[BlackPearl]

Rajasthan and specially Jaisalmer holds a very special place in the hearts of the Bengalis, thanks to Satyajit Ray's short story as well as movie Sonar Kella (The Golden Fortress). The plot of the story is based on the fortress of Jaisalmer and Rajasthan has been portrayed beautifully in the movie. Both my wife and me being ardent fans of the movie, thought it was high time to plan for a trip to Rajasthan.

Could not resist posting this pic..


It took us a fair amount of discussion to decide whether to take the Esteem or the Bolero to Rajasthan. The stories of wonderful roads in Rajasthan had tipped the scales in favour of Esteem, but finally the enticement of 4 wheeling in the desert of Jaisalmer proved to be a heavier weight.

A map of the journey -



Day 1 : Kolkata - Nawalgarh (1670 Kms)

Started from Kolkata at midnight, drove through the night and the entire day.

We had stopped on the Allahabad bypass for some pictures..


Agra was still a long way..


Slowly but steadily we reached Agra at around 7 p.m. We stopped for two hours in Agra for evening snacks and were contemplating on the next course of action. If we started for Nawalgarh at that time we would reach there early morning and check-in time was 10 a.m. Called up Club Mahindra Nawalgarh and they assured us they would allot us a room even if we reached at 3 a.m. in the night. With this assurance, we started from Agra at around 9 p.m. and then got royally lost. The GPS was not able to take the right route out of Agra towards Jaipur. Finally after a struggle of about 1 hour we were able to hit the highway. Again drove through the night and reached Roop Vilas Palace (Club Mahindra) at 4 'o' clock in the morning.

After a 28 hour journey it is not needed to mention that this was looking like the best bed in the world..


Day 2 : Nawalgarh

Slept like a log for around 6 hours and woke up refreshed. We had a good breakfast and started exploring the beautiful surrounding.









After a hectic travel, we decided to take it easy that day and lazily roamed around the streets of Nawalgarh. It seemed as if time had stopped in Nawalgarh and we were in an era long gone!

















To be continued...

[BlackPearl]

Day 3 : Nawalgarh sight seeing

We hired a guide named Raju, took him in our Bolero and visited the tourist spots in Nawalgarh and adjacent areas. Nawalgarh is a town in Jhunjhunu district of Indian state Rajasthan. It is part of the Shekhawati region and is midway between Jhunjhunu and Sikar. It is 30 km from Sikar and 39 km from Jhunjhunu. Nawalgarh is famous for its fresco and havelis and considered as Golden City of Rajasthan. It is also the motherland of some great business families of India (excerpt from Wikipedia)
The Havelis are beautiful, some of them are still well maintained while others are not. I will not post pictures of the Havelis as I cannot do justice to the buildings and their frescos and the pictures available on the net taken by professional photographers are stunning. However I will post a few random pics just for the memory.

Our guide Raju, a gem of a person



Inside some Haveli...













Nawalgarh is also famous for its tie and dye (Bandhini) cloth. One can see bright dyed clothes being dried on rooftops -



Nawalgarh is also famous for pickles (Achaar)..





We visited Jhunjhunu and Sikar as well. Again posting some random pictures in no particular order....













To be continued...

[BlackPearl]

Day 4: Nawalgarh to Jaisalmer via Bikaner (550 Kms)

We woke up at 4 'o' clock in the morning and it was bitter cold in Nawalgarh. The overnight dew on the windscreen of the Bolero had frozen and we had to pour hot water to clear it up.



We had a long journey ahead. The route was through Bikaner. The Bolero was driven at its limits (which is not much by the way) on the arrow straight roads through the desert. This was my second trip to Rajasthan, the first one being in 1994 in a hired Ambassador (DL1CE 8845). Realised that a lot had in changed in the last 20 odd years, specifically the desert around Jaisalmer seemed to have shrunk quite a bit. Many places that were barren before had been converted to farming lands. It took us around 8 hours to complete the journey from Nawalgarh to Jaisalmer. Going by the quality of the roads and the scarcity of traffic, a Honda Civic should do it in 6 hours flat



We reached Club Mahindra Jaisalmer by noon and checked in.



There was plenty of time left that day to do some sight seeing. Moreover, sun sets very late in Rajasthan. We visited the Jaisalmer fort and the local market. In the hue of the setting sun the fort really looked like it was made out of gold!!







Day 5: Kuldhara Village and Sam Sand Dunes

Next day we headed for Kuldhara Village also called the ghost village. Legend says that around 300 years back, villagers had left the village overnight after the then evil Prime Minister desired to marry a local girl by force. Before leaving, they put a curse on Kuldhara that no one will ever be able to settle in their village thereafter. To this date, the village remains barren. One has to pay an entry fee to enter the site. We could not find a single soul inside the village. It was quite a creepy feeling. We ventured a little more than we should have done and the Bolero got stuck near one of the houses. Now it feels good to tell the tale, but that time I got quite tensed. I am thankful that we had the added insurance of the 4WD option. The Bolero somehow managed to get out of the sand after engaging 4 low and we did not lose a minute to get out of the place.








Sam sand dunes

We left Kuldhara in a hurry and went to Sam sand dunes which is around 45 kilometers from the city of Jaisalmer. It is one of the top tourist destinations in Rajasthan. Contrary to what I have heard about Sam dunes, there were not too many people around and we were not chased by camel owners.



The name of this Camel is Shahrukh!!




to be continued...

[BlackPearl]

Day 6: Jaisalmer to Kumbhalgarh (450 Kms)

Next day we started early from Jaisalmer for Kumbhalgarh. It was another 8 hour drive and the roads were beautiful. Kumbhalgarh is on the western range of the Aravalli Hills in the Rajsamand District of Rajasthan. The landscape changed from barren desert to desolate rocky hillocks here and there.











We reached Kumbhalgarh in the afternoon and checked in to the Club Mahindra resort. Club Mahindra Kumbhalgarh is one of the most beautiful properties by any standard.







Next Day we visited the Kumbhalgarh fort. Kumbhalgarh is the birthplace of Maharana Pratap, the great king and warrior of Mewar. Occupied until the late 19th century, the fort is now open to the public and is spectacularly lit for a few minutes each evening. Kumbalgarh is situated 82 km northwest of Udaipur by road. It is the most important fort in Mewar after Chittaurgarh. (source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbhalgarh)











Day 7: Kumbhalgarh to Udaipur (100 Kms)

After visiting the Kumbhalgarh fort, we left for Udaipur, the historic capital of the kingdom of Mewar in the former Rajputana Agency founded by Maharana Udai Singh. Udaipur has to be one of the most beautiful cities in India we have visited till date. The illuminated structures of Taj Lake Palace and Jag Mandir in Lake Pichola create a mesmerizing view.


Pichola Lake


Taj Lake Palace


Udaipur City Palace




Jag Mandir


We checked in to Club Mahindra Udaipur. It is not one of the better properties of CMH, they said that it was a temporary one and would be moving to a bigger and better property.

to be continued...

[BlackPearl]

Day 8 and 9: Udaipur to Kolkata (1800 Kms) with several scary incidents in between..

We wanted to stay one more day in Udaipur but could not extend another day at Club Mahindra. Disheartened, we checked out and went for a tour of the City Palace and Jag Mandir.

















After a whirlwind tour we left Udaipur at around 5:30 p.m. for the return journey to Kolkata. GPS was showing 1812 Kilometers to destination i.e. sweet home



Several incidents happened en-route, like deer suddenly coming in the way out of absolute darkness, getting really tensed inside Madhav National forest in the middle of the night, but none so scary as what happened after crossing Kanpur.

After reaching Kanpur early morning, I went off to sleep at the back of the Bolero, handing over the driving duty to my wife. Just as I had dozed off, the vehicle started shuddering. Woke up immediately, quite tensed, but the shuddering had vanished. Could not figure out what had happened and thought it might be due to some undulations on the road. Then it happened a second time. Got down from the vehicle and did a thorough inspection of the tyres and the underbody. Nothing came up. After that I started driving and everything was going smooth for several kilometers. A truck suddenly came to a halt and I had to brake hard as well as steer left. The vehicle started shuddering vehemently and did not budge from its path. It was going straight towards the truck. Was able to somehow shed speed and came to halt in time. Got down again and this time found the culprit. The tie rod lock nut on the right hand side had fallen off and the tie rod was disconnected from the tyre





There was a helpful truck driver around who got hold of a mechanic from a nearby place. The mechanic came with a bucketful of nuts and bolts. The one that came from the company was a castle nut, but we could not find one that fitted, hence had to fit a normal one. When I asked the mechanic if this would last till Allahabad (the next big city), the mechanic replied "Sir Allahabad kya, ye to Pakistan bhi chala jayega!". He was quite right as the service centre in Kolkata had a tough time opening it later! Anyways, the rest 1000 Kms to Kolkata was without drama, thankfully.

This was quite a long travelogue by my standards. The end!

[aah78]

Thread moved to the Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing!

[Sheel]

Thanks for sharing this beautiful travelogue of Rajasthan BlackPearl.

All I can say is, may you get more leaves to travel and please do continue to share your awesome t'logs

[petrolhead_neel]

Brilliant travelogue Sumitro Da. Loved every bit of it. And some fabulous frames. Some of the pictures really stand out and are sure to get a second look.

Rajasthan is now added to my must-drive-to list once I get my DL, thanks to you.

And please keep writing more travelogues, as they are a treat to read.

Just curious, when was this trip taken? Asking it because there's no Sherpa in the story?

Also, loved the sarcasm in the title, with the words 'royal' and 'utility'.

Neel

[Saurabh M]

Awesome travelogue as usual. Enjoyed it thoroughly. The "Ramdevra" board does send a chill down the spine.

[AJ-got-BHP]

Excellent crisp write up BlackPearl with some amazing set of Photographs !! I presume you have delayed in posting this travelogue at your end as the White Tusker seems to be in it's previous avatar. Curious to know that when did you actually do this trip ?

Anyways, your travelogue just took me to my home away from my home; that is Nawalgarh, where my roots are. It is a prerequisite for me to visit Nawalgarh, Jhunjhunu & Salasar on an annual basis which I usually cover in a couple of days flying in and out from Jaipur.

But, this year have been planning to do a Rajasthan Road Trip from Kolkata with family sometime during September-October 2016. Some details from your travelogue shall come in handy for my Road Trip. Or should I say our Road Trip. Hope you are game for another Rajasthan Trip this year.

Hope you would not mind me sharing some recent pictures of our Ancestral Haveli (pronounced as "Haeli") @ Nawalgarh :

















Had we known each other at the time of your travel, would have been happy to make the desired arrangements for a comfortable stay for you. Though I myself have never been opportune enough to spend a night at my own Haveli so far; may be that jinx shall be broken this year !!

[Samba]

Yet another beautiful travelogue with great pics and narration.

I was planning to drive down to Rajasthan this year and Jaisalmer is one of my core point of interest! This thread will definitely help me in planning the trip in a more comprehensive way. Thanks a lot for sharing.

[Red Panda]

Wow. What an adventure. I was literally feeling as if i was there. Wonderful photographs as well. You keep us inspired.

Regards
Avishek

[ssambyal1980]

Way to go sir way to go!!! Again an absolutely engrossing travelogue with excellent photography. Sir you have virtually brought Rajasthan alive on our laptops. Rated five stars. Keep posting.
Regards

[PointZero]

Wonderful explanation and pictures (specially the pic of food). I think only you can think of covering such long distance at a stretch in a bolero.

Thanks for sharing such informative travelogue.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Thanks for sharing this beautiful travelogue of Rajasthan BlackPearl.

All I can say is, may you get more leaves to travel and please do continue to share your awesome t'logs

Thanks Sheel and I sincerely hope your wish comes true

Originally Posted by petrolhead_neel

Brilliant travelogue Sumitro Da. Loved every bit of it. And some fabulous frames. Some of the pictures really stand out and are sure to get a second look.

Rajasthan is now added to my must-drive-to list once I get my DL, thanks to you.

And please keep writing more travelogues, as they are a treat to read.

Just curious, when was this trip taken? Asking it because there's no Sherpa in the story?

Also, loved the sarcasm in the title, with the words 'royal' and 'utility'.

Neel

Thanks a lot Neel. Yes, this trip was done quite sometime back, the Thar was not in the scene.

Originally Posted by Saurabh M

Awesome travelogue as usual. Enjoyed it thoroughly. The "Ramdevra" board does send a chill down the spine.

Thanks Saurabh. Spot on, that is the reason I took the picture.

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

Excellent crisp write up BlackPearl with some amazing set of Photographs !! I presume you have delayed in posting this travelogue at your end as the White Tusker seems to be in it's previous avatar. Curious to know that when did you actually do this trip ?

Thanks Arav. I get the drift, the Tusker looks much better nowadays

A pic of the Tusker from today's meet, photo credit - the one and only Samba..

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

Anyways, your travelogue just took me to my home away from my home; that is Nawalgarh, where my roots are. It is a prerequisite for me to visit Nawalgarh, Jhunjhunu & Salasar on an annual basis which I usually cover in a couple of days flying in and out from Jaipur.
But, this year have been planning to do a Rajasthan Road Trip from Kolkata with family sometime during September-October 2016. Some details from your travelogue shall come in handy for my Road Trip. Or should I say our Road Trip. Hope you are game for another Rajasthan Trip this year.
Hope you would not mind me sharing some recent pictures of our Ancestral Haveli (pronounced as "Haeli") @ Nawalgarh :

The Haveli looks beautiful, thanks for sharing the pics. I will try my best to be a part of the trip, it is surely going to be a lifetime experience.

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

Had we known each other at the time of your travel, would have been happy to make the desired arrangements for a comfortable stay for you. Though I myself have never been opportune enough to spend a night at my own Haveli so far; may be that jinx shall be broken this year !!

Thanks once again Arav and it is never too late!

Originally Posted by Samba

Yet another beautiful travelogue with great pics and narration.

I was planning to drive down to Rajasthan this year and Jaisalmer is one of my core point of interest! This thread will definitely help me in planning the trip in a more comprehensive way. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Thanks Samba. Rajasthan is a riot of colours and your travelogue will be a treat to our eyes once you complete the trip. Arav is a pro on Rajasthan, but still if you need any info let me know because the travelogue is not at all detailed.

Originally Posted by Red Panda

Wow. What an adventure. I was literally feeling as if i was there. Wonderful photographs as well. You keep us inspired.

Regards
Avishek

Thanks a lot Avishek!

Originally Posted by ssambyal1980

Way to go sir way to go!!! Again an absolutely engrossing travelogue with excellent photography. Sir you have virtually brought Rajasthan alive on our laptops. Rated five stars. Keep posting.
Regards

Thanks a lot ssambyal1980 for the nice words! Were you born in 1980? If yes then we are of the same age.. lol

Originally Posted by Sutripta

@BP:- When was this?

Regards
Sutripta

Originally Posted by Sutripta

^^^
Trying to figure out your vacationing timeline!

Regards
Sutripta

Sutripta Da, first of all sorry for my cheeky reply to your first post, could not resist myself. Thought of editing it, but time was up. Here I am trying to be all elusive about the timelines, I am sure you know why, but you are bent on getting the details. You know about the timing because we had a long discussion after the trip on tightening the nuts on a Bolero at frequent intervals :-D

Originally Posted by PointZero

Wonderful explanation and pictures (specially the pic of food). I think only you can think of covering such long distance at a stretch in a bolero.

Thanks for sharing such informative travelogue.

Thanks a lot PointZero. I have been put up quite a few travelogues on tbhp over the last so many years, but you guys are rocking the travelogue section! Keep it up.