[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by jaysmokesleaves

Day10: Udaipur
Day11: Udaipur - Bombay.

Now, I have the following query:

If I wish to spend 1 extra day in any of the above locations, which should that be ??
Jaisalmer/Jodhpur/Bikaner / Udaipur??

One extra day - it would be Udaipur. I can use that day to go to either Chittorgarh (to see the Rani Padmini Fort) or have darshan of Srinathji in Nathdwara.

[jaysmokesleaves]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

One extra day - it would be Udaipur. I can use that day to go to either Chittorgarh (to see the Rani Padmini Fort) or have darshan of Srinathji in Nathdwara.

Wow that was super quick HVK. I just edited my query!
Is it ok to spend a day in Pushkar(Pushkar - Ajmer)..?

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by jaysmokesleaves

Wow that was super quick HVK. I just edited my query!
Is it ok to spend a day in Pushkar(Pushkar - Ajmer)..?

I think a day is more than enough for Pushkar/Ajmer, what would one do that extra one day. Even Pushkar Lake is supposed to have dried up.

Nicer to spend that extra day in a lake city like Udaipur, even if it means hanging around in the hotel instead of running off to Chittorgarh or Nathdwara.

[tsk1979]

If you are the palace guy, one extra day in Udaipur.
If you like sand, one extra day in Jaisalmer.

And about RTDC, well stay away from those, private hotels are better.
Since you are not really in holiday season, you will get good deals from private hotels.

that said do visit the Rajasthan sub section of Indiamike. Since they have lot of foreign web traffic, Rajasthan is very thorougly covered with hotel reviews, location reviews, but albeit from a westerners POV

[anainar]

Jodhpur you can try Indrashaan Guest house. Here is a picture of the guest house interiors with my son in it.. quiet spacious and A/C, costed me Rs.1500. Dont try the dinner there, at Rs.350 is not really worth. Good place to stay. Contact details - Indrashaan Guest house, 593, High Court Colony, Jodhpur, +91 291 2440665, person name, Bhavana Singh. Dont forget to try the restaurant On the Rocks! The food really rocked, not typical Rajasthani cuisine, but made very nice cocktails, and non vegetarian stuff.

The next picture is that of Hotel Basant Vihar Palace in Bikaner. Rs.1900 per night. NH15, Sriganganagar Road, Bikaner 334 002, Ph+91 151 2250675.

If you have another day, spend it at Chittorgarh, may be stay at Fort Bassi, which is @25 kms from Chittorgarh, but well connected by 4 lane kota-Udaipur highway. Will see if I can upload some photos of that place.

Naianr

[longford]

I have been working on this trip for the last 15 days and i thought all was tied up. Initially, I was thinking of taking a train ride to and fro udaipur and then use up the time to be driven around places. Turns out, I decided to change my mind last evening and go with the thrill of a long drive and do it in my car itself.

Jaysmokesleaves, guess what, I too leave on the 18th and reaching back on Dec 2 likely.

My itenary looks like this
18th Navi Mumbai-Udaipur
19th-24th Udaipur camping and sightseeing. Got relative and first visit post marriage of ten years.So longer stay.Plan to see Ranakpur,chitaugarh and others
24th-27th Kumbalgarh chillout at Club Mahindra Resort. Mans got to hav e his fluids and lazy sky/swimming pool moments.
27th-29th Drive to Jodhpur and do sightseeing
29th-30th Jaisalmer extravaganza (milestone Bday time)
1st Dec Exit Jaisalmer for Mumbai

I have a wife and mother and daughter in tow and am little unsure if the 750 kms long haul should be done in one stretch.
Also, I plan in taking the jaisalmer-barner-ahemdabad inside route that lightinin had written about in his linea trip and pretty certain may have to take a halt on that trip to back home. I am thinking Baroda.

Guys, many years ago when we ( college pals) took a few days off and did a whacko trip of the north and on our way back from delhi we bought a newly launched brand new Maruti esteem vx for cash 4L and drove it to Mumbai. Memories of that trip will last a lifetime. There is a fantastic ancient temple at Rishabdeo near Ratanpur border town. We ran into it by fluke because we stopped at a tupri for chai and the stall owner mentioned it. Do try to see it.

My queries:
1. The SUV-sedan stuff. I have a Accent sedan and these dune trips are unclear. I understand doing all those advt like dune driving may be out of question, but to drive to these dune resorts should be ok right?
2. The break on mum-udaipur required? Am a single driver shop.
3. suggestions on the Jaisalmer-Mumbai break.
4. looking for a good desert dune type stay in jaisalmer zone. pl write in options.numbers/links /references will be great.

jaysmokesleaves, will pm you and maybe we can ride out together.
thanks to gd1418 and phamyilyman for the antara mali dig ;-)

thanks guys

[gd1418]

While your sedan will take you to almost all dune resort, it wll not take you to the dunes. And don't even try it. FYI, a 4x2 SUV too can't make it.

And what is this Antara Mali dig?? I'm totally foxed.. Can you jog my memory please?

Originally Posted by longford

My queries:
1. The SUV-sedan stuff. I have a Accent sedan and these dune trips are unclear. I understand doing all those advt like dune driving may be out of question, but to drive to these dune resorts should be ok right?


jaysmokesleaves, will pm you and maybe we can ride out together.
thanks to gd1418 and phamyilyman for the antara mali dig ;-)

thanks guys

[longford]

Originally Posted by gd1418

While your sedan will take you to almost all dune resort, it wll not take you to the dunes. And don't even try it. FYI, a 4x2 SUV too can't make it.

And what is this Antara Mali dig?? I'm totally foxed.. Can you jog my memory please?

that comment is for phamilyman, he had wondered what it was about Antara Mali in Road that had folks scared!

[jaysmokesleaves]

Hi, Longford, Ive PMed you. Keep in touch. Though, im planning to drive to Jaisalmer first, we sure can meetup on Day1.
There is a thread running in the Tbhp meet section where I plan to meetup with as many TBHPians as possible along my route. So join in there and lets see if we all can coordinate.

Cheers,
J

[issigonis]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Your Day 3 is not possible - Eklinji/Haldighati/Nathdwara are on NH8 and can be covered in a line, but Dilwara (Mt Abu) is on the NH76-NH14 route and it will be difficult to cover all in the same day. For Mt Abu, you need a separate day, and moreover, you can return to Bombay via Palanpur, Mehsana and Ahmedabad instead of going on NH8, so it is best covered on your way back.

In Chittorgarh, there is Hotel Padmini and RTDC Hotel Panna.

Lovely roads all over Rajasthan, no need for any SUV. Sand dune bashing is a different sport, of course, and can be done only with a good SUV and experience.

Originally Posted by anainar

Looks nice and you will have lot of spare time in your hand I guess.

I have done Jaisalmer - Bikaner in a normal sedan - Corolla and no problems at all. I dont know about Barmer but I think it will be the same. You will cut across the desert, but the road are well laid. You might come across occasional areas where the sand has come to the road but not something that warrants a SUV.

A heritage hotel - Bassi Fort Palace, Bassi (Mewar - Chittorgarh - Rajasthan - India). is the website for Bassi. The pictures are old. I will be uploading some recent pictures soon in my travelogue. Be aware that this place has some 12- 13 steps to climb from parking lot. You can visit Bassi wild life sanctuary from here as well.

Nainar

Originally Posted by issigonis

Nainar, HV,

Thank you for your advise.

I have modified my plans slightly as follows :

Day 1 - drive from Mumbai to Udaipur on the NH8
Day 2 - sightseeing in Udaipur
Day 2 - ditto
Day 3 - do Eklingji, Haldighati, Nathdwara & Dilwara & return to Udaipur
Day 4 - do Kumbhalgarh & Ranakpur ( any neat & clean place to stay here?)
Day 5 - do Chittorgarh ( contact details of Fort Bassi please; any other hotels in Chittorgarh? I have to avoid staircases due to my Mother's arthritis)
Day 6 - drive back to Mumbai through Sambhar lake

How does this look like?

I will check Google Maps for the journey to Ranakpur/Kumbhalgarh.

Is an SUV required to travel to Jaisalmer-Bikaner-Barmer? I see from the pics of sleeping under the stars in Jaisalmer, that a vehicle which can traverse sand dunes is required. Will a normal sedan do?

Regards

Lads,

The updated plan looks like this now :

Day 1 - Drive from Udvada ( Gujarat) to Udaipur by evening
Day 2 - Sightseeing in Udaipur
Day 3 - Sightseeing in Udaipur
Day 4 - Trip to Eklingji, Nathdwara, Haldighati & Rajsamand; back to Udaipur in the evening
Day 5 - To Chittaurgarh - sightseeing
Day 6 - In Chittaurgarh - sightseeing
Day 7 - To Ranakpur; arrival Kumbhalgarh
Day 8 - Kumbhalgarh - sightseeing
Day 9 - From Kumbhalgarh to Mt. Abu
Day 10 - Dilwara & Mt. Abu sightseeing
Day 11- Mt. Abu to Bombay

I require inputs on the following :
Day 1 : any feedback on the hotels in Udaipur - have started talking to Hotel Udaigarh. Rejected Hotel Amar Kothi as I require rooms on the ground floor- mother has problems climbing stairs. Any other hotel with very clean bathrooms that anyone can recommended please?
Days 2 & 3 : any advice on places to visit and places to avoid - prefer to drive around for mother's comfort

Day 5 - have talked with Fort Bassi based on anainar's recommendation - will finalise soon after accommodation in Udaipur is finalised.
Days 7 & 8 - a. should I spend two days in Kumbhalgarh? If so any hotel with similar characteristics, as above? b. or should I do a day trip from Udaipur and be back in Udaipur in the evening?
Days 9 &10 - I think there's not much to be done in Abu, so require advice on whether I should drop anchor in Abu or skip it. Want to see Dilwara too.

Will calculate the distances and update in my next post.

Regards

[deky]

Half a Day in Pushakar is good enough, you dont need more time than that. The lake in Pushkar is dry anyways and there is always a mess around there.

Some more time In Udaipur, if possible will be great.

Good luck

Edit: OOOOps I think i commented before reading the full thread. It seems you have left out Pushkar all together. So kindly dis regard my post

Sorry!!!

[jaysmokesleaves]

Originally Posted by deky

Edit: OOOOps I think i commented before reading the full thread. It seems you have left out Pushkar all together. So kindly dis regard my post

Sorry!!!

No Deky, Pushkar & Ajmer is to be covered in 1 day. I will stop overnight at Ajmer & proceed to Udaipur the next day.

[longford]

Guys,

need a little help on two fronts - accomodation and route planning.

1. Planning to leave Jodhpur on 29th and reach Jaisalmer.
2. Stay in Jaisalmer or vicinity 1N or 2N
3. Leave Jaisalmer on 30th or 1st towards Mumbai via Barmer-Ahmedabad

here are somethings that you can help me with.

Plan 1 leave Jodhpur and after a luncheon at Jaisalmer, got to the Dunes direct for the camel safari and stay overnight at the dunes.
Next day, leave early reach the fort by 9 and do sightseeing and have lunch by 1-2pm and leave for Barmer, visit munabao. Stay overnight.
Next day, go non stop to mumbai.

Plan 2 leave jodhpur and reach Jaisalmer. Do the local sightseeing and leave for dunes for safari . Overnight at dunes.
Next day, leave Dunes, go to barmer,munabao and reach ahmedbad. Overnight
Next day go mumbai direct.

Thoughts running at the moment : Google maps say that jaisalmer-Ahmedabad is a 650 odd km route via the Barmer route and should take 9 hrs. Lightinin in his ex-vadodra trip had taken a halt at Barmer.

Please suggest optimal route for assessing the feasibility.

Accomodation
1. Jaisalmer accomodation : should I do a night on dunes and another in the city and then do plan 2?
2. Barmer accommodation: recommendations please
3. Ahmedabad and Vadodra recommendations please

Thanks.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by longford

Thoughts running at the moment : Google maps say that jaisalmer-Ahmedabad is a 650 odd km route via the Barmer route and should take 9 hrs. Lightinin in his ex-vadodra trip had taken a halt at Barmer.

Thanks.

Jaisalmer-Ahmedabad is 545 kms.
Jaisalmer-Barmer 160 kms-Sanchore 135-Deesa 75-Palanpur 30-Mehsana 70-Kalol 35-Ahmedabad 40

If you drive non-stop (without any breaks), you will take 9 hours. Road is fast and congestion-free after crossing Palanpur.

[issigonis]

jaysmokesleaves,

Have you finalised your plan?

Regards