[anainar]

Originally Posted by Gandhi

I am not planning to do any trips as of yet. Was just wondering if online maps are reliable or not. Google maps works really accurate for city roads and small distances.

Online maps have their own algorithm to pick the route. I have Satguide GPS, but I dont follow that blindly. I have logged many bugs in their software. And this is the clincher. It says the distance between Koramangala, Bangalore - Warje,Pune to be 768 kms, while the trip odometer always hovers around 860 kms. Am not saying they are useless, but they are just tools. I always understand which direction I am going, and over ride the GPS instructions if I feel that it is asking me to do something stupid. But the system recalculates based on me not following its instructions and that is a good feature. So, it is an iterative process between man and machine.

Which is why we need human intelligence and that is where hvkumar sir and his clan, and team bhp comes into play with wealth of information. I do plan to make a trip from Bangalore - Rajasthan - New Delhi - Leh next May - June. Let me see how it all transpires.

Nainar

[anainar]

I changed my plan. My son has his Diwali vacations from October 10th till 23rd and thought of doing part of the initial plan now instead of whole one month trip. This I plan to cover only Rajasthan.

Need a little help from the gurus. Am planning a road trip to Rajasthan. I will be driving from Bangalore and back but will pick up my family enroute. So, I need only help in Pune - Rajasthan - Pune sector.. Here is what I have in mind

Pune -leave by 12:00 PM, 10th October. ( can be earlier as my son's school declares holiday )
Himatnagar - 750 kms - 12 hours drive, stay - 10/10/09
Udaipur - 180 kms - 3 hours drive, early morning departure from Himatnagar - stay on 11th,12th.
Khumbhalkar - 100 km, 2 hour drive, 13th early morning deparutre from Udaipur, stay at Khumbhalkar
Jodhpur - 150 km, 3 hours drive, 14th early morning departure from Khumbalkar, stay on 14th and 15th.
Jaisalmer - 265 kms, 4 hours drive, 16th early morning departure from Jodhpur, stay
Bikaner - 330 kms, 6 hours drive, 17th early morning departure from Jaisalmer, stay
Jaipur - 320 kms, 5 hours drive, 18th early morning departure from Bikaner - Stay on 18th and 19th
Agra - 232 - Early morning departure from Jaipur, Stay on 20th.
Departure to Pune on 21st, via Indore, arrive on 22nd

from:Unknown road to:NH 8 to:NH 8 to:Unknown road to:NH 112 to:NH 15 to:NH 15 to:Unknown road to:NH 11/NH 2 to:18.470882,73.80867 - Google Maps

This is the route I am planning to take.
Does this look feasible? Or should I cut some places? I believe the roads in Rajasthan are good and not much traffic.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Nainar

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by anainar

I changed my plan. My son has his Diwali vacations from October 10th till 23rd and thought of doing part of the initial plan now instead of whole one month trip. This I plan to cover only Rajasthan.

Need a little help from the gurus. Am planning a road trip to Rajasthan. I will be driving from Bangalore and back but will pick up my family enroute. So, I need only help in Pune - Rajasthan - Pune sector.. Here is what I have in mind

Pune -leave by 12:00 PM, 10th October. ( can be earlier as my son's school declares holiday )
Himatnagar - 750 kms - 12 hours drive, stay - 10/10/09
Udaipur - 180 kms - 3 hours drive, early morning departure from Himatnagar - stay on 11th,12th.
Khumbhalkar - 100 km, 2 hour drive, 13th early morning deparutre from Udaipur, stay at Khumbhalkar
Jodhpur - 150 km, 3 hours drive, 14th early morning departure from Khumbalkar, stay on 14th and 15th.
Jaisalmer - 265 kms, 4 hours drive, 16th early morning departure from Jodhpur, stay
Bikaner - 330 kms, 6 hours drive, 17th early morning departure from Jaisalmer, stay
Jaipur - 320 kms, 5 hours drive, 18th early morning departure from Bikaner - Stay on 18th and 19th
Agra - 232 - Early morning departure from Jaipur, Stay on 20th.
Departure to Pune on 21st, via Indore, arrive on 22nd

from:Unknown road to:NH 8 to:NH 8 to:Unknown road to:NH 112 to:NH 15 to:NH 15 to:Unknown road to:NH 11/NH 2 to:18.470882,73.80867 - Google Maps

This is the route I am planning to take.
Does this look feasible? Or should I cut some places? I believe the roads in Rajasthan are good and not much traffic.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Nainar

Just some observations,dont think you need to stay in Kumbalgarh and not even sure if they have facilities.K'garh can be done as a day trip from Udaipur.At Jaisalmer,the Gateway Rawalkot is a recommended place.the desert safaris at Sam are fine,but i wouldnt recco the stay in the dunes esp with family.You can give Bikaner a pass,nothing much to see or do except for the extra distance that you end up driving.Do stop by the Ajmer Dargah enroute to Jaipur from Jaisalmer.I would suggest using Jodhpur as a transit point in your trip to Jaisalmer.Udaipur to Jodhpur.Stay the night at JDP.Leave after BF to J'slmer.Return journey again stay the night at JDP and leave next day to Jaipur(This is in case you are not going to Bikaner).

Places to see are the usual that you would find.Nevertheless heres a list in case it helps:

UDP:

Eklingi Temple(You can cover this on your way to UDP from AMD)
Srinathji Temple,Haldighat,Kumbalgarh Fort,City Palace,Car Museum,Saheliyon ki bari,Fateh Sagar,Pichola Lake,Taj Lake resor,Aapni Dhani.Pls note that to enter Taj/Oberoi you need to have a dinner or lunch reservation.so make sure you do that in case you are going there.

Jodhpur:

UmmedBhawan,Clock Tower,Jaswant Thada,Mehrengarh Fort

Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer Fort,Patwon Haveli,Salam Singh ki Haveli,Mandir Palace,Gadisar Lake,Sam

Jaipur

Jaigarh Fort,Amer Mahal,Jal Mahal,Pushkar,Ajmer,Brahma Temple,City Palace,Jantar Mantar,Birla Temple,Hawa Mahal,Chokhi Dani

At Agra,dont get taken in by hotels offering taj view rooms.Taj is visible only if the moon is there and no clouds.the possibility of both these occuring on the same day is ver very remote.Also please note Taj is closed for public on Fridays.Also please remeber to carry some kind of identification to prove that you are an Indian residing in India,because the entry fee at the taj is INR750 for NRIs and foreigners while for resident Indians is INR20.Also please remember to hire a guide from the hotel where you stay else you would get mobbed at th taj.retain the same guide for your tour of agra fort as well.In case you have a sweet tooth,do try out the Agra Petha.

More in case I remember some more.

You could follow this t-logue for more details:http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...h-udaipur.html

[anainar]

Hi Ranjit,

Thank you for the link and suggestions. I picked Bikaner essentially because I did not want to drive back the same way. From what you said, may be I can skip Bikaner and make Jodhpur the base. The travelogue is quiet detailed as well. Can you PM me the contact numbers of the hotels you stayed in case you have them sitting some where?

Thanks.

Nainar

[Nitin Mathur]

Hi Nainar,

I'm no guru and Ranjit has already provided some key inputs, my thoughts :
Pune -leave by 12:00 PM, 10th October. ( can be earlier as my son's school declares holiday )
Himatnagar - 750 kms - 12 hours drive, stay - 10/10/09: You might want to leave earlier and make it to Udaipur the same day. Else you might want to stay over in Ahmedabad (Udaipur should take less than 4 hours from there). There'll be more hotels since its a bigger city. Route suggestion: Bombay Expressway to Panvel, Bombay Bypass (see HV Kumar's instructions). NH8 upto Udaipur.
Udaipur - 180 kms - 3 hours drive, early morning departure from Himatnagar - stay on 11th,12th: Sounds Good. Great place
Khumbhalkar - 100 km, 2 hour drive, 13th early morning deparutre from Udaipur, stay at Khumbhalkar: As Ranjit mentioned can be done as a day trip from Udaipur. You could however combine this with Ranakpur (awesome Jain temple by a stream)and stay over at Kumbhalgarh (there's good accommodation here). From Ranakpur, take State roads upto Sanderao, NH 14 to Pali, NH 65 to Jodhpur
Jodhpur - 150 km, 3 hours drive, 14th early morning departure from Khumbalkar, stay on 14th and 15th: Sounds good
Jaisalmer - 265 kms, 4 hours drive, 16th early morning departure from Jodhpur, stay: Excellent road, very little traffic
Bikaner - 330 kms, 6 hours drive, 17th early morning departure from Jaisalmer, stay: NH 15, straight as an arrow,excellent surface, low traffic, this is where they test a lot of new cars for speed etc, you might make it faster, safety first though.
Jaipur - 320 kms, 5 hours drive, 18th early morning departure from Bikaner - Stay on 18th and 19th: Think it might be longer ~360 Km on NH 11 via Ratangarh, Fatehpur and Sikar. Traffic builds up post Sikar and navigating in city traffic in Jaipur may take some time. Expect 6 hours.
Agra - 232 - Early morning departure from Jaipur, Stay on 20th.:
Should take no more than 4 hours on NH 11 via Dausa, Mahua, Bharatpur and fatehpur Sikri. If you have another day, stay over in Bharatpur, check out the bird sanctuary (one of the three Unesco World Heritage wildlife sanctauries in India). Check out Akbar's city: Fatehpur Sikri en route to Agra from Bharatpur.
Departure to Pune on 21st, via Indore, arrive on 22nd: The grand old Agra - Bombay road (called AB road in many towns on the way) or NH 2 to Nashik via Dhaulpur, Morena, Gwalior, Shivpuri, Indore and Dhule. Not sure of road quality between Gwalior and Indore now. You'll surely know the Nashik -Pune route. Should be doable assuming Agra -Indore is good surface and can be covered in a day.

RTDC hotels are not too bad but you'll need to book in advance. Lots of Private options at each of the cities, since you are driving should not be a problem.

Hope this is useful.

[anainar]

Thanks guys. Based on the feedback I have removed Khumbalkar stay and Bikaner stay. Here is what I think I will follow finally

10 October - Leave Pune till Ahmedabad/Udaipur based on whether my son's school declares holiday.

11th, 12th, 13th stay at Udaipur - Day trip to Ranakpur and Kumbhalkar.

14th afternoon departure to Jodhpur - 3 hours drive, stay on 14th, 15th.

16th noon departure to Jaisalmer 4 hours drive, stay on 16th

17th noon departure to Jaipur, 8 hours drive, stay on 17th, 18th.

19th noon departure to Agra 4 hours drive, stay on 19th

20th early morning departure to Indore, 12 hours drive stay on 20th

21st early morning departure to Pune via Nashik 12 hours drive and arrive.

Or is it faster to come back via Rajasthan only as GQ roads are supposedly better than any other roads?

Thanks.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by anainar

Thanks guys. Based on the feedback I have removed Khumbalkar stay and Bikaner stay. Here is what I think I will follow finally

10 October - Leave Pune till Ahmedabad/Udaipur based on whether my son's school declares holiday.

11th, 12th, 13th stay at Udaipur - Day trip to Ranakpur and Kumbhalkar.

14th afternoon departure to Jodhpur - 3 hours drive, stay on 14th, 15th.

16th noon departure to Jaisalmer 4 hours drive, stay on 16th

17th noon departure to Jaipur, 8 hours drive, stay on 17th, 18th.

19th noon departure to Agra 4 hours drive, stay on 19th

20th early morning departure to Indore, 12 hours drive stay on 20th

21st early morning departure to Pune via Nashik 12 hours drive and arrive.

Or is it faster to come back via Rajasthan only as GQ roads are supposedly better than any other roads?

Thanks.

Looks good.Just an observation:Jaisalmer to Jaipur is going to be a very long haul.Its going to be close to 12hours,irrespective of the type of vehicle you drive.Considering the fact that you are going to be in J'mer for just one night that too reaching J'mer by evening,it leaves you with no time in Jaisalmer.

Also you are leaving from J'mer by afternoon the next day which means arrival at Jaipur would be early morning or dead night.Night travel is best avoided on R'sthan roads considering the fact that they are going to be lonely(no safety issues reported).Also an early morning arrival at Jaipur would mean that it would take you some time to freshen up and rest,which mean effectively you would have a day and a half at Jaipur,wouldnt that be a little too hectic.

Instead why dont you split up your stay at Jodhpur.

Udaipur-Jodhpur:Leave early from UDP to reach Jodhpur before noon.Spend the day in JDP post lunch going around.Around 6hrs travel time.

Jodhpur-J/mer:Leave by mid morning to reach Sam by 3pm.Travel to the dunes,and get back to J/mer by evening.Around 4hours travel time.

Stay the night at J'mer.Next day after an early breakfast,go around J'mer and leave for JDP so as to reach JDP for lunch.Stay the night at JDP.You could do the remainder of going around on this day.

Next day after breakfast leave for Jaipur so as to reach Jaipur by evening.JDP-Jai is a 6-7hour drive and enroute you can stop by the Dargah of Ajmer Sharif & the Brahma temple at Pushkar.the only one of its kind that exists.They are apart by around 10-12kms only.

I would prefer the Indore route as it would break the monotony of coming back through known routes.Coming back via a different route always keeps you alert.Just my two cents worth of input

[anainar]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Looks good.Just an observation:Jaisalmer to Jaipur is going to be a very long haul.Its going to be close to 12hours,irrespective of the type of vehicle you drive.
I would prefer the Indore route as it would break the monotony of coming back through known routes.Coming back via a different route always keeps you alert.Just my two cents worth of input

This is news to me. I thought the roads in Rajasthan are very good and the distance between Jaisalmer-Jaipur is 571 kms. Given that I presumed it will be 10 hours drive max and if I leave Jaisalmer by 11:00 I can be in Jaipur by 9:00 PM. If that is not doable, then I will have to split the Jodhpur stay.

I think I am pretty much decided on the places to stay also..

Udaipur - Mountain Ridge, got a quote for Rs. 1800/day
Jodhpur - Indrashan - 1800/day
Jaipur - Dera Rawatsar - 1800/day
Jaisalmer - 4500 for tents. May be I will skip the tents and go to regular rooms. Or is it worth a stay in the tents?
Agra - Still to get quotes.

I am also inclined to do Agra - Gwalior - Indore route, but some travelogues suggest bad roads and dacoity in MP area. It will be just me, my wife and six year old son and hence am cautious.

Thanks.

Nainar

[anainar]

Thanks for all the inputs guys. My plans are frozen. As suggested I have changed by plan splitting my stay at Jodhpur for two days so as to avoid the long drive from Jaisalmer - Jaipur.

I have also decided to avoid desert camps, instead visit the dunes during day time. Only open question is whether to come via Indore or retrace back the same way, from agra drive down till Udaipur, stay, the next day start early morning and reach Pune in the evening.

Thanks Ranjit, Nitin for your inputs.

Nainar

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by anainar

Thanks for all the inputs guys. My plans are frozen. As suggested I have changed by plan splitting my stay at Jodhpur for two days so as to avoid the long drive from Jaisalmer - Jaipur.

I have also decided to avoid desert camps, instead visit the dunes during day time. Only open question is whether to come via Indore or retrace back the same way, from agra drive down till Udaipur, stay, the next day start early morning and reach Pune in the evening.

Thanks Ranjit, Nitin for your inputs.

Nainar

Like I said,to break the monotony Indore,but an easier drive would be Agra-UDP.It would be a breeze,in fact all the way till Belgaum would be a breezeIndore route you would have to encounter a lot of truck traffic,and obviously better facilities on GQ and plus you could easily bypass Mumbai while coming from AMD and reach the EW and go on till Pune.Plenty of stay options on the Mumbai Pune Bypass as well.Not sure if you have this attachment,in case you dont,here is a detailed route of bypassing Mumbai prepard by HV Kumar.

[anainar]

I have this bypass guide. Infact my Satguide GPS also suggests the same route to bypass Bombay.. Panvel Sion highway -Thane-Belapur Road, Ghodbunder road and then onto NH8.

BTW, I have booked myself in MoutainRidge at Udaipur( Thanks Ranjit for the lead ) and managed to get free stay at Royal Orchid hotel, Jaipur using my Vanity club membership and at Jodhpur a homestay at Indrashaan. Jaisalmer guy said,I can drive in,check the rooms and pick the one I like.No need for advance booking. Agra is the only remaining part but will do that in the coming days.

Am excited about this trip as I see this as a prelude to my Leh trip next year.

Nainar

[sudev]

IMHO Jaisalmer Jaipur - 8/10 hours via Bikaner will not be a problem. If you go via Nagaur/Ajmer then it will take longer but the route is shorter.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by anainar

Jaisalmer guy said,I can drive in,check the rooms and pick the one I like

Sounds goodwhich place would you be staying @ J'mer.

[ranjitp1]

For Agra,you might want to check out Grand Hotel,would fit the budget.nothing fancy,but pretty good for a night

[anainar]

Desert Haveli in Jaisalmer. The guy said no need for advance booking. In any case, I can confirm once I reach Udaipur.

Will check out Grand hotel and few others places in Agra.

Nainar