[dsnaveen21]

Hello friends,

From long time, was thinking to go to Rajasthan, 4 months earlier booked train ticket(Mumbai to Jodhpur) got a waiting list, and booked train Udaipur to Mumbai which
was confirmed, So booked a tatkal ticket(Mumbai to Jodhpur) via agent and got the ticket. This is my first travelogue in team-bhp and if mistake please bear.

My iternary
11 Nov - Jodhpur (Arrive at 7:00 AM, City tour)
12 Nov - Jodhpur /Ajmer/Pushkar/Jaipur (Hired a tourist cab)
13 Nov - Jaipur Sightseeing
14 Nov - Jaipur to jaislmer (Night bus)
15 Nov - Jaislmer - Tanot Mandir, Longewala
16 Nov - Jaislmer - Sam Dhani
17 Nov - Jaislmer - Fort, Birla Mandir
18 Nov - Jaislmer - Haveli and bus to Udaipur at 5:30 PM
19 Nov - Udaipur (City tour)
20 Nov - Udaipur (City tour)
21 Nov - Udaipur - Mumbai (City tour, Departure 9:35 PM)

Day 1
We stayed in RTDC hotel Ghoomer, We hired a auto for couple of hours for sightseeing and saw Umaid Bhavan Palace, Mehrangarh Fort(hired a guide here), Jaswant Thada and Mandore Garden. The food we had in one of the hotel, was not good. Opposite Umaid Palace, there are few(5 or 6) vintage cars, which were on display and there's a event on Dec 30 for Polo match, at that time those cars will be taken to the ground.

Day 2
We hired a taxi from Jodhpur to Jaipur, we started from Jodhpur around 9:00 AM and straight went to Pushkar for Bramha temple, and Pushkar lake, the lake is very
slippery, be very careful. Started to Ajmer for Durgah, it was crowded like anything, people were pushing inside the Durgah. After this we started to Jaipur. Reached
Jaipur around 6:00 pm. Stayed in RDTC hotel, Teej. Had food at Niros, the food was good, (it was recommended in one of the team-bhp forum). We hired a auto for 1 hour
and he showed us lightening in and around Jaipur, due to Diwali festival, all the places were shining, the city was decorated like a new bride.

Day 3
We had booked a RTDC hotel, sight seeing full day tour was conducted by them, they covered, Jantar Mantar, City Palace, Amer fort, Jal Mahal, Birla Mandir. Due to
Diwali holidays, Jaipur was crowded, we reached Najargarh Fort around 6:30 PM, we did not go inside the fort and the view from the top of Jaipur city was awesome.
Food we had in Handi, the food was good and ambience was great.

Day 4
To kill the time we went to Rajmandir cinema[I heard the interior was awesome] and thought to watch the movie, it was crowded and we needed to stand in queue, so
dropped the plan and had Lassi nearby which was famous, and in evening we went to Jal Mandir, We had a private bus to Jaislmer around 8 pm, which was not good.

Day 5
somehow we reached Jaislmer around 9 AM i.,e RTDC hotel, Maamol, we hired a taxi to Shri Tanot temple, situated approx 120 Kms from Jaislmer, the temple is maintained
and managed by Border Security Force(B.S.F). Later we went to Longewala around 40 Kms, where the India Pakistan war took place in year 1971 where few of the vehicles
of Pakistan can be seen. Here they will show a video of 15 minutes of 1971 war. We had dinner at Swad restaurant, near RTDC hotel, the food was good.

Day 6
In the morning, we went to War Museum, 20kms from Jaislmer, it got opened in 24th aug 2015. Here also they will show the 15 minutes video of 1971 war. Here we can see
the destroyed vehicles of Pakistan which was been kept here. Later we started to Hotel Sam Dhani,40 kms from Jaislmer city, mainted by RTDC, the hotel was not properly
maintained, if possible please avoid this. We went to near by Roshini hotel where they had arranged folk dance and music.

Day 7
We came back to Jaislmer in the morning and went to see the Fort, Jain temple and in evening Gadiskar lake. We had a private bus to catch to Udaipur at 5:30 PM.

Day 8
We reached Udaipur at 5:00 AM and went to Hotel Kajri, maintained by RTDC.
We hired a local auto and saw the City Palace, Jagdish Temple, Shilp Gram,Lok Kala Mandal (Puppet show), vintage car museum.
In the evening we went to Bagore Ki Hveli, where they had fold dance and music.

Day 9
There's a Sai baba travels, which takes outskirt of Udaipur and show temples and famous places, so we booked 3 seats the previous day.
We saw the famous Haldi Ghati(museum of Maharana Pratap), its 40 Kms from Udaipur, Nathdwara(Shrinath ji temple) its 50 km from Udaipur.
And also Eklingi(shiva temple) which is 20 kms away.

Day 10
We went to Pichola lake for boating, here you can get a good view of City palace, Uday Villas hotel, Jag mandir and the lake palace hotel.
We went to movie spectra in Hindi version in Celebration mall, the sound effect was good.
In the evening we went to Sajjangarh for sunset, which is outskirt of Udaipur. The view is amazing from the top, autorikshaws are not allowed till the top, from the
point the autorikshwaw drop, they have a pickup and drop facility, which they charge 90 INR per person, if you have personal vehicle you can take till top.
Night we started off to Mumbai via train.

Thank you for reading.

[dsnaveen21]

Something about Umaid Bhawan Palace,

From wiki

The Palace is divided into three functional parts – the residence of the royal family, a luxury Taj Palace Hotel, and a Museum focusing on the 20th century history of the Jodhpur Royal Family.

[dsnaveen21]

Jantar Mantar and City Palace in Jaipur are side by side, we had a guide in bus.

Jal Mahal is a palace located in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake in Jaipur city.

[dsnaveen21]

Buses were not allowed to the top, there were mostly jeeps who used to take people to the top of the Amer fort.

The Battle of Longewala (4–7 December 1971) was major battle between India-Pakistan War of 1971.

[dsnaveen21]

The route to Sam dunes in Jaisalmer, mostly you can see the Thar jeep here, and the folk dance/music arranged in the evening.

[dsnaveen21]

They charge whopping 250 INR per person for viewing 15/16 cars including few Rolls Royce and Mercedes Benz and couple of Chevrolet trucks. They don't charge for camera.

[dsnaveen21]

Bagore ki haveli was a fantastic show, it goes for 1 hour, and we had done a boating near the Lake Pichola and we can see around
Taj lake palace, Jagmandir and Uday villas hotel (each room cost 70K per night)

[Traveller Nayak]

Originally Posted by dsnaveen21

The route to Sam dunes in Jaisalmer, mostly you can see the Thar jeep here, and the folk dance/music arranged in the evening.

A question: is the terrain only for a 4x4? Or, can it be done in a 2 wheel drive?

[ghodlur]

I had been to Rajasthan last week for 7N/8D packaged tour, did not take my Punto but was provided with T Etios for the entire trip. Visited Jaipur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Mount Abu and Udaipur covering a total of 2100 kms in the trip. Roads in Rajasthan are simply superb, many a times had a thought such roads need an Abarth. The sand dunes at Jaisalmer were amazing with a camel ride thrown in for 1 hr ride.

The worst thing on driving on these roads is the unannounced jaywalking by the four legged creatures. On a couple of occasion we had to screech to a halt from 90 speeds to save one of them.

Naveen you missed the Ford Phaeton in the Udaipur Vintage car museum.

Ranakpur and Kumbalgarh are two famous spots near Udaipur. I could visit only Ranakpur in the limited time I had.

[dsnaveen21]

Originally Posted by Traveller Nayak

A question: is the terrain only for a 4x4? Or, can it be done in a 2 wheel drive?

I could see there only 4x4 vechiles.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

missed the Ford Phaeton in the Udaipur Vintage car museum

Ford Phaeton, I had that pic, did not post that.

I also heard Ranakpur is a good place, may be next time.
Mount Abu,Bikaner pending.