed attention. However, this happens to be the fort where the sunset scene in the movie ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’ was shot, and luckily, we also witnessed the sunset from the same spot! 🙂

From Chittorgarh, we proceeded towards Udaipur, where our hotel accommodation awaited us. But before that, shortly away from Chittorgarh, we visited Rani Padmavati Mahal, a palace with some structures built in the middle of a lake! Thereafter, we halted for tea and snacks, and upon insistence by the locals, we got our pictures clicked in Rajasthani attire! They dressed us up in their traditional costume in a matter of minutes and also suggested several poses for the pictures. It was quite an entertaining experience.

Upon reaching Udaipur, we checked into Poonam Haveli (situated at Lal Ghat road), our abode for the next two nights. The hotel is nice, with spacious rooms, courteous staff and restaurant on the terrace, which overlooks the lake. Given our weariness from the long journey, we decided to dine at the terrace restaurant itself. While the view of the lake was good, the food was just about average. Nevertheless, we remained hopeful of delicious Rajasthani cuisine for the rest of our trip and called it a day.

Cost for day 1 (excluding train tickets, and tea and snacks expenses):

Lunch near Chittorgarh fort: Rs. 300

Chittorgarh entry ticket: Rs. 50 (Rs. 15 per person + Rs. 20 for vehicle)

Day 2:

We had reserved this day for local sightseeing in Udaipur, partly to give ourselves some rest. As we were about to embark on our tour, we got a pleasant surprise – our package included a local tour guide for Udaipur! Right after breakfast, we were met by our driver and Mr. Devi Singh, our guide for the day. Mr. Singh was not only knowledgable, but also friendly, and open to suggestions in case we wished to modify the sequence of our sightseeing. He suggested we start our day with boating on Fateh Sagar Lake, but neither of us was keen on boating. So we skipped that and instead, started with visiting Maharana Pratap Smarak (Maharana Pratap memorial). While taking us round the memorial, our guide narrated the entire life history of the great king, which was very inspiring.

Of course, part of me was focused on sampling every recommended dish in Rajasthan. So right after the memorial, I asked our guide where we could get ‘kullad’ wali coffee (coffee served in earthen cups). He promptly took us to a small coffee shop opposite Fateh Sagar Lake. And the coffee was to die-for! Sadly, I could neither bring that coffee back to Mumbai, nor replicate it at home. But on second thought, some things are best savoured in their original surroundings.

The next spot on our list was Saheliyon ki Badi, a beautiful place with an interesting history. It is said that during olden times, females were not allowed to step out of the house. Even within the house, they had to have a veil when in the presence of men. The queen wanted a place where she could freely enjoy with her friends. Therefore, the king built a large garden only for the queen, her friends, and maid-servants. This garden was called Saheliyon ki Badi (friends’ garden). Based on the queen’s liking, this garden has several fountains and a rain forest. And the engineering of that era works flawlessly even today! This place is a must-visit in Udaipur.

Mr. Singh then took us to National Handloom House, where we bought few souvenirs and then proceeded for lunch at a restaurant called Rajwada Bite. The ambience was nice, but the food seemed slightly overpriced. Next we visited City Palace, yet another abode of one of Rajasthan’s erstwhile kings. The sheer grandeur with which the kings lived dwarfs us. But maintaining such huge homes costs a lot, which is why the kings’ descendants rent out these palaces, either for specific functions or as a hotel altogether. After City Palace, we thanked Mr. Singh for the informative tour and returned to Lal Ghat road.

Our hotel manager had recommended going for the folk show at Baghor ki haveli, not far from Poonam Haveli. We asked some locals for directions and reached Baghor ki haveli about half an hour before the show time, and were surprised to find a long queue already waiting at the ticket counter. And the show was definitely worth the long queue. It consisted of several types of Rajasthani dances and a play. The performers were extremely talented and also included a very graceful and energetic dancer in her late sixties! (look at her balancing pots on the head and dancing in the pic below) Another must-visit in Udaipur. We then had dinner at a nearby restaurant and retired to our hotel.

Cost for day 2 (excluding tips):

Maharana Pratap Smarak entry: Rs. 200 (Rs. 60 per person + Rs. 80 for vehicle)

Kullad wali coffee: Rs 100 (Rs. 25 each)

Saheliyon ki badi entry: Rs. 20 (Rs. 10 each)

Lunch at Rajwada Bite: Rs. 840

Evening show at Baghor ki haveli: Rs. 180 (Rs. 90 each)

Dinner at Cool Cafe Restaurant: Rs. 360

Day 3:

Next morning we checked out from Poonam Haveli after breakfast, and started our day with a visit to Jagdish temple nearby. From there we proceeded to Nathdwara, about an hour’s drive from Udaipur. Nathdwara houses the famous Shrinathji temple (a temple dedicated to Lord Krishna). This temple has specific timings for darshan (details available on https://www.nathdwaratemple.org/DarshanTiming). We were late in reaching there by just a few minutes and had to wait almost 2 hours before the temple doors reopened. Frankly, we were in two minds about waiting so long, since it could mean jeopardising our itinerary for rest of the day. Nevertheless, we decided to wait for the darshan. After offering our prayers, we left for Maharana Pratap Museum at Haldi Ghat, which was about 40 minutes away.

Haldi Ghat gets its name from its yellow-tinged soil. In addition to the famous battle of Haldi Ghat, the area is also known for its rose plantations. Shortly before reaching the museum, we came across several shops selling various products, such as gulkand, rose water, syrups of rose, khus khus, variali, etc. They also explained the process of making these products from rose petals. We purchased a few items and proceeded towards the museum.

Maharana Pratap Museum is designed and operated in a unique way. The visit is arranged in a structured format, starting with an introductory video, followed by an animated 3D show, highlighting the important aspects of Maharana Pratap’s life. The entire museum tour takes about 45 minutes. They also have a souvenir shop in their premises, which sells interesting and reasonably priced artefacts. Yet another must-visit place.

We still had two more places to cover that day, so we skipped lunch and just grabbed a quick bite from the stalls outside the museum. Next we went to Ranakpur, which has a famous Jain temple. It took us about 2 hours to reach the Jain temple, but thankfully we reached within the visitor hours. The temple is well known as an architectural marvel. Built in the 15th century, it has over 1,444 marble pillars. The pillars are carved and no two pillars have the same carving. Also, all the statues in the temple face one or the other statue. While the temple is admirable, the staff is not very friendly and we left with a bitter taste.

Next on our list was Kumbhalgarh, about an hour’s drive from Ranakpur. Kumbhalgarh is a World Heritage Site. Built in the 15th century, it is Maharana Pratap’s birthplace. The wall surrounding the fort is over 36 km long (pic below), and is said to be the second largest continuous wall in the world after the Great Wall of China. The biggest attraction of the fort is the sound and light show conducted every evening, where Maharana Pratap’s story is narrated from the fort’s perspective, and after the show, the fort is lit up brightly for a few minutes. We made it just in time for the sound and light show! 🙂

We then proceeded to Hotel Rajgarh, our accommodation for the night, recounting the happenings of our long day.

Cost for day 3 (excluding offerings in temples and purchase of rose products):

Poonam Haveli checkout and dinner for day 1: Rs. 717

Haldi Ghat museum entry: Rs. 160 (Rs. 80 each)

Kumbhalgarh sound and light show ticket: Rs 200 (Rs. 100 each)

Day 4:

We checked out from Hotel Rajgarh after breakfast and headed towards Jodhpur, our next destination. On the way, we halted near Om Banna temple. This temple has an interesting history. It is dedicated to a man called Om Banna, who lost his life in a bike accident at this very spot, about 25 years ago. After his death, his bike kept coming back to this spot on its own, be it from his house or from the police station. Thereafter, a temple was built at this place and the bike is kept there even today and is worshipped by the locals, and Om Banna is fondly called ‘Bullet Baba’.

Upon reaching Jodhpur, our first halt was Umaid Bhavan Palace. It mainly serves as the residence of the erstwhile royal family of Jodhpur, with part of the palace functioning as a museum and another operating as a hotel. The hotel wing is run by the Taj Group of Hotels. After Umaid Bhavan, we halted for lunch at a restaurant called Spice Route and then proceeded to Mehrangarh Fort.

By far, I liked Mehrangarh Fort the best amongst all that we visited. It is huge, beautiful and provides a panaromic view of Jodhpur (pics below). Unlike other forts, it is not just a museum. Given its height, there is an elevator in the fort for tourists (and visitors need to buy tickets for using the elevator!). We decided to explore it on foot, and found it quite pleasant. There are also few artists scattered around the fort playing folk music. Even after roaming the fort for a couple of hours, we were not sure if we had covered it all 😛

After Mehrangarh, we headed to our hotel, Kothi Heritage. It is a palace converted into a hotel, with interiors decorated in royal style. However, the room allocated to us was a bit cramped. After checking in, we stepped out again to explore the city by ourselves. We made our enquiries at the reception regarding the places nearby and took an auto rickshaw to Nayi Sarak (new street) or Clock tower market, the main market of the city. Our craving for mouth-watering Rajasthani snacks took us to Janta Sweets, a famous sweets and farsan shop in Jodhpur. At Janta Sweets, we had pyaaz kachori (kachori with onion filling), mirchi wada (deep fried balls made using big chillies and potato stuffing), and delicious mawa kachori (kachori with sweet filling). This shop is definitely a must-visit in Jodhpur.

Thereafter, we roamed the street, scouting for souvenirs and knick-knacks. We ended up shopping at National Handloom Corporation, which offered a huge variety at reasonable prices. We then called it a day and took a rickshaw back to our hotel.

Cost for day 4 (excluding souvenir purchases and snacks):

Hotel Rajgarh checkout and breakfast payment: Rs. 2,300

Umaid Bhavan entry fee: Rs. 60 (Rs. 30 each)

Lunch (Spice Route Restaurant): Rs. 370

Mehrangarh fort entry fee: Rs. 200 (Rs. 100 each)

Day 5:

After breakfast, we checked out of our hotel and started our journey towards Jaisalmer, the place we were looking forward to ever since we planned the trip. It is rightly said that Jaisalmer is the real Rajasthan. However, it is at the Westernmost corner of the state, and hence some people tend to skip it. It takes about 5 hours to drive from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, but thanks to our over-cautious driver, we covered the distance in 7.5 hours. We halted for lunch at Pokhran.

In Jaisalmer city, the tourist spots are Gadisar Lake (where one can also go boating), Jaisalmer Fort, and Bada Bagh. However, the real beauty is about an hour’s drive from the city, where the majestic Sam Sand Dunes lie and the desert festival is held. We spent few minutes at Gadisar Lake, almost skipped Jaisalmer Fort, and thought of visiting Bada Bagh. However, there seemed to be some self-proclaimed sentries at Bada Bagh, who refused to let our vehicle proceed unless we paid them few hundreds (negotiable, of course). Bada Bagh is famous for huge cenotaphs but it didn’t look very impressive from afar, so we headed for the desert instead.

The sand dunes house several resorts, and most have accommodation in the form of tents. We had our tent booked in Joggan Jaisalmer Camp and reached there in the evening. We were given a royal welcome, with garlands and music, and were asked to get ready for our camel ride (which to our surprise, was already a part of the package!). We were taken to the sunset point in the sand dunes on the camel. The sunset, as always, was a beautiful sight, and riding the camel made us forget the weariness of our long journey.

We returned to our camp and rested for some time. Later in the evening, there was a folk show performed by the locals. And the performance was absolutely fantastic, with brilliant music and mesmerising dances. I’m always amazed at the amount of hidden talent our country has! Luckily, there were just a handful of guests at the camp that evening. Towards the end of the folk show, the graceful dancer pulled us into the arena and made us dance as well 🙂

Jaisalmer also happened to be the end of our road trip in Rajasthan. We had booked train tickets from Jaisalmer for the same night. Therefore, after dinner, we checked out from the camp and headed towards the railway station. That is when we were once again touched by the hospitality of this beautiful state. The manager of Joggan Jaisalmer Camp enquired about our onward journey and after thinking for a minute, offered to pack sandwiches for us since our train would not have breakfast options! 🙂 We thanked him for the wonderful service and hurried for our train.

Cost for day 5 (excluding tips):

Lunch at Pokhran: Rs. 240

Dinner at Joggan Jaisalmer Camp: Rs. 730

Day 6:

We had taken an overnight train from Jaisalmer to Jaipur, which reached Jaipur at around 1 pm. So effectively half our day was spent in the train itself, chitchatting with co-passengers (most of whom were army men), reminiscing our trip so far, and impatiently waiting to explore yet another city before returning home.

As our train neared Jaipur station, we called our hotel – Hotel Gandharva – to ask for directions. The manager gave us the number of a cab driver and informed us that there is a complimentary service from the station to the hotel (another surprise!). We coordinated with the cab driver and reached our hotel in no time. We had originally planned to visit Chokhi Dhani (a theme restaurant in Jaipur) that evening but decided to skip it due to exhaustion. Instead, we had a leisurely lunch at the hotel and settled for a siesta.

In the evening, we gathered information from the hotel staff and set out to explore the famous Jaipur markets. We took an auto rickshaw to Johari market (market of jewellers), and on the way, saw all pink buildings around us, which gives Jaipur the moniker ‘Pink City’. Walking down Johari market, we reached Bapu Bazaar, another famous market in Jaipur. It is rightly said that you can find almost anything in Bapu Bazaar. The market is littered with shops as well as street stalls selling everything, from clothes to jewellery to footwear to accessories. The huge variety offered in these markets is enough to have anyone confused! 🙂

Since it was getting a bit late in the evening (most shops close by 8.30 pm), we purchased some clothes for our folks back home, halted for some refreshments at LMB (a famous restaurant and sweet shop in the area), and returned to our hotel. We skipped dinner and retired for the night.

Cost for day 6 only consisted of auto rickshaw fare and clothes purchases.

Day 7:

This day was reserved for local sightseeing, and we had prepared a list of places to visit – Hawa Mahal, Jantar Mantar, City Palace, Jal Mahal, and Amer Fort. We had enquired at the hotel for a cab for our day tour and they quoted Rs. 1,000-1,200. But backpackers don’t spend so much! We realised that most of these places are on Jaipur-Agra road and easily accessible by auto rickshaw. Moreover, City Palace is at walking distance from Hawa Mahal (if you know the short-cut), and Jantar Mantar is right next to City Palace! So we promptly took a rick to Hawa Mahal and started our tour.

Hawa Mahal is so named because of its numerous windows and a structure which allows maximum air circulation. We spent some time there, and proceeded to City Palace. Amongst all the cities in Rajasthan, we found Jaipur to be the most commercialised. City Palace itself has various types of entry tickets, depending on the time you want to visit it, and whether you are an Indian national or not. In addition, the area around these structures is swamped with tour guides and knick-knack vendors.

We next took a rick to Jal Mahal, and were sort of disappointed at what we saw. It is a small palace-like structure in the middle of a lake and that’s about it. After having seen the huge forts and palaces in Udaipur and Jodhpur, we didn’t find the forts in Jaipur to be very impressive. Giving Amer Fort a miss, our day tour got over in just half a day, and we returned to our hotel for another siesta. In the evening, we again went to Bapu Bazaar and shopped some more, since the city seemed best for shopping only.

Cost for day 7 (excluding auto rickshaw fare and shopping):

Haha Mahal entry: Rs. 100 (Rs. 50 each)

Day 8:

This was the last day of our Rajasthan sightseeing. We took a train from Jaipur to Ajmer, wanting to cover the famous Ajmer mosque and Pushkar. However, on seeing the crowd in the train, we realised Ajmer mosque would be equally crowded. Therefore, we directly booked a cab from Ajmer station to Pushkar. Pushkar is famous for Pushkar festival (held in November every year), and Bramha temple, which is the only temple in the world dedicated to Lord Bramha. The temple was beautiful and serene, and thankfully not overcrowded. After offering our prayers, we walked down to Pushkar Lake nearby and spent some time there. We had our lunch at a small restaurant near the temple. The food was simple but delicious. Thereafter, we took a cab back to Ajmer station and returned to Jaipur, as our Rajasthan tour came to an end.

Cost for day 8 (excluding offerings at the temple):

Train ticket to and from Ajmer: Rs. 240 (Rs. 120 each)

Cab from Ajmer station to Pushkar temple: Rs. 313

Cab from Pushkar to Ajmer station: Rs. 200

Day 9-11:

On day 9, we checked out from Hotel Gandharva and went to Heiwa Heaven resort, about 25 km from the main city. This is where we were to attend our friend’s wedding, which was our primary reason for coming to Rajasthan!

We spent the next two days enjoying what is popularly (and rightly) known as the big fat Indian wedding. It seemed to be straight out of a Bollywood movie, with lavish sets, people decked up in all their finery, multitude of cuisines, live music, tireless dancing, etc.

On day 11, we checked out, took a cab to Jaipur airport, and returned home, having tasted almost all the experiences that Rajasthan could offer.

Acknowledgement:

We give credit where it is due. And for such a memorable trip, we are extremely grateful to our friend Manish Golchha, and his travel company, Blissful Holidays.

Total cost:

Including the above mentioned expenses, airfare, train tickets, shopping, tips, etc., our total trip cost was Rs. 70,259 (approx. Rs. 35,000 per person).

Tips and tricks:

• Itinerary: Rajasthan has many faces – historical, religious, and gastronomical – and it would help if you can decide which facet you would like to focus on, before embarking on your journey. This is important because after a while, historical places seem repetitive, and religious places can be maddening in their own way thanks to overzealous crowds of devotees and in some cases, touts.
• Timing: The historical places have specific timings, usually closing by 6 pm. Similarly, religious places have their own darshan hours, and long queues as well. So it would be helpful to check the timings of the places you wish to visit and account for some buffer in your itinerary.
• Packing: Do check weather reports online for the time frame that you wish to visit Rajasthan and pack accordingly. We ended up lugging around a lot of warm clothes and never felt the need to use them.
• Cost: Rajasthan can be as expensive as you will allow it to be. Almost everywhere we went, we found good deals simply because we hunted for them. Even for transportation, you can find cheaper alternatives than package deals, only if you ask.

{Disclaimer: We had undertaken this trip a while ago (pre Covid era), so the costs, rules, timings might have changed a bit.}