[phamilyman]

Hey - very nice stuff boss. Reminds me. I need to post my long due Pushkar - Sambhar log as well

[gd1418]

Right time to start now..!

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Hey - very nice stuff boss. Reminds me. I need to post my long due Pushkar - Sambhar log as well

[tsk1979]

To avoid the water body, you basically have to take left before the water body, and then enter just after the temple. Best way is to ask for directions to the temple on top of the hill.
Facing north, you will enter the lake bed from the right of the hill, go straight at a 45 degrees angle, and then hit the tar road which heads to Nawa.

[gd1418]

I realised it later. I entered from before the temple..

Originally Posted by tsk1979

To avoid the water body, you basically have to take left before the water body, and then enter just after the temple. Best way is to ask for directions to the temple on top of the hill.
Facing north, you will enter the lake bed from the right of the hill, go straight at a 45 degrees angle, and then hit the tar road which heads to Nawa.

[gd1418]

To say that the lake was a disappoitnment doesn't convey the entire feeling. What I saw was a long rectangular water body trapped in a catchment area with a railway line running parallel to it. There were some machines and other stuff that were probably used to extract salt. I didn't explore that.

While proceeding on foot towards this so called lake I saw a sight right out of the Discovery Channel - a cow kill being devoured by not lions, tigers, leopards or hyenas, but by normal street dogs. How the cow died I couldn't fathom. But at the risk of being attacked by those dogs I ventured near to take pictures:



Now was the time to go and see the saline water body. The brine solution was so still and looked so heavy that it could be cut with a knife. The way it was, I'm sure no form of life could survive. I broke salt in literal sense as I picked up two salt rocks from the white deposits near the shores that you will see in the following pictures:









My footprints in salt



Rock salt





To be continued.....

[gd1418]

It was time to bid goodbye to Sambhar Lake and proceed towards Jodhpur via Ajmer. Circumventing the so called Lake area proceeded towards Kishangarh via Nawa & Rupangarh. Single lane road, well paved; that is Rajasthan Roads for you.

Punjab, Rajasthan & Gujarat have one of the best roads here. I hear even the South Roads are pretty good.



Enroute to Kishangarh we saw a lot of salt processing units with mounds of muddy salt soil stacked and bags and bags of processed salt. Since Son was driving, the progress was slow but steady and he managed well on that single lane road. Needs more experience as he has a tendency to climb down from the road onto the rough when ever a vehicle came from the front.

Uneventful sedate drive and we hit the marble city of Kishangarh. Heavy traffic and lots of truck carrying huge slabs of marble. Asked my son to park on the side and I took over the wheels. Now was the time to make-up some speed and reach Ajmer. I try to visit the Dargah at least once a year and whenever I go to Rajasthan and pass via Ajmer then do stop.

Flower Shops outside the entrance:

Lots of flower shop outside the dargah and also inside selling various sizes of baskets of roses. The street smells of rose fragrance



The entrance to Dargah:

After the unfortunate & tragic bomb blast at the Dargah, cameras etc., have been disallowed. This photo was taken in '04.



After the piligrimage we had lunch at Jannat Hotel situated near the Dargah complex. This was made famous by Vinod Dua in one of his episodes of "Zaika India Ka". Ususal Mughlai type food but delayed service.

After lunch we headed towards Jodhpur via Beawar & Barr.

To be continued......

[sami316]

Hi,

Sir, we are still waiting eagerly for your next post as it is almost a week now. Kindly oblige at the earliest. My fingers are already tired by hitting the F5 button.

[vkochar]

Nice travelogue Guruji ! BUT why the so slow speed at which you are uploading photos ??

6 days and no updates.

[gd1418]

First of all, extremely sorry for the delay in not writing further and completing. I was travelling and was neck-deep in work.

To continue further, the drive till Barr was uneventful and we made the customary stop at Barr for a hot cup of Tea/Milk. Now, this is the tourist season in Rajasthan and like the siberian cranes, the tourists descend on Rajasthan for its warmer climes.

I always stay at the RTDC's Ghoomar in Jodhpur; the staff knows me well, being a regular and get good service too. But this time it was different. It was marriage season also. My plans were from 26th to 29th. Ghoomar offered me stay on 26th, 28th & 29th. The Hotel was fully booked on the 27th by two marriage groups. This meant I had to look for lodging on 27th at some other place. This was a pain. But the staff at Ghoomar helped me out. Remember, all this was happening on phone from Gurgaon, much before embarking on the journey.

They suggested an alternate place - http://jodhpurroyalstay.com/index.htm. Now this was a home stay property located in the Ummed Bhawan Palace Grounds called the Ummed Heritage, promoted by the Maharaja of Jodhpur.

Anil & Anita Rai are a wonderful couple and they treat you like their own. Not for once did we feel away from our home. Pure & home cooked vegetarian fare. They have 4 rooms to offer. The settings are serene, secure & peaceful with a great view of the Ummed Bhawan. I booked two rooms for self on the phone and made an online transfer of advance money.

After that brief stopover at Barr, proceeded towards Jodhpur that was 125 kms away. Reached Jodhpur around 4 pm. Anil Rai was constantly in touch on phone asking about ETA. Anil and his man Friday Raju were waiting for us. The greeting was very warm and as if they knew us for long.







I would reccommend this place....

To be continued......

[gd1418]

Settled in, freshened up and then proceeded to our relatives in Old Jodhpur. Two days of revelery of wedding coupled with our family's trip customary must-do trip to the temples - Maa Chamunda atop Mehrangarh Fort, Ratanada Gajananji, Riktiya Bhaironji and Paal Balaji.

29th November, 2009.

The day to return. Earlier plan was to return via Bikaner visiting the famous Junagarh Fort. This was the unfinished job that I mentioned earlier. The wedding reveleries ensured our return everyday around 2 or 3 am in the morning. The same happened on 28th night also, hence could not get up early on the 29th. Bikaner had to be shelved. The job remains unfinished. Maybe better luck next time...

The King & the Princess



Left Jodhpur around 11 am. 30th was my daughter's test in her school. Had to reach Gurgaon on time. Hence, I drove all the way. Reached Gurgaon at 9:30 pm. Uneventful drive. Enjoyable trip...

Concluded...

[sudev]

Oh you were so close to Sambhar lake and you missed it. First it is mostly dry lake bed and not a water filled lake. Shallow water collects only after rains. Second to see the lake you have to come in from Nawa or Shakhambri Mata mandir. Then only you can realise the true extent of "lake" boundary. About 30 kms long and 10+ kms wide. And driving through is possible for 2WD cars also provided it is not slushy. What you saw was more of government salt works that are situated at edge on Sambhar town.

Yes I know the feeling of having your son drive with you as passenger BUT hitting them !! You are a tyrant sir!!

[gd1418]

Wish I had talked to you also Sudev, before embarking on this trip. I might do it again on my next trip to Rajasthan...

And thanks for the compliment; I belong to the old school of thought - "spare the rod and spoil the child".

Originally Posted by sudev

Oh you were so close to Sambhar lake and you missed it. First it is mostly dry lake bed and not a water filled lake. Shallow water collects only after rains. Second to see the lake you have to come in from Nawa or Shakhambri Mata mandir. Then only you can realise the true extent of "lake" boundary. About 30 kms long and 10+ kms wide. And driving through is possible for 2WD cars also provided it is not slushy. What you saw was more of government salt works that are situated at edge on Sambhar town.

Yes I know the feeling of having your son drive with you as passenger BUT hitting them !! You are a tyrant sir!!

[longford]

Originally Posted by gd1418

Wish I had talked to you also Sudev, before embarking on this trip. I might do it again on my next trip to Rajasthan...

And thanks for the compliment; I belong to the old school of thought - "spare the rod and spoil the child".

Just read the travelogue of your Jodhpur shadi trip. Very interesting to read about the drive and grooming experience.

I think your means are just as fine in instilling the right set of fundas with the effective means. Sparing the rod does indeed spoil the child !

Pity we could not catch up in Jodhpur.

[tsk1979]

GD, now I have the exact route recorded on GPS.
Here is what we did!
We initially did the same mistake as you. If you look towards the right of the screenshot, you will see that there is a black line, which is actually an unused railway line. I took the safari to that area first, and lost 10-15 minutes.
Then I remembered the advice given by local, do not leave the main road till you actually see the temple.
After that we came back to main road, and went almost till the temple before getting off the road.
We did not require 4x4 anywhere, and had a great time.
Since you keep going to Jodhpur, you can probably try it some other time.

Even for Jodhpur, while coming back from there we discovered that there is a proper bypass for ajmer town via the NH79A. The road diverts towards the toll road halfway between Ajmer and Jodhpur.

[gd1418]

Though I visited Jodhpur during 2010 & 2011, it was almost more than a year since then. Hence a trip was planned and wife, daughter & I visited the city from 22nd Jan to 26th Jan, 2013.

22nd January, 2013 - 00:30 hrs.

Wanted to reach Jodhpur by noon hence left at this time. Instead of taking the NH8 right through I decided on a different route:

Gurgaon - NH8 till Dharuhera - Tijara - Alwar by-pass - Sariska - Shahpura - Manoharpur - Jaipur by-pass - Kishangarh - Ajmer - Beawar - Bar - Jodhpur.

You would be wondering why I took this route. This served a dual purpose. I saved Rs.40/- on toll, this was faster and at that hour I had hopes of spotting some wildlife on the Sariska road crossing over. I did see a Porcupine in an attack mode with all its quills raised and scampering away. Wish the headlights had locked on. Then I saw a female Sambar Deer crossing the road, startled at the bright HLs and then vanishing away in the bushes. In totality the drive was very very exciting through that stretch. I videoed the drive and the links are given below:

Sariska - Night drive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5jGG0Sqs5Q

Sariska-Sambar crossing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fAzqeY5QdE

to be continued.../-