Rajasthan literally means “Land of Kings” and is located in the north western corner of India. The state has a special place in my heart having spent four memorable years there for my engineering degree. Being aware of Thar desert from Geography lessons in school, people from South India typically imagine Rajasthan to just be a vast stretch of barren land. But a visit to the palaces and forts will make one wonder “Is this really a desert state”? And if one skips the western most city of Jaisalmer like we did, you will not even get to see sand!
OK – enough of the build-up, let me start with the itinerary. Given my busy schedule, I could only squeeze out 6 days for the trip and with my usual penchant of making the most of it, I settled on Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaipur.
Day 1 – Udaipur:
Arrived at Udaipur airport around noon after some stunning views of the city and Aravalli range as we landed. The first stop was lunch at a restaurant famous for the local specialty “dal baati churma”. I should admit that I never heard about this dish during my stay at Rajasthan 20 years back! We were very hungry and the stuff that was served on our plates appeared doubly appetizing, even reminding me of Tirupati laddu. It was all great till we tasted it – while the looks were spicy, it was absolutely bland. Being a well traveled person, I have learnt to appreciate and enjoy local cuisines. So, while I proceeded with finishing my portion, it was a shocker to the rest of my family with calls for “KFC”. After the eventful lunch, we proceeded to City Palace.
It was the first palace in our itinerary and the guide narrated how the palace was built over the centuries by different kings. Not to mention, the luxurious life led by the royal family while the rest of the population worked for the king! For critics of capitalism, a peep into the royal life should highlight the stark divide that existed in this form of government and economy!!!
We then took a boat ride around Lake Pichola, passing through the bathing ghats and the super luxurious Taj property in the middle of the lake. We spent some time at Jag Mandir, an island in the lake and then proceeded to a temple on a hill next to the lake. The sunset view from the hilltop was amazing! We wrapped up the day with the some stunning night view of the Monsoon Palace, which will be the first point the next day!
Day 2: Udaipur
After a relaxed breakfast, we started with a visit to Monsoon Palace. The palace itself is not well maintained but its strategic location provided some breath taking views of the city. After a quick visit to the local zoo, which had nothing much to write about, we went to Hall of Heroes. It was all about the glory of Rajput kings of Mewar, as the region around Udaipur is referred.
After lunch, we went to “Saheliyon ki bari”, a park built by one of the kings for his daughter to play with her friends. And went back to hotel after a visit to Udaipur Aquarium.
Day 3: Kumbhalgarh Fort, Ranakpur & Jodhpur
The day was expected to be spent mostly on the road traveling from Udaipur to Jodhpur covering Kumbhalgarh Fort and Jain temple at Ranakpur on the way. Kumbhalgarh Fort is supposed to be the largest in Rajasthan but its location away from any nearby city limits the number of tourists. It was nevertheless grand with some stunning views of the Aravalli range. After a quick visit to the Jain temple at Ranakpur, we had lunch and proceeded towards Jodhpur where we arrived around 7PM.
Day 4: Jodhpur
Jodhpur is the second largest city in Rajasthan and capital of “Marwar” region. I vaguely remembered visiting the fort here about 25 years back. We then went to Umaid Palace, which is now largely a luxury hotel. We were once again served a good doze of past and present glory of royal family. After that, we started on the long road journey to Jaipur.
Day 5: Jaipur
We were at Jaipur in the middle of a long weekend and could see the city bustling with tourists. Jaipur is apparently a popular weekend destination for Delhi residents, particularly when it is a long one. We started the day clicking some pictures of Hawa Mahal on the way to the palace of the Jaipur royal family. Having seen quite a few of them during the last few days, we knew what to expect and were not disappointed. Next stop was Jantar Mantar, an observatory built by one of the kings who was a keen astronomer himself more than a century back.
We were now hit with a dilemma. Amber Fort is possibly the most famous destination at Jaipur and I remember it from my last visit long ago! With the holiday weekend traffic, Google showed the traffic enroute was bad. And having seen numerous palaces and forts, my family was not interested in being stuck in traffic for another palace. So, we decided to skip Amber Fort and proceeded to Jaigarh Fort. We then found out Jaigarh and Amber forts are indeed connected with Jaigarh offering a good aerial view of Amber Fort. After a few pictures, we proceeded to Nahargarh Fort. This one had some excellent views of Jaipur City. Finally, we clicked some pictures of Jal Mahal and proceeded back to the hotel.
Day 6: Back to Hyderabad
After a relaxed start for the day and sumptuous breakfast, we proceeded to Jaipur Airport. It turned out to be another busy airport bursting at its seams! While the massive growth in the number of domestic flights has made it convenient to travel across India, it has also made airports very busy. As I landed at Hyderabad, I saw billboards saying all international departures from Hyderabad will move to a new interim terminal. Anyways, it is good to get people across long distances closer!
After the trip, we are now able to relate locations where numerous Bollywood movies have been shot. Truly a land of the royals, a destination of dreams!