[abhikb]

The current situation is going to be unnerving for road trip lovers, whereby the as a responsible citizen it is our duty to cooperate with the Government and authorities, on the other hand the waiting and waiting period till everything is going to be a hardest time to deal with. However, writing a Tlog helps in subsiding the pain as you get to relieve the experience of a road trip again.

Well as the title says, this Tlog is a chronological journey of our 3 road trips into The Land of Maharajas or The Land of Rajputs- Rajasthan in different timelines. Rajasthan being a neighbor state always comes handy for a quick getaway Yet inspite of making several trips over the years there are many areas still left to explore. I have lost count of how many times in my lifetime we have crossed the GJ-RJ border for some or the other reason. Till date we have explored almost all the parts of Rajasthan be it Mewar, Marwar, Amer, Jaisalmer, Mount Abu and so on. However, few places such as Bikaner, Pokran, Ranthambore etc. which we will visit and cover in the coming days.

The experience which I am going to share here is about 3 different road trips that we undertook starting with Mewar region in early 2017, followed with Jaipur (Amer) in mid of 2017 and lastly to Marwar in early 2019. I have put up separate Tlogs regarding my experience in Mount Abu and Jaisalmer-Munabao on this forum. So without wasting any more time, I will get on to the 3 chapters of this Tlog.

[abhikb]

Chapter-1

Khama-ghani, The Mewar Story:

Trip Summary::

- Route: Ahmedabad-Himmatnagar-Shyamlaji-Udaipur-Kumbhalgarh-Haldighati-Udaipur-Shyamlaji-Himmatnagar-Ahmedabad
- Start date & Time: 24/02/2017 07:30 Hrs.
- End date & Time: 26/02/2017 19:00 Hrs.
- Vehicle: MS Swift Vxi, 2013 (Erstwhile)
- Travellers: Myself & Wife
- Distance Covered: 762 Kms.
- Accomodations:
1) Udaipur- Dream Heaven Haveli Guest House, Chandpole.
2) Kumbhalgarh- V Resorts, Lake Alpi, Near Kanooja. (20 kms before Kumbhalgarh fort).

Plan:

This trip was planned by me and my wife in the month of February-2017, we were newly weds then and had completed 6 months of marriage that month. Hence, thought of making a short trip nearby for a weekend, checked the holiday calendar and found that we had a Shivratri holiday on 24th Feb which happened to be a Friday, so took a leave on Saturday and decided to go for a 3 day trip. We started looking for options where we can visit for 3 days, since this was planned on a short notice flying to a destination was out of question. Hence, the best option available was to drive to the destination (part of my vicious plan). We decided to select for a place which would be about 5-6 hours drive from Ahmedabad as I had just recovered from a ruptured disc injury so driving for long hours was not advisable, It should have nearby places to visit where we can move around. After weighing down all the options we decided to visit Udaipur, the primary reason was my wife had never been there though I had been there once but that was a long time ago. Hence, it seemed to be the idealistic destination. We had 3 full days at our disposable and Udaipur was as such having lot many places nearby where we you can roam around. We required 1 full day for Udaipur city, next day had to be chittorgarh or Kumbhalgarh and the last day was kept for visiting any place enroute and return journey after lunch. While planning we were in couple of delima,
1) To visit Udaipur city on 1st day or on 2nd day,
2) Kumbhalgarh or chittorgarh as the time only permitted for 1 place.

After much deliberation we decided on the below itenary:

Day-1: Start from Ahmedabad early morning, check in to hotel by 11am. Udaipur city tour till evening and end the day with monsoon palace.
Day-2: Start from Udaipur and make way to Kumbhalgarh
Day-3: Start from Kumbhalgarh, travel to Haldighati with a minor detour and start for return journey to Ahmedabad after lunch.

Route and road conditions:

Ahmedabad-Udaipur:

The most prominent route used for commuting between Ahmedabad and Udaipur is to travel through Himmatnagar-Shyamlaji-Bhilwara. The roads were in good shape back in 2017 though the situation is reverse these days due to road widening work at many places. Up to Shyamlaji the roads are flat and post crossing the border the ghat section also known as Bichiwara ki ghati starts, though it’s nothing close to a hilly ghat section as the roads have been paved well and 4 lane all the way. Yet you need to be careful while negotiating the route due to heavy traffic of trucks and buses which ply in large numbers and the sharp turns with incline slopes at many places.

Udaipur-Kanooja-Kumbhalgarh:

We followed Google Maps and took the Udaipur-Thur-Iswal-Barodia-Kumbhalgarh route, the roads on this stretch was pathetic as we encountered single lane narrow roads till Kumbhalgarh with broken tarmac, potholes, rough taxi drivers and all the things you can imagine which could slow you down. Our place of stay was located in Kanooja which was about 20 kms before Kumbhalgarh fort. From Kanooja one needs to travel till Kelwara and then onward to Kumbhalgarh fort, important landmark is a Statue of Maharana Pratap which is situated after Kelwara at the dead end from where you need to take right towards the fort. (why the landmark is important to note you will get to know later in the thread). The road continues to be narrow single lane all the way, post Kelwara the ghat section starts which continues till the entry gate of the Fort. It is advisable to park the vehicle before entry gate as parking the same after the entry gate is hell lot of a task with steep inclines along the boundary of the fort and narrow turns making it very difficult to negotiate, especially for big sized vehicles.

Kumbhalgarh-Haldighati-Udaipur-Ahmedabad:

The distance from Kumbhalgarh to Haldighati is about 40 kms one side. One needs to travel 25 kms towards Udaipur onto a Y-Junction from where you need to turn towards Haldighati and drive for another 15 kms to reach Haldighati. This stretch is again narrow single lane road with country side landscapes all around with potholes and broken section at many stretches. From Haldighati one will have to drive back till the Y-Junction and then proceed towards Udaipur via Iswal and Thur. From Udaipur the same route needs to be taken i.e. via Bichiwara, Shyamlaji, Himmatnagar.

The Udaipur-Ahmedabad stretch has plenty of eateries enroute, being a nonveg lover we prefer to have food after entering Rajasthan. People traveling on this route would never face any issue with regard to fooding, fueling and even place to spend a night. However, on the Kumbhalgarh stretch is through the village country side and has very less fooding options and even petrol pumps are scarce. So it’s better to have your vehicle fueled up in case you are planning to stay for more than a day and carry some light food along with you.

Hotel Booking and Stay options:

We made the Hotel bookings through make my trip. Selecting a suitable place to stay in Udaipur was a task as there are many exotic properties in and around the city. However, we thought of experiencing the city life where we can visit everything at a walking down the narrow streets. After much searching we zeroed on Dream heaven haveli, it was a old city 3 floor house converted into a hotel which is flocked by tourists. The hotel is situated on the banks of Pichola Lake and has a dedicated roof top restaurant from where you can see the Pichola Lake, City palace, Bagor ki Havelli and all other tourist spots. The photos and reviews seemed ideal for us and we completed the booking. The further details are as follows:
1) Hotel Name: Dream Heaven Havelli
2) Location: Chandpole market, Udaipur
3) Food served: All Indian Veg/Non-Veg dishes with few continental items.
4) Parkong facility: They don’t have a dedicated parking facility in their premises but they guided us to a paid parking spot few meters away with a charge of Rs.100 for 24 hours. Moreover if you are staying here you won’t need your vehicle to commute as everything is at a walkable distance.
5) Negatives:
Elevator facility is not available.
People preferring a posh stay will not find it up to the mark.
6) Tariff: Rs. 1800/night for double bed room with breakfast. (Makemytrip tariff increases Feb-2017).

Kumbhalgarh has got many exotic properties right from Club Mahindra to all major resorts chain. Most of the places are situated at a radius of 5kms from the fort admist the mountains and any of them can be selected for a comfortable stay. For our stay we selected V Resorts which is situated in Kanooja about 20kms before the fort. The property was decent having a lake and is surrounded by mountains on the 3 sides. The food was good and rooms were quite huge compared to the tariff they charged. Anyone seeking silence and solitude, this property will fulfill it. Further details are as follows:

1) Hotel Name: V Resorts, Lake Alpi
2) Location: Kanooja. On the main highway 20kms before fort.
3) Food Served: Veg/Non-Veg Indian dishes
4) Parking facility: Available
5) Negatives: None. Only downer is driving back after dark can be tricky. ( more details mentioned later)
6) Tariff: Rs. 2900/ night for double bedroom with breakfast. (Booked through makemytrip).

The Trip:

Day-1 Ahmedabad to Udaipur:


The Udaipur-Bichiwara Section

Our plan was to reach Udaipur by 11-11:30 am, hence we decided to leave home by 7am. Back in those days Ahmedabad-Udaipur used to take about 4-4.5 hours but things are not the same today as there are many diversions due to road widening work on the Himmatnagar-Chiloda stretch. We stopped only once on the way for a loo break and by 11:15am we were knocking on the doors of Udaipur city. The hotel management allowed to us to make a early check-in after a formal requests. The road till the hotel goes through Chandpole market area which is very narrow and quite difficult to negotiate on a 4 wheeler. GPS also dodged us couple of times putting into more narrower street but we eventually made our way to a place which was about 100-200 mtrs from the hotel. From their I called the hotel fellow who sent his representative to fetch us and also helped with the paid parking facility which was few blocks away from the hotel. It took us about 25 minutes to get to the hotel once we entered the city due to the busy market streets and courtesy google maps. Later we realized that it hardly takes 5-10 minutes if the correct route is taken.


This gentleman was too busy to welcome us at the door step

We checked into the hotel and were allocated a room on 2nd floor with a dedicated balcony. This place didn’t had an elevator and stairs are higher than usual due to old age construction, can be a problem for elderly people. We asked the hotel manager about how should we plan our day, he said places like City palace, Bagor ki Haveli, Pichola lake are at a walking distance from their Hotel. After discussion over lunch we decided that we do the touring in the following manner:
1) City palace (2-3 hours).
2) Drive to monsoon palace (2 hours).
3) Boating at Pichola Lake
4) Watch dharohar dance show at Bagor ki Haveli from 7pm. (1-2 hours).
5) Take a evening walk along the banks of the lake, have dinner and crash into the bed.

Udaipur City Palace:


The Front View of the City Palace


Another view of the City Palace

Post lunch we walked towards Udaipur City palace which was a 5 minutes walk from our hotel. The City palace is maintained by the current gen King of Udaipur through their trust. The entry tickets were about Rs. 110 per person and another Rs. 500 if you wish to have a guide. We paid the money for the ourselves and hired a guide who would take us through the beautiful palace. A part of the palace is not allowed for visitors where the royal family resides. The current king of Mewar is Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar and Mr. Lakhshya Raj Singh Mewar is the prince and probably the next heir to the throne.

Udaipur city was founded by Maharana Udai Singh II, the Mewar kingdom had to shift their capital from Chittorgarh to Udaipur following the Mughal conquest. The city palace is more than 500 years old and has been built and expanded in parts by different kings during their time. It took us around 2 hours to visit the palace and the guide was very cooperative and explained everything in detailed manner. It started with the founding of Udaipur city by Rana Udai Singh II to the role Maharana Pratap in protecting the Mewar kingdom from Mughals, then Rana Bhupal Singh wo played an important in annexation of Mewar Kingdom into the India in 1947 and lastly with the current king and his different ventures. A light and sound show takes place at the palace but we decided to skip it as we had planned to watch the Dharohar Dance show at Bagor ki Haveli. If you are a history buff, no matter how much time you spend in city palace you would still be unsatisfied as it has so much to offer. No wonder the Kings of Rajasthan were one of the richest of their times but much of the time was spent in fighting the conquest attempts by different enemies over the time.

After completing the city palace tour we then walked back towards the parking lot, fetched the car and moved towards our next destination Sajjangarh Palace.

Sajjangarh Palace or Monsoon Palace:


View from Sajjangarh

Sajjangarh or Monsoon Palace is situated at hill top from where you can have a bird’s eye view of the city. It was located at 7 kms from our hotel and about a 20-25 kms drive. The last section is a steep climb to the hill top where the palace is located, be careful about the 6-7 hairpins which may cause little discomfort to people not experienced to driving in hills.

Monsoon Palace was built In 1884 by Maharana Sajjan Singh which was later converted into a recreational palace for the royal family. This property is maintained by ASI and is open to visitors. The view from the palace is beautiful and you can see the entire Udaipur city from here. You can drive to the foot of the monument, then have to park the car and walk into the palace.


View from Sajjangarh Palace


Sunset shot

We stayed their for a hour watching the sunset and roaming around the beautiful monument which once was a symbol of royalty of Mewar Kingdom back in those days. The decision to catch the glimpse of sunset from the Monsoon Palace proved to be a good decision as the view from the top was spectacular. We started our descent to Udaipur city at around 6pm as we had to be on time for the dharohar dance show at Bagor Ki Haveli.


The descent from the Monsoon Palace

Bagor Ki Haveli:

Bagor Ki Haveli is located on the banks of Pichola lake and was a few minutes walk from our hotel where we parked our car after returning from Monsoon Palace. A cultural program showcasing the beauty of Rajasthan folk tales is held every evening at 7:30 PM. It is essential to reach a hour earlier as the tickets are limited and are sold on first come first serve basis. Inside the Haveli seating arrangements are made in traditional style where one by one the artists perform most of them being females. It runs for about a hour and every minute is worth watching, highly recommended when visiting Udaipur.

Glimpes of the Darohar Dance show











After the show, we took a small stroll along the banks of the Lake and then had a rooftop dinner nearby and then retired to the hotel and crashed straight to the bed after a long and tiring day.

Day-2 Udaipur to Kumbhalgarh:

We woke up fresh after a good night’s sleep and had planned to leave at around 8am. We used the rooftop restaurant of the hotel from where the entire view of the lake is visible and under the winter sun in the morning time. Had a filling breakfast, settled the bills and hopped on to our car for moving towards Kumbhalgarh.

Once we made our way out of the area, I switched on GPS and put V Resorts as the destination. Well this time google maps screwed things up big time, it took us to Sajjangarh and from their onwards it directed us to take a right. The right turn took us to some pretty bad roads, narrow and broken all along. We went on and on for more than 30 minutes before it merged with a four lane highway. (not sure which highway it was). Few metres onto the highway, we saw board with a right turn marked for Kumbhalgarh. We took that turn and again entered into a narrow stretch though tarred but very narrow making difficult for 2 cars to pass by. The height of irritation reached when the RJ taxi drivers would not put aside their vehicles a single inch when crossing an oncoming vehicle. After couple of times of putting down my car off the road, I decided to give them a taste of their own irritating behavior. For the next few I just didn’t move my car much while crossing an oncoming vehicle and forced them to take one wheel down the road, the correct way of crossing a vehicle on a narrow stretch.

After driving for close to 3.5 hours we reached our resort and checked in. The resort is located in a quite isolated place with hills surrounded by 3 sides and a small lake adjacent to the garden area. We checked in, for freshened up and then went for lunch downstairs at the restaurant. The food was tasty and filled our tummies and We retired back to our room for some rest.

Around 2:30 PM we started with our journey towards Kumbhalgarh fort which was 20 kms from our place of stay and a 30 minutes drive. One bizarre thing is the fort located at the hill top is not visible unless you reach its vicinity. We reached the gate of the fort after driving for about 35-40 minutes, this property is also maintained by ASI and has a nominal entry fee. It’s better to park your vehicle outside the fort, we realized this after crossing the gate of the fort as parking the vehicle is hell of a task the parking spaces are situated on the steep uphill around the boundary of the fort. Bought the tickets and we entered the fort, bumped into a guide who agreed to brief us for a charge of Rs. 100.

The Approach to the Fort



Entry Gate of the Fort





Kumbhalgarh fort was founded by one of the descendants of Samrat Ashoka as Machindragarh in 6th century AD. Somewhere in the 15th century, Rana Kumbha of the Mewar kingdom decided to strengthen his empire and for which he hired a renowned architect to build military forts across the boundary of the state. Rana Kumbha decided to develop Machindragarh into a special military fort for training their soldiers for advanced warfare. The architect agreed to do so but with only one condition that the new developed fort will have to be named after Rana Kumbha who agreed on the condition and thus Machindragarh came to be known as Kumbhalgarh fort named after Rana Kumbha. Many don’t know that Kumbhalgarh fort has the 2nd largest wall built in the world after The Great Wall of China, the wall is built around a radius of 36 square kms. The guide told us that the fort was abandoned for a long time before ASI decided to take up the restoration of the fort and make it open for public. It’s a good 2 hours tour of the fort and it’s not advisable for elderly people or people with any physical issues.

The Fort Tour













Sunset View



We bought our tickets for the light and sound show at the fort and I can assure that it’s worth the cost and time. It starts the story with the birth of Rana Hammir Singh who was the first Rana of Mewar and he is the descendant of Ratnasimha, Ruler of Mewar who was defeated by Alauddin Khilji and which was later won by Rana Hammir Singh. From there on the story travels to the time Machindragarh was formed and then jumps to the timeline of Rana Kumbha and ultimately ends with showcasing the legend of Maharana Pratap.

It was around 8pm when the light and sound show finished and we started our return journey to the resort. It was pitch dark and all of the vehicles just vanished into the dark in a few minutes. After driving half way we missed a left turn towards Kanooja and went straight for about 10-12 kms. After a while, we could see nothing but small huts and pitch dark surroundings without a sight of life around us. The phone didn’t had network and we couldn’t figure out where to go. We drove around for about 1.5 hours and were not able to find the right away and neither there were any milestones, human being or any indication to get back on track. We got mentally ready that we may have to spend the night in the car under these circumstances. Finally a middle aged man emerged from now where and literally felt like an angel sent by god. I asked him the directions towards our resort but he couldn’t guide us,a thought ran into my mind, we would have certainly made a wrong turn after the fort and if we could make our way back to the fort, start again recollecting the turns we took while coming to the fort maybe we can find way back to the resort. The man knew the way to the fort and guided us the route, we drove back for another 1 hour and reached near the entrance of the fort. We stopped at the gate of a resort and asked for directions, then I realized I missed the left turn after few kms and went straight for sometime and then took the wrong turn. Finally with careful driving I could trace the turn and took left towards our resort which was still 10-15 kms away. It was pitch dark, clock was ticking at 11:30 PM, our phones dead because of low battery and we were hungry as hell. Slowly and gradually we made to the gate of the resort, the care taker came rushing to the gate seeing our car to enquire whether we were alright and how did we get so late as it was already 5 minutes past midnight and all other guests who had gone to the fort had returned, they tried reaching over phone but as we were out of coverage for sometime followed with dead battery they couldn’t contact us. I explained him what happened and he was shocked on how we were able to make our way back. They had kept dinner for us sensing we might have been stuck somewhere, appreciated and loved their kind gesture. We had our dinner and then retired to our room after a physically and mentally tiring day, charged our phones and had a word with our parents back home who were sick worried, informed them we were safe and then slept laughing about what just happened.

The horrible night journey



Day-3 Kumbhalgarh- Haldighati- Ahmedabad:

After the last nights experience it was essential to have a good night’s sleep, the pin drop silence at night around the resort helped in catching a healthy sleep. We woke up around 8am that morning, all fresh and raring to complete the last mile. The plan for the day was to drive to Haldighati and then start our drive back home.

We got ready by 9am and went down to the cafeteria to have our breakfast, after completing the breakfast and settling the bills we started for Haldighati by 9:45-10 am. The driving distance from our resort to Haldighati is about 40 kms and takes about 1 hour to reach. The roads continue to be narrow and pass through villages and country side surrounding. There’s a museum which showcases information related to the famous battle of Haldighati fought between Maharana Pratap and Mughal emperor Akbar. The place is named Haldighati as the landscape and mountain rocks are yellowish in color similar to turmeric. We roamed around the museum for about a hour and also witnessed a short film which depicts the details of the famous battle. Chetak the horse of Maharana Pratap collapsed during the battle but ensured that his master was in safety. A few meters ahead there’s a memorial park built which is believed to be place where Chetak died. The battle story is really intriguing and sends shiver down the spine.

By 12pm we were done with Haldighati and started with our return journey to Ahmedabad. It was a 350 kms drive and we were expecting to cover it in 6-6.5 hours. We didn’t face any major hurdle enroute and were able to cover the distance considerably. We reached home at around 6:45 Pm and the trip Meter showed a distance of 762 Kms.

Though we couldn’t explore Chittorgarh and few places in Udaipur due to paucity of time but whatever we saw or witnessed in Mewar was indeed beautiful and worth the time and money.

Tips and Pointers for Mewar:

1) If you wish to explore the complete region than have atleast 4-5 days in hand.
2) Minimum 2 nights is required to explore the Udaipur city in totality.
3) For people who are ok with average but neat accommodation, staying inside the city area is the best option as many old houses have been converted to hotels.
4) Udaipur market place is a delight for ladies.
5) If in a delima about the light and sound show at city palace or dharohar dance show at Bagor Ki Haveli, opt for the later.
6) Kumbhalgarh is still not developed and can be tricky while traveling at night, be extra cautious.
7) Don’t rely entirely on google maps while traveling On the country roads, better to ask locals for pointers.
8) Local cuisine is the best thing to try out.
9) People searching for solitude for couple of days, Kumbhalgarh is the place to opt for.

[abhikb]

Chapter-2

A Different Land of Rajputana, Amer and The Pink City


CREDITS TO PHOTO OWNER, SOURCE:GOOGLE

Trip Summary:

Route: Ahmedabad-Palanpur-Abu Road-Pali-Ajmer-Beawar-Jaipur-Beawar-Nathdwara-Udaipur-Shyamlaji-Himmatnagar-Ahmedabad
- Start date & Time: 24/08/2017 16:30 Hrs.
- End date & Time: 28/08/2017 04:00 Hrs.
- Vehicle: Mahindra Xylo E4, 2013 (Erstwhile)
- Travellers: Myself,Wife, Parents and my brother
- Distance Covered: Approximately 1800 Kms.

Plan:

This was an impromptu trip planned at a very short notice, I was having a off on Friday and decided to take a leave on Saturday and a half day leave on Thursday making around 3.5 days available at our disposal. Since the leaves were planned on a short notice, we decided to visit my wife’s maternal place Jaipur. Being a road trip crazy family all we need is a slight spark and a little opportunity to hit the roads.

Since it was my wife’s maternal place searching and getting an accommodation was not needed, we were to stay at her maternal uncle’s house. We got the Xylo serviced couple of days before the trip, all of us managed to get leaves during that period and finally we decided to start our journey on Thursday afternoon. Our plan was to drive till Ajmer or Beawar and halt at a decent highway side hotel. Then start our journey by 8 or 9 am and reach Jaipur in couple of hours. Take rest and do some local sight seeing in the evening, my wife’s cousins being with us was going to be a boon for us as we won’t be needing to waste any time. The second day was kept for Jaigarh, Nahargarh forts and Amer fort along with some market place strolling for the ladies. The last day was for return journey to Ahmedabad after lunch.

Route and Road condition:

There two routes to travel from Ahmedabad to Jaipur, 1) Via Abu Road, Sirohi
2) Via Udaipur, Nathdwara

I had a word with many people who have traveled on these routes multiple times and every time got different suggestions creating confusion on which route to take. After discussions we decided that we will go via Sirohi and come back via Udaipur, this way we would be able to experience both the routes and ultimately will be helpful for the Spiti trip which was being planned a year later (Separate Tlog published).

Those who have travelled on Abu road-Sirohi route would be aware about the traffic up to Palanpur. No matter what time you leave from Ahmedabad, it won’t be possible cover that 140 kms stretch before 3 hours. Though the roads tarred and 4 lane all along but the traffic slows you down very bad. Post Palanpur it is a breeze to drive till Jaipur or for that matter even to Delhi. The roads are 4 lane wide and has less traffic after Abu Road as majority of the trucks and buses use the Udaipur route. There’s one issue on this route, between Pali and Ajmer there’s nothing you will get for fooding. (More details later). But the roads are a beauty and you can cruise comfortably at 100-120 kmph for considerate period. Both the highways coincide at Beawar. On the other hand, I would not recommend the Udaipur stretch due to several reasons such as Beawar-Nathdwara stretch is single lane and there are many diversions, you will have to cross Udaipur city which is a hell lot of a task and lastly due to the road widening work between Himmatnagar-Chiloda stretch. Both the highways up to a point is safe for night driving but the Pali-Beawar and Nathdwara-Beawar is to be planned carefully while driving at night as there aren’t any place for fooding or place to freshen up in case traveling with Ladies. It took us about 11 hours to reach to our destination via Abu Road and close to 14 hours while coming back from Udaipur.

The Trip:

Day-1, Ahmedabad to Ajmer:

The starting of any road trip always makes me excited on the previous day and just like many of the Road trippers It becomes difficult to sleep the previous night. This trip also was no different, we started packing our luggage which continued till 1am. Post packing the luggage we slept for few hours and I got up at the usual time and left for work. I had planned to leave from office at 1pm and start our journey at 2-2:30 PM. However, a last minute meeting disrupted the schedule and I could leave office at 3 PM only. Reached home at 3:30 PM, got freshen up changed to road tripping attire i.e. Bermuda and T-shirt and we left after fueling at 4:30 PM. Leaving at this time meant that we would be getting hell lot of traffic till Palanpur and I was right. It was 9 PM when we reached Abu Road which was supposed to be a 3.5 hours drive. Since we were running late and our target place for stay was still 400+ kms away we decided to wait for sometime for dinner and pull as much as we can. By 11 PM we reached near the Jaipur-Jodhpur intersection at Pali, by now everyone was hungry so we decided to stop for dinner. But to our disbelief there was not a single restaurant/hotel on that stretch, it was pitch dark and we kept driving. By 12:30 it became very much necessary to stop and have something, I was at the wheel and saw a small Dhaba on the road side. I pulled over and went down to enquire if they can provide food, talked to the dhaba owner who prepared Roti-sabzi that late, we had our tummies filled and they charged only Rs.150 for providing dinner to 5 people. (Couldn’t believe at the 1st instant). It was 1am and I checked the GPS which showed Ajmer was still another 120 Kms, we hopped onto the car and started our journey. In a while everyone was asleep and I kept on driving with mild music playing on the system. At around 3 am when we were approaching Ajmer, I noticed a decent hotel on the highway and pulled over to enquire if they had any rooms left. Me and my Dad got down while others slept in the car, we checked the rooms and found it acceptable to spend a night. Booked 2 rooms for Rs. 1500, 1 triple sharing and 1 double bed. We crashed straight into the bed as soon as we entered the room.

Day-2, Ajmer to Jaipur:

We woke up at around 9am to witness the seasonal rains during the monsoon time, didn’t realize at night that the hotel was situated admist lush green mountains all around. Checked on my parents who were still asleep, we freshened up and got ready by 9:30 am while the others woke up and got onto their chores. It was still raining and we (myself and wife) went downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast. We had hot coffee and bread omlette while the others were ready and came down for breakfast. My wife went upstairs to pack up the stuff and I waited downstairs watching the rains and beautiful scenery all around. After a while I noticed an elderly couple settling the hotel bills and walking towards their car, it was a maroon Jazz with Chandigarh passing. I wondered at this age they are driving alone, the old gentleman again came back to the reception to fetch something, I couldn’t control my curiosity and asked him how old were they, from and to where they were driving. To my surprise he said he is 73, they had gone to attend a wedding in Udaipur and they were returning back home in Chandigarh. I was shocked to see their passion towards road tripping that even at this age they are driving all alone that too from Chandigarh to Udaipur. By this time everyone else came down, settled the bills, loaded the luggage and started our journey. It was raining cats and dogs all along the road and took us about 2 hours to reach Jaipur. By 1pm we reached my wife’s maternal uncle’s place, had some traditional Rajasthani food and slept for a while in the afternoon.

Later in the evening at around 5 PM we went out for local city roaming. Visited the old town where everything is painted in pink color, the ladies did some market hoping while we roamed around and had some road side delicacies. It’s quite hard to bargain here with the shop owners and you have break your sweat to get a good deal. After about 2-3 hours we returned back home, had dinner and then it was a typical Bengali aadda session which continued till midnight.

Day-3, Jaigarh, Nahargarh and Amer:

We woke up lazily and got on our site seeing activity by 11 AM. We first went to Nahargarh fort followed with Jaigarh and Amer fort.

Nahargarh Fort:



The first destination of the day was Nahargarh fort which was located on the edge of Aravalli Hills, the entire Jaipur City is visible from here at a bird’s eye view. The fort was built by Sawai Man Singh in the 17th century in order to form a defense ring along the city. The fort is built in vast area amongst the dense vegetation around it. The entry ticket costed us about Rs. 50 per head, it took us around couple of hours to visit the fort and it’s beautiful surrounding.

When visiting Jaipur this place is a must to visit, It is said that this fort didn’t see any major war but has been witness to many historical events and has stood as a grandeur of the Royal Family.

Jaigarh Fort:

After visiting Nahargarh fort we drone towards Jaigarh Fort which is nearby and a 20 minutes drive uphill. This fort was built in 17th century by Jai Singh II in order to protect the Amer fort as it overlooks the same from the hill top. Just like keeping a hawk eye on Amer. The fort houses world’s largest canon also known as “Jaivana Canon” which is the main attraction here.


The Jaivana Canon


The other one is huge so tried my hand at the new one

It is said that the canon was fired only once in its lifetime and could fire up to a range of 36 kms. There are many stories associated with the firing thing that nearby houses were damaged, the floor on which the canon is placed had to be repaired, pregnant women nearby had miscarriages and so on. This fort was used for Forging of cannons during the 17th century and extensively in operation during the Mughal rule. The entry ticket costs Rs. 50 per head and it takes around 1 hour to visit the place.

Amer Fort:

After visiting Jaigarh fort we went downhill towards Amer fort, it was already 2 PM hence we decided to stop for lunch enroute. Had some tasty local cuisine and then started our journey towards Amer fort by 3 PM. In another half and hours time we reached the gates of the fort, parking the vehicle admist so many vehicles on a steep incline is a daunting task. Parked the vehicle and started moving towards the entry gate of the fort. The walkway towards the gate gives a birds eyes view of the surrounding. The entry fee for Indians is Rs. 50 per person and another Rs. 100 for the light and sound show, the time taken for visiting the fort is about 2-3 hours and another 1 hour for the light and sound show.



Amer Fort was 1st built by the Meena Clan in the 9th Century, later on the same was taken over by the Kachwahas a century later. What we can witness the present day structure of Amer fort, it was expanded or brought to this shape by Raja Man Singh I in the 16th century. Many of the modern amenities used by us in the present day could be seen there which were prepared in those days using simple law of science. This includes Sheesh Mahal (A palace made using mirrors), An airconditoned area made using the cooling water flow technology and lot more. Since it was monsoon time the outside atmosphere was very humid but whenever you go inside any of the chambers it would have natural draft of air and would feel ventilated at all times. This shows that the ancient engineers were far more superior in knowledge than what we are today. Like the earlier designs this fort was also having a Mardana (male) Mahal and a Janana (female) Mahal, in the Janana Mahal even today you can see several spots where the guards could keep a watch on the inside activities, the guide told us the guards used to Transgender warriors who were instructed any men if found trespassing in the Janana Mahal.

The beauty of the fort can’t be explained unless you see it for real, what astonished me more is the architecture and the way the amenities for comfort and luxury were planned that too some 400 years ago.

This territory has been classified in a different manner by history as Raja Bharmal offered the hands of his daughter Jodha Bai to then Mughal emperor Akbar and his later generations continued their rein under the Mughal umbrella. But the architectural beauty of the Amer Fort which was the capital of the Kachwahas is unmatched and is a historic marvel in today’s world.

The light and sound show starts at 7 PM and runs for about a hour, it starts with showcasing the early time where the Meena clan followed with the conquest by Kachwahas. It shows the journey of the fort through different centuries and finally takes to the conclusion where the place left to rot for many years before ASI decided to resurrect the beauty.

Post this the ladies wanted to go for another round of market hopping which we obliged and went to the old town while on our way back. After a hour of market hopping we reached back to place of stay by 10 PM, quickly freshened up and had a tasty dinner to fill the tummies. What followed after dinner was another night of typical Bengali aadda session which continued till 3am in the night and finally slept.

Day-4, Jaipur to Ahmedabad:

This was the last day of our trip, we had decided to leave post lunch so that we could reach home around midnight. So accordingly we did our morning chores and were ready to leave for home by 1pm. Bid farewell to my wife’s maternal relatives for being a wonderful host for last 2 days and made our way to the way after negotiating the routine city traffic.

The journey up to Beawar was very smooth which took us about 2.5 hours. We took our 1st break at Beawar for some tea and refreshments, by 4 PM we again hit the roads. As planned earlier we took the Nathdwara-Udaipur route from Beawar, to our surprise the road up to Nathdwara turned out to be single lane road, though there were road extension work going on at several places. Any how we crossed Nathdwara in the evening time and entered Udaipur between 6:30-7 PM. I was quite happy that we are going as per schedule and at this pace we will easily make it to Ahmedabad by 12 AM. While entering the Udaipur city we saw a board showing bypass route, I thought this would be the best option to take that route which would help us to avoid the city traffic at evening time. But the actual reality was bang opposite than our expectations, the bypass route was pathetic with broken tarmac, large potholes and huge piles of trucks and busses. It took us around 2 hours to cross the bypass route and at 9 PM we could finally get on the Udaipur-Ahmedabad Highway. This meant that we had still another 5 hours drive left and had to halt for a hour for dinner. Taking the bypass route proved to be the biggest blunder . We decided to halt for dinner as soon as we hit the Ahmedabad Highway, found a decent Highway side hotel and had our dinner. It was 10:30 PM when we started our journey from Udaipur.

I took the wheels and after about 30 minutes everyone slept, we crossed Shyamlaji around 1:00 AM and by this time I was also feeling little sleepy. Pulled over to the side, washed my face m, had a Red Bull and again started the drive. All this time I was cursing myself as to why I took the bypass route at Udaipur otherwise we would have been home by this time. After continuous driving for another couple of hours we finally reached home at somewhere between 3:30 AM and 4 AM (don’t remember the exact time). The total distance covered in this trip was around 1800 Kms.

[abhikb]

Chapter-3

Padharo Mhare Des- The Marwar Story

Trip Summary:

Route: Ahmedabad-Palanpur-Abu Road-Pali-Jodhpur and the same route back to Ahmedabad
- Start date & Time: 12/01/2019 13:00 Hrs.
- End date & Time: 14/01/2019 22:00 Hrs.
- Vehicle: Honda BRV, I-DTEC, 2018
- Travellers: Myself,Wife, Parents and my brother
- Distance Covered: Approximately 1050 Kms.

Plan:

This trip was made as part of celebration on account of my parent’s 30th Marriage Anniversary. As many people would know, in Gujarat makar Sankaranti is celebrated in a grand manner and there’s a mandatory 2 days holiday given every year across the state. People are so much fond of kite flying that the activity continues from sunrise to sunset and every where you would see people hopped onto their terrace and the sky is filled with colorful kites. Every year we celebrate this festival at one of our friend’s place in old town, but last year in 2019 due to some unforeseen circumstances the plan couldn’t be executed on 14th and was confined for 1 day celebration i.e. 15th January. This meant we were left with two options either celebrate at some other place on 14th or stay home and relax as there was supposed to be extended weekend due to 14th being on Monday. Then came the 3rd option, one night while having dinner my parents expressed the desire to do a trip on the eve of their 30th Marriage Anniversary. Well being a travelholic why would someone say no for a trip and it was an immediate yes from our end. It was kind of a win win situation as we would be doing a 3 day trip and will celebrate Uttrayan(Makar Sankranti) on 15th. Now the next question came up as to where to visit, the next day I checked on my schedule but it seemed slightly difficult to take leave on Saturday and rather had to attend office till 1 PM (we have Saturday’s as half day working). So we were left with 2.5 days at our disposal to plan a trip. Again the pointer ticked towards Rajasthan, I wonder there’s some much to explore in this beautiful state, no matter how many times you visit you will still have something to witness. Since we had already done Mewar, Jaipur-Amer, Jaisalmer-Munabao (Link to Tlog- https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...onda-br-v.html (Drive to the Thar desert : 1340 km, 2 days, Honda BR-V)) it was time to check a new destination. Hence, we decided to explore the Marwar territory of Rajasthan this time where we haven’t been to. At first we thought of doing Jodhpur-Bikaner, but the later was dropped from the plan due to paucity of time. So it was finally decided that we will drive to Jodhpur and visit the nearby places and drive back to Ahmedabad. This plan may sound not worth the time and money but then at times you need some time off with family as these days due to work commitments and higher stress levels it’s very difficult to manage time with family. So with the plan set it was decided to leave from Ahmedabad at 1 PM and spend the 1st night in Jodhpur, do Site seeing the next day and the day after till noon and then start our return journey back home.

Route and Road Condition:

The primary route from Ahmadabad to Jodhpur is via Palanpur-Abu Road-Sirohi-Pali, the road conditions the more or less same up to Pali as mentioned in Chapter-2 of this Tlog. There hasn’t been much changes up to Pali on this stretch since the time we made the Jaipur trip. The stretch between Pali and Jodhpur is also well paved but the only downer is the lack of restaurants and pit stops after Sirohi.

Hotel Booking and Stay options:

I used makemytrip fir searching the hotel options, while searching for suitable accommodation I saw that Jodhpur has got many 3 star options available at reasonable rates. We shortlisted Mango and Fern and then I started making calls directly to the hotels. As a standard practice and see if there’s a better deal else book it through online portal. Talked to both the hotels but Fern couldn’t provide 3 rooms as they were full due to extended weekend, I was left with booking Mango. Both ways it was a similar deal hence booked the stay through makemytrip for 2 nights stay. It costed around 10500 for 2 nights stay for 3 double bed rooms.

The Trip:

Day-1, Ahmedabad to Jodhpur:


That soothing view of tarmac

As mentioned earlier I couldn’t manage to get leave on Saturday(12th Jan) hence had to wait till 1 PM to leave from office and then start the trip. As soon as the clocked tick 1 PM, I rushed to home with my stuff where the others were waiting with the luggage packed and loaded in the BRV.


BRV’s boot put to use

We left for our trip around 2 PM, I took the wheels for the first half of the journey and my brother was to drive in the second half. We took the Palanpur-Abu Road-Sirohi route, the rush on the Palanpur stretch was as usual high and we reached Abu Road somewhere around 5:30 PM. Stopped for some Tea and refreshments for about 30 minutes and then started with our journey. Based on our last experience on this stretch during the Jaipur trip, we were extra cautious this time to stop for dinner after Sirohi. At around 8-8:30 PM just before Pali we saw many cars parked near a road side under construction building, it was a dhabha and many people thronged there and hence we also decided to stop. The place is called Pooran Singh ka dhabha and they offer traditional Rajasthani food at a very reasonable rate. We ate our dinner and by this time it had started to get cold, the bill came out to be Rs. 650 for 5 people, what else you need. Paid the bills and started with our journey at around 9:30 PM. We reached our hotel at somewhere around 11 PM and checked in. We were 3 rooms on the same floor which quite big and spacious for the price we paid. Got freshened up and crashed into the bed straight away.

Day-2- Jodhpur city, Mehrangarh fort and Osian:

Me and my wife woke up relatively early then the others hence we were ready at 8 AM but by then the others had just woke up. My wife suggested we roam around the hotel and get some local snacks for breakfast till the time everyone gets ready. We roamed around a bit and someone suggested to try the local Kachori which are famous in Jodhpur, so we had it at a place who was serving fresh and called others whether they wanted to have it for breakfast. All of them noded yes and we packed the Kachoris for their breakfast.

Mehrangarh Fort:



We left our hotel for site seeing at around 10 AM, we first headed straight to Mehrangarh fort which is a historical monument situated uphill about 10 kms from our place of stay.

Mehrangarh Fort was built by then ruler of Jodhpur Rao Jodha in the 15th Century, the city Jodhpur is also named after him. There are some 7 gates to enter into the fort which is surrounded by high walls and fortress all around. An elevator has been installed to take the tourists from the entrance to the fort. I don’t exactly remember the ticket price but it was somewhere around Rs. 100 per head. The elevator takes you to the entrance of the fort from where the guide would start explaining the history of the fort, the dynasty and about the Jodhpur city. The current Maharajah of Jodhpur is Gaj Singh II who is about 72 years old and was crowned the king at the age of 4 after the sudden demise of his father. This dynasty never faced much threat from the enemies like the Mewars and the Kachwahas. The palace has been beautifully designed and there are several ancient artifacts inside starting the howdahs used on the elephants back to their weapons used during war time. It took us around 2.5 hours to visit the fort, it is beautifully constructed and maintained well.

The Fort tour





















Ghanta Ghar and Local Market:



As usual in every trip the ladies always demand for a stroll in the local market to get their hands on delicacies available there. Someone suggested to visit Ghanta Ghar market in the old part of the town. We descended from Mehrangarh fort, had lunch and then moved towards the market. Ghanta Ghar is basically an old clock tower built in the old part of town, we parked our car at the restaurant where we had lunch and took an auto rickshaw to go there.





The market place is a typical old town market area with small and big shops everywhere. Well these places attracts women as much as a car museum does for a petrol head. After spending about a hour visiting numerous shops and ending up buying nothing we took an auto rickshaw back to the restaurant where our car was parked.

Osian and dune safari:

Considered as an Oasis in Thar desert, Osian is an small town in the Jodhpur district. We picked our car and started for a place called Osia which is located at 50 kms from Jodhpur. It was 4 PM as we started our drive, took us around 1 hour to reach there and we entered the town at 5 PM. Osian is a small town but has some area covered with desert sand dunes. Old age Gypsies are used for desert safari here, though it is not comparable with what you get in Sam Sand Dunes, but it’s worth visiting. They charged us Rs. 2100 for the safari which was quite reasonable. The route starts from the tarred road through the jungle trail and finally into the dunes. It did remind us of the thrill we got during our desert safari experience in Sam dunes. We watched the sunset from the desert hill and then they descended us through a 90 deg downhill. We enjoyed the experience thoroughly and completed the safari around 6:30 PM. Osian also has a old age ancient temple which you can visit after or before the safari.

Glimpse of Osian













It was around 7 PM when we started our return journey towards Jodhpur, had some tea and refreshment enroute and reached the hotel by 8:30 PM. After a hectic day of site seeing we had our dinner at the hotel and slept by 11-11:30 PM.

Day-3, Jodhpur to Ahmedabad with a stopover at Pali:

This was the last day of our trip, we had our breakfast at the hotel and started our journey back home somewhere around 9-9:30 AM. Loaded the luggage in the boot of BRV (quite useful compared to its use) and started off with our return journey. We took the same route back home which we used to reach Jodhpur, enroute we had planned for a stopover at the famous Bullet Baba Temple in Pali.

The Bullet Baba Temple:





Bullet baba or Om Banna is a shrine located near Chotila village in Pali district some 50 kms from Jodhpur on the Pali-Jodhpur Highway. It is a belief that you must stop at the shrine for few minutes which would ensure your journey is safe. I had known about this place since the Bulleting days in college time but never got the chance to visit the place. Hence, decided to visit the shrine while returning back home as it was already dark during the inward journey.

The history says that a Rajput youth named Om Banna was riding the Bullet back to his home in drunk condition. At the spot where the shrine is situated, the youth rammed into a tree where he died on the spot and the Bullet fell in a nearby ditch. The Police made the punchnama and took custody of the Bullet the next day. However, every night the Bullet used to mysteriously disappear from Police station and end up at the same spot where the accident happened. This happened nor multiple times and rumour spread that Om Banna is seen riding the Bullet at night and he only lands up the Bullet at the accident spot. Later on the nearby villagers built a shrine at the same spot and people started worshiping the Bullet for their safe journey. My personal take on this story is, possibly there might have been many accidents happening at that stretch or some crime was undertaken which could have been a nuisance for local police. So Police might have setup the story and got the shrine erected to prevent whatever was prevailing at that time.

There isn’t an entry fees to enter into the shrine and neither it is much crowded. Devotees offer alcohol to the diety (The Bullet) in large quantity. We went inside the shrine, offered our prayers, clicked some photos and then left for the last leg of the trip.

Somewhere between Sirohi and Abu Road we spotted couple of orange colored Tata Harriers outside a highway side restaurant. At that point there was a lot of buzz happening on the launch of Harrier and it was the much anticipated one. Luckily these two cars were being brought from Mumbai to Jodhpur for a promotional event and were driven back to Mumbai after the event. We quickly stopped and pulled aside to check the two beauties, the drivers came after spotting us and we told them we wanted to have a look at the car. They obliged and allowed us to do what every petrol head does when seeing a new beauty. After some 15-20 minutes we took off again for the return journey, it was lunch time so we took a halt at Abu Road for lunch and started again. By this time the Harriers catched up with us and zoomed past us with their trademark DRLs kept ON in full swing.

At around 7 PM we reached home and concluded this part of the Marwar story. We could have coupled Jodhpur along with Bikaner but then we had to respect the paucity of time and be remain satisfied with whatever we could do.

[abhikb]

Well that brings us to the end of this Chronological journey into the three different territories of Rajputana which were once the face of the kingly glamour during the times of Maharajas and still holds the beautiful glory that it possessed once. Even 10 days might be less for visiting this magnificent beauties all across the Rajasthan but then whatever you get hold off even for a short while it will be worth the effort.

Link to other Tlogs on Rajasthan:

1) Mount Abu:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...-paradise.html (Mount Abu - A Monsoon Paradise)

2) Jaisalmer-Munabao:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...onda-br-v.html (Drive to the Thar desert : 1340 km, 2 days, Honda BR-V)

[aah78]

Note from Support: Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing!

[R4m4kr15hn4n]

Having spent around 14 years in Ajmer, your travelogue definitely brought back a whole host of fond memories of all the places you've covered. Rajasthan holds a very special place in my heart. Thanks sir for the travelogue

[adv.yzr]

Greetings,

That's a wonderful travelogue that you have posted. Some of the highways are so well-built on the routes you have mentioned, the picturesque view amongst other things are just fabulous.

Thanks for bringing back some of the memories.

[abhikb]

Originally Posted by R4m4kr15hn4n

Having spent around 14 years in Ajmer, your travelogue definitely brought back a whole host of fond memories of all the places you've covered. Rajasthan holds a very special place in my heart. Thanks sir for the travelogue

Originally Posted by adv.yzr

Greetings,

That's a wonderful travelogue that you have posted. Some of the highways are so well-built on the routes you have mentioned, the picturesque view amongst other things are just fabulous.

Thanks for bringing back some of the memories.

Hi bhpians,

I am glad that this Tlog has helped in reliving your fond memories with Rajasthan state, I see that both of you are Newbies, a very Warm welcome to the forum and looking forward to see a share of your Experiences through Posts/Tlogs/Ownership/Driving experiences.

[adv.yzr]

Originally Posted by abhikb

Hi bhpians,

I am glad that this Tlog has helped in reliving your fond memories with Rajasthan state, I see that both of you are Newbies, a very Warm welcome to the forum and looking forward to see a share of your Experiences through Posts/Tlogs/Ownership/Driving experiences.

Greetings,

Thanks a lot for the warm welcome. Much appreciated.

Active member since July 2020 but a passive one since 2009. Will surely come up with some ownership reviews and travelogues, have a lot to share with the group .

It feels good to be part of this diverse community.

Thanks and Take Care.

[Venkat_Figo]

Thanks for travelogue, relived my visit to Rajasthan. The Udaipur & Amer fort are maintained very well & is a treat to look at.

The Sam Sand Dunes is definitely fun. Also did you get a chance to visit the Indo Pak border?

[abhikb]

Originally Posted by Venkat_Figo

Thanks for travelogue, relived my visit to Rajasthan. The Udaipur & Amer fort are maintained very well & is a treat to look at.

The Sam Sand Dunes is definitely fun. Also did you get a chance to visit the Indo Pak border?

Hi Venkat_Figo,

From Sam village we drove to Munabao which is the last station on Indo-Pak border. It is a 170 kms drive and takes about 4-5 hours from Sam village. A weekly train from Jodhpur-Karachi is operational there. From the station we were taken to a watch tower which was a few meters away from the zero point.

Have captured the detailed experience in a separate Tlog below:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...onda-br-v.html (Drive to the Thar desert : 1340 km, 2 days, Honda BR-V)