[Samba]

I have been to hills, sea, forests but never been to a proper desert. Have planned for Rajasthan earlier too but the trip never materialized. Thank god it didnt, as it was not a road trip! So this time with a proper planning me and my wife decided to go ahead for a Rajasthan road trip in our trusted Etios.

A couple of week before the trip, got my car checked up at Toyota. Thankfully all were fine.
Bought all the basic essentials for both of us and our car!
Got all the hotels booked in prior.
Went through few travelogue's in Team Bhp. Took suggestion's from Bhpian- SS-Traveller, Me_Sid, XetaGlGRocks, Anirbanz, Predatorwheelz, JKDS, 1100D, Blackpearl, Aj-Got-Bhp, Arindamxeta, SouraC, PapaBravo, Lovecars21, //M, Desertking and few non bhpian's too. I wont thank you all because your help deserves much more than just a thanks. The suggestion's were really very useful to me.

After all these planning finally the itinerary of our trip went like this-

27 feb/Day 1 Kolkata - Kanpur
28feb/Day 2 Kanpur - Jaipur
1mar/Day3 Jaipur Sightseeing
2mar/Day 4 Jaipur - Jodhpur
3mar/Day 5 Jodhpur sightseeing
4mar/Day 6 Jodhpur - Jaisalmer and visit Kuldhara village & Sam Sand dunes
5mar/Day 7 Jaisalmer to Tanot & Laungewala
6mar/Day8 Jaisalmeer sightseeing & visit Khuri
7mar/Day 9 Jaisalmer - Mt Abu & Mt Abu sightseeing
8mar/Day10 Mt Abu - Udaipur & Udaipur sightseeing
9mar/Day 11 Udaipur - Ranthambore and visit Ranthambore Fort
10mar/Day 12 Ranthambore morning and afternoon jungle safari
11mar/Day 13 Ranthambore - Agra and see moon lit Taj Mahal
12mar/Day 14 Agra - Varanashi
13mar/Day 15 Varanashi sightseeing
14mar/Day 16 Varanashi - Kolkata

Sharing few teaser pics from our trip -





















And a teaser video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V7S...ature=youtu.be

INDEX

JAIPUR

JODHPUR

JAISALMER, KULDHARA & SAM SAND DUNES

TANOT, LAUNGEWALA

JAISALMER FORT, KHURI

MT ABU

UDAIPUR

RANTHAMBORE

AGRA, MOONLIT TAJ

VARANASHI

HOTEL REVIEWS

[Samba]

Day 1, Kolkata to Kanpur - 958km, 14.5 hours

The packing was done the previous night, so in the morning we can hit the road as soon as we get ready.

The loaded Etios boot.


Its always hard to sleep the night before a long drive. Every time i plan to sleep but i end up being awake and constantly check the time and this time too it was no exception! By 3-30am me and my wife both were ready, we bid adieu to my parents and hit the road by 3-30Am. Leaving parents behind for a trip always feel bad but this trip would have been very hectic for them.
We took enough food so we can munch and drive. Hence no real food stop was needed, our only stops were bio breaks and refueling breaks. Else the drive was pretty much non stop.
In 1 hour 45 minutes we crossed Durgapur, Asansol came up in 2 hours 30 minutes, Aurangabad in 6 hours 30 minutes, Varanashi in 9 hours 30 minutes, crossed Allahabad Bypass in flat 12 hours and reached Kanpur in 14 hours 30 minutes. By 6pm we checked in to our hotel. Without any sleep last night and after driving for 14.5 hours i was enough tired to have an early dinner and call it a day.

Day 2, Kanpur to Jaipur, 522kms, 10 hours

After a sound sleep the alarm rang at 7am. We got ready and hit the road by 9am. Agra came up in 4 hours, FatehpurSikri in next 1.5 hours hour. Soon we stopped for a lunch break, as by then both of us were hungry. Crossing Agra was a nightmare as there was huge traffic jam. Some how avoided the jam upto some extent by following the local auto's through narrow streets and we were finally able to cross the bottle neck, which caused the jam.

From Fatehpursikri roads were excellent and we reached the out skirts of Jaipur by 6pm. GPS led us our way to our hotel which we reached by 7pm, driving through the city traffic of Jaipur for the last one hour.

This decorated auto greeted us at our hotel entrance!


Seeing the Jaipur traffic and after driving for around 1,500kms in two days we decided to hire a local cab for the next day Jaipur sightseeing. For city runs my wife was my navigator with google maps on duty. So hiring a cab means its a rest day for both of us. Googled about few local travel agents, called few of them, took the rate and fixed one. By 10pm we had our dinner and called it a day.

Day 3, Jaipur sightseeing.

The Dzire cab came to pick up from our hotel at 10am.

Our first visit was to Albert Museum. Taking pics by Dslr inside the museum was not allowed, but one can take pics by mobile.
From out side its an architectural marvel and from inside its like any other museum where the things of historical importance are showcased and kept with utmost care.













Next destination was Jantar Mantar.






From Jantar Mantar we visited Hawa Mahal. Hawa Mahal is located inside the Pink city of Jaipur. Surprisingly i found the majority of the houses to be painted in Orange rather than pink!





By 12-30pm we finished two of our sightseeing points and the 3rd was the very famous Nahargarh Fort. Its located on a hill top and gives an amazing view of the Jaipur city.

Just after the entrance of Nahargarh fort there is the Seeshmahal and wax museum which was inaugurated in December 2016. The entry fee per person is Rs400. But no photography is allowed inside. So i cant share any pics from inside, but the visit was worth it.

A pic from out side-


Pics from and around Nahargarh Fort-

















By the time we completed seeing the Nahargarh Fort we were already hungry. Our driver took us to a restaurant to try local Rajasthani cuisine- 'Dal Bati Churma'. First time i realized veg food can be this much tasteful!



Post lunch we went for some shopping in the local market and then our next destination was Amber fort.











We were pleasantly surprised to see a Cafe Coffee day branch inside Amber Fort, that too in a scenic location! Couldn't resist ourselves from having two cold chocolates!

[Samba]

Continuation of Day 3

From 7pm the light and sound show starts at Amber fort. We inquired about it for the tickets and was sad to hear that no photography was allowed during light and sound show. But our driver told us we can take the pics from outside the fort by not purchasing the tickets. We cant hear the sound but we can see the different lights. That sounded better and i agreed to that.

Pics from the light and sound show-





Jaigarh Fort all lited up in the evening.


Our last destination of the day was to see Jalmahal on our way back to hotel.


By 8-30pm we reached our hotel and our destination for day 4 was Jodhpur. We were pretty tired after walking a lot inside the forts, so had our dinner and called it a day.

Day 4, Jaipur to Jodhpur- 338km, 5 hours

We started lazily around 11am from the hotel. Followed GPS to led us to the highway. The roads were excellent. Crossed Ajmer and we had two option's from Beawar, one was through Pali and the other was by a state highway. Asked the locals and every one suggested us to take the state highway as the distance will be less and the road is good too. We did so and the locals were correct.
After reaching Jodhpur i called one of my Bhpian friend & jeep/bike enthusiast Mr Naren Charan (Team Bhp handle-Desertking) to catch up with him and asked him about the local market. He suggested me to visit the Ghantaghar market and taste the famous Omlet from a near by shop.
My wife was very happy at his suggestion. The market was good and i never had better omlets than this ever before in my life!

Its a must, to try Omlet's from this guy. His shop is located just after the exit from the Ghantaghar gate on the right side.


In the evening Mr.Charan came to meet us at our hotel on his brand new RE Himalayan. We had a gala time chatting with him. I met him for the first time and what a gem of a person he is! His tips for the next day sightseeing at Jodhpur was really helpful.


He left our hotel by 9-30pm, post that we had our dinner and called it a day.

Day 5, Jodhpur sightseeing

Once we were ready the first sight from our hotel was locals cops catching the outstation vehicles and trying their luck! My spontaneous decision was to take an Ola Cab! I booked an Ola and made a contract with him to show all the places in Jodhpur. We struck a deal and he was our local guide and driver for the day.

The first visit was to Mehrangarh Fort. Arguably its one of the best Fort in Rajasthan. This fort is huge and we took a guide inside the fort. One can hire a guide by paying at the ticket counter at a fixed rate of Rs 300.

Pics from and around Mehrangarh Fort

[Samba]

Continuation of Day 5

Just beside Mehrangarh fort is the Jaswant Thada



Our next destination was to Umaid Bhavan palace.

The vintage car collection caught my attention the most, so will share most of the pics from this part!













From Umaid Bhavan palace we went to Mandore. Its a garden with few old temples. I loved this place. The architectures were just too good.








From Mandore wife decided to go to hotel via Ghanta Ghar market as she still had some shopping left! Few pics around Ghanta Ghar market.


I just loved these auto's.




By 6pm we reached our hotel.
I was excited for the next day as it was scheduled to visit Jaisalmer! Finally the DESERT!

[Samba]

Day 6, Jodhpur to Jaisamer 278km, 4 hours + Kuldhara and sam Sand dunes 89kms. Total 367 kms

We started from Jodhpur at 10am and as soon as we hit the highway the terrain started out to be more and more barren. The road is mostly single lane but enough wide and well maintained to maintain a good average speed. We reached Jaisalmer war museum by 2pm.

Pics from Jaisalmer war museum.


















We started from the war museum by 2-30pm and checked in to our hotel in another 20 mins. Had lunch and headed out for Sam. Before heading to Sam i asked for a package at Sam from the hotel. They gave me a contact no of a person. He asked for Rs 2,700 for camel ride, Jeep ride, dinner and local folk dance including a visit to Kuldhara village. It seemed to be fair enough.

I picked him up in my car and our first stop was at Kuldhara Village. The details about Kuldhara village-

'Kuldhara is an abandoned village in the Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan, India. Established around 13th century, it was once a prosperous village inhabited by Paliwal Brahmins. ... Gradually, it acquired reputation as a haunted site, and the Rajasthan State Government decided to develop it as a tourist spot.'

Our camel ride was scheduled at 5-30pm, so we left Kuldhara village around 5pm.

Few pics from the camel ride.










After 30 mins of camel ride a white Thar picked us to take us to the sunset point, driving through the sand dunes. It was a bumpy ride but it was fun. The drivers drive faster than required just to add some thrill to the tourists!

Pics during sunset from the jeep ride.















A pic from the local Rajasthani folk dance.


Post dinner the drive from Sam to Jaisalmer was beautiful. It was pitch dark and we could see a very clear view of the night sky. As we were alone on that stretch i didn't dare to stop much and do some night photography. So after just stopping for a couple of minutes in the middle of nowhere we drove back to our hotel. After a day with lot of activity we were dog tired and called it a day.

[Samba]

Day 7, Tanot, Laungewala and around Jaisalmer 289km

Started from Jaisalmer at 10-30am in the morning. I was looking forward for this drive just from the day i planned the Rajasthan trip. The first 60kms led us to Ramgarh and after crossing Ramgarh it was all barren. Both side of the road were deserts. If any one expects that the drive is only surrounded by sand dunes then one is wrong. The sand dunes are filled with bushes and cactus.

A video for reference-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dnh...ature=youtu.be

Few pics en-route-






Soon we reached Tanot Mata mandir. This temple has a historical value. Its said that during the war between India and Pakistan few shells were targeted to this temple but none of them exploded.

Pics of Tanot Mata temple-

The shells which never exploded.




At Tanot Mata Mandir i asked a BSF jawan if i can get permits for BP609, but he told i had to obtain it from Jaisalmer. So had to give BP609 a miss.

From here our next destination was to Laungewala. Its a 30kms drive on a narrow road through the desert. The car A/C was having a tough time to beat the heat out side, but at the end Etios's AC managed well.

A video on the way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRK3...ature=youtu.be

Saw few wild ass on the way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V7SrAyOGFM

At Laungewala war Museum















On the way back to Jaisalmer from Laungewala


We were back to our hotel by 4pm, enjoyed the afternoon inside the hotel compound.


Got to know about Cafe the Kaku, heard it offers great view of Jaisalmer fort aka Sonar kella and offers a great view of the Jaisalmer city and sunset with great food. So we decided to visit this cafe to see the sun set then have dinner and come back to our hotel.

View from Cafe the Kaku





The famous LALMAS, it means red meat. This certain mutton preparation of Rajasthan is very tasteful. One should definitely give it a try.









Post dinner we came back to our hotel and called it a day.

[Samba]

Day 8, Jaisalmer Sightseeing and visit Khuri, 102km

We woke up lazily and spent the morning chilling in the swimming pool. Had an early lunch and we set out for Jaisalmer fort which is commonly know as Sonar kella after the name of Satyajit Ray's famous movie.

The works on the Jain temple's inside Sonar Kella are not less than any architectural marvel! The works were simply brilliant.
































After visiting Sonar kella we had some awesome local golgappa/panipuri near the market at Hanuman Chawk. By then it was already 3-30pm so we started to drive towards Khuri. The road which leads to Khuri is narrow but well maintained. It took us around 40 minutes to reach Khuri and at first we took a stroll around the village.







Post the village walk we went to the sand dunes of Khuri on camel ride. The sand dunes of khuri are more untouched and the place is much less commercialized than Sam. If one has to choose between Sam and Khuri i will prefer Khuri.

Let the pictures do the talking-






















After witnessing the beautiful sunset we drove back to Jaisalmer. While driving back in this terrain i was just imagining the scene's of Mr.Gregory Peck's movie 'Mackenna's Gold'. The overall feel was pretty similar! The only difference was he was riding on 1 horse power but i was on 90 horse power!
This was our last day at Jaisalmer. Our next day's destination was Mt Abu. As we had only one night at Mt Abu we had to start early next day, so we can reach early and do the sight seeing. So had an early dinner and called it a day.

[Samba]

Day 9, Jaisalmer to Mt Abu, 432kms in 6.5 hours & 12 kms sightseeing. Total 444kms.

As its going to be a long day we were on road by 8-20am after having a sumptuous breakfast. Our target was to reach Mt abu non stop and have lunch over there. The roads were great and we were pushing a bit to reduce the time. By 2-50pm we checked in at our hotel in Mt abu and ordered for a late lunch.

Witnessed few Palash tree's en-route.




The road to Mt Abu.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHjMxzSn_1A

Post lunch we went to visit the most famous Dilwara Temple of Mt abu. As-usual the cravings on the wall were just awesome but photography was strictly not allowed. So no pics from Dilwara temple.

From here, we visited honeymoon point. Its a place from where one can also witness a beautiful sunset.


Mt Abu is a small but we organised hill station. People are friendly over here. From honeymoon point we went to Nakki lake for boating and on the way wifey did some shopping and we tasted some beautiful ice-creams just from the shops beside Nakki lake.



















By 7pm we were done covering this small yet beautiful hill station. It was fairly a hectic day. By 9pm had our dinner and called it a day.

[Samba]

Day 10, Mt Abu to Udaipur. 170km, 2hours 40 minutes & Udaipur sightseeing

Our target was to reach Udaipur by 12pm, have lunch and set out for the local sightseeing by 2pm. We were on road by 9-15am and by 12pm we checked in at our hotel. Had lunch and decided to take Ola cabs instead of taking our car. Called an Ola and asked him to take us to Fatehsagar lake wait there for few minutes and drop us to Udaipur city palace. I called an Ola auto and it was fun!

Pics of the beautiful Fateh sagar lake-





After seeing the Fatehsagar lake our next destination was the famous Udaipur city palace. Its among one of the best maintained palaces.

Straight away sharing the pics-

[Samba]

Continuation of day 10





















To witness the sunset we walked to the shore of lake Pichola and sat for an hour. It was beautiful.
















While returning a Nano cab from Ola picked us up from the city palace gate and dropped us to hotel.
Our next day's destination was Ranthambore.

[Samba]

Day 11, Udaipur to Ranthambore, 400km in 6 hours and visit to Ranthambore fort in afternoon 12kms. Total 412Kms.

We started from Udaipur by 9am. The road from Udaipur till Kota was a breeze. From Kota the road got single laned and there were few rough patches so had to slow down a bit, but it was more than manageable. By 3pm reached our resort at Ranthambore.

A couple of pics of our tent.




That day we didn't had any Safari so decided to visit Ranthambore fort in the afternoon. Its inside the forest but one can take his own car by making an entry at the forest gate.

Sharing few pics from the fort and drive to the fort.































Sambar deers


Peacocks


In the evening we had nothing much to do. Next day morning we had an early morning Safari at 6am so had an early dinner and called it a day.

Day 12, Ranthambore, Jungle Safari

For the whole night there was torrential rain and the night was chilling cold. The alarm rang at 5am and it was hard to get out off the blanket. Some how had a quick bath and got ready. Our safari jeep reached our resort by 6am. We got permits for Zone 6. Headed to Zone 6 in an open hood gypsy.
The morning was cold after the whole night rain.

Few pics from the morning safari.

A Mangoose

A Deer







A sloth bear





A Sambar deer


Due to heavy rain tiger luck was not in our favor. We had high hopes for the evening Safari which was to be held in zone 7 but when we were on the safari it started raining heavily and we were all wet on the open hood gypsy. Tiger luck was not with us this time too, we could hear the tiger roar from a very short distance but couldn't spot it.

Never the less, keeping the tiger luck aside the flora and fauna of Ranthambore is beautiful and we really enjoyed it.

A video from zone 7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsO_hgtiFFQ

A couple of pics from the afternoon safari




From the Safari we returned to our tent by 7pm. Had dinner and called it a day.

[Samba]

Day 13, Ranthambore to Agra, 322km in 5 hours

I got the tickets booked for viewing the moon lit Taj through my travel agent. It had to be bought online in two days prior to the date you plan to visit. So i had no hurry to reach Agra. As soon as i reach hotel a person from the travel desk will hand over the tickets to me. So lazily we started around 11am from Ranthambore.

Till Dausa roads were single lane and from Dausa we were connected to the Jaipur - Agra highway.

These sights were common on the road.


By 3pm we crossed Fatehpur sikri and we were on the single lane road before Agra. When our hotel was at a distance of just 30 mins according to our gps, bad luck struck. There was a turning and on the turning a Swift was overtaking a Tata Ace but another smarty on a Grand i10 decided to over take that swift on that turning! He was literally head on with me. He had no place to swerve left, so all i did was braked hard and swerved to my left as much as possible but still to my bad luck my right side ORVM brushed with the Grand I10's ORVM and the glass came off.
Now driving on the highways without a right ORVM glass is literally risky. So stopped my car and searched the net for a local Toyota service center in Agra. Found Sunny Toyota at a distance of 23kms from the spot. Called them up and they reassured that the right ORVM glass was available. Reached there service center in another 40 mins and got the glass changed in just 15 mins. They were professional and fast.

From there hotel was 18kms, so reached hotel in another 30 mins.

The view from the Hotel terrace was really nice. The terrace had Taj view.




By 6pm the travel agent guy called me to handover the tickets to view moon lit Taj and explained me the formalities on how to proceed.


Our slot was from 8-30pm to 9pm. We reached gate 1 office by 8pm. It was a 3 mins walk from our hotel on this beautifully decorated paved road.


The rule is to check in 30 mins prior to the scheduled time. They did all the security checks and took us to TAJ in there battery operated bus.
View of Moon Lit Taj.








Plan for the next day was to drive till Varanashi.

[Samba]

Day 14, Agra to Varanashi, 586km in 7 hours 45 mins

After breakfast we left Agra by 9am. Was following GPS and surprisingly instead of connecting us to Nh2, GPS connected us on the Agra-Lucknow highway on Fateahbad. After driving for 48kms on this 6 lane expressway we took a left ramp and connected back to Nh2 approximately 50kms before Etawah. This road saved a lot of time skipping the traffic of Tundla, Firozabad and Shikohabad. We crossed Kanpur in 3hours 15 mins and in 6 hours we crossed Handia which is 500kms from Agra. Handia to Varanashi hotel took us another 1 hour 45 mins. By 4-45pm we checked in to our hotel.

An aerial view of Varanashi.


Evening was spent by local shopping.

Day 15, Varanshi sightseeing

It was Holi, so instead of driving to Kolkata on Holi we decided to stay back at Varanashi. Me and wife had our fair share of fun playing Holi in the terrace.

View from the terrace of locals playing holi-


In the afternoon we decided to go for a boat ride to see the evening Arti at the famous Dashashwamedh ghat and see the other ghat's of Varanashi including the Manikarnika ghat which is known as the burning ghat.

We got a boat for Rs 800 and we were on board by 5-15pm for the 3 hours boat ride in a full moon afternoon/evening.

Pics from the boat ride-








































Post boat ride we tried some famous local sweets in a local shop, came back to hotel, had dinner at the roof top restaurant and called it a day.

Day16, Varanashi to Kolkata, 647km in 10 hours

This was the last day of our trip. After 16 days, going home felt really nice. We left Varanashi by 8pm. To our surprise the roads were devoid of trucks as it was the day after Holi. I was driving at around steady 120km/hr and was covering the distance pretty well. By 1pm we reached Bagador just before Topchachi and had our lunch at Ashok hotel.

Jharkhand was red with Palash.


Just after lunch i got a call from my dad that he and mom are coming to Panagarh to receive us in our Figo! It was a pleasant surprise for us. Etios met Figo at Panagarh and we stopped over for a 30 mins coffee break.


Post that we stopped at Shaktigar for a Langcha break again!


From there it was a straight drive to home. Finally reached home by 6pm with 5,173km of memories.

[Samba]

Hotel reviews-

Hotels we stayed in-

Kanpur- Hotel Manoj international

Location- 3.5/5
Room- 3.5/5
Food- 3.5/5
Parking- Yes
Room Tariff - 3,000 INR for a double bed room.
Overall- 3.5/5

Jaipur- The zone by the Park

Location- 4/5
Room- 4.5/5
Food- 4/5
Parking- Yes
Room Tariff - 2,700 INR for a double bed room with breakfast.
Overall- 4.5/5

Jodhpur- Shri Ram Empire

Location- 4/5
Room- 4/5
Food- 4/5 (Veg)
Parking- Yes
Room Tariff - 3,000 INR for a double bed room with breakfast.
Overall- 4/5

Jaisalmer- Heritage inn

Location- 4/5
Room- 3.8/5
Food- 4/5
Parking- Yes
Room Tariff - 3,100 INR for a double bed room with breakfast.
Overall- 4/5

Mt Abu- Hotel Mount Regency

Location- 4/5
Room- 3/5
Food- 4/5 (Veg)
Parking- Yes
Room Tariff - 3,700 INR for a double bed room with breakfast.
Overall- 3.5/5

Ranthambore - Tiger Machaan

Location- 4/5
Room/Tent- 3.8/5
Food- 4.5/5
Parking- Yes
Room Tariff - 4,500 including breakfast, lunch, dinner.
Overall- 3.8/5

Comment- We stayed there in package which included stay, safari and food. I inquired them 4 months prior to the trip and asked for jungle safari in Gypsy between zone 1-5. In the beginning they told me for that i have to pay the advance in 90 days prior to the trip. I did the same. When i inquired later they told they cant guarantee us that we will get between zone 1-5 in gypsy. Later when we reached they told they will give us safari in zone 6 & 7 in gypsy, for zone 1-5 i need to go in a canter. I opted for the Gypsy. When i asked them why am i not getting zone 1-5 in a gypsy instead of booking in 90 days advance, they gave us stories like that needs 10-11k bribe etc etc. This part was disappointing with them. Rest the stay, food, location were all good. But do not rely on the safari part on Tiger Machaan package.

Agra - Taj Resorts

Location- 4.5/5
Room- 4/5
Food- 3/5
Parking- Yes
Room Tariff - 3,000 INR for a double bed room with breakfast.
Overall- 4/5

Varanashi - Benaras Haveli

Location- 4.5/5
Room- 4/5
Food- 4/5 (Veg)
Parking- Yes
Room Tariff - 3,500 INR for a double bed room.
Overall- 4/5

[Aditya]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section. Thanks for sharing!