I have always been mesmerized by the pictures of royal palaces and forts; and wondered how life would have been when the kings lived and ruled the land....
We arrived in Udaipur early morning (on train from delhi) and the plan for the day was chalked out during the breakfast. It was City palace followed by monsoon palace (Sajjan garh) and followed by boat sail on lake Fatehsagar and ending the day with traditional puppet folk show....
Day 2: We followed our plan to visit the Haldighati - where the famous battle of Haldighati was fought and absorb into the greatness of Maharana Pratap ....it was like travelling back to our history text books....
As you arrive in Haldighati, do visit a Museum which has been constructed by a school teacher to spread and preserve the history of Maharana Pratap, his struggle , his fight with Mughals and his legendary work on regaining the pride of Mewar....
The place around haldighati is also famous for Gulabjal - if possible do taste it, see the process how it is made and bring in a pack or two...
Returning back to Udaipur, we spend the evening taking a boat ride in Lake Pichola and enjoying the sunset and enjoying the views of City Palace & the Monsoon palace .....
Just in case you haven't seen the movie... James Bond's Octopussy; then I will suggest do watch it, key scenes where shot exactly at this location !
The City Palace light & Sound show is one thing you should not miss....in a 45 minute session they cover the whole history of Mewar dynasty and the city palace...
Day 3 we were on our way to Osian the desert Camp which was a 6 hrs journey from Udaipur....We all where waiting anxiously to see the desert....for all of us "First" time .... and when we saw it ...it was mesmerizing....
The evening was spent with cultural dance, music, authentic Rajasthani food and off-course camel ride....the kids loved it.....
and then the tiring day came to an end...
we retired back to our tents ...just like Maharaja's would....
...looking forward to another eventful day in Jodhpur!!
Day 4:
We started late in the morning and reached Jodhpur at around noon . The plan was to visit the Mehrangarh fort and the Jodhpur market..( you guessed it right ...ladies where excited!!)
Few things in my lifetime has amazed me...and Mehrangarh fort is definitely one of them...it stood tall & magnificent....from distance you could see the huge ramparts of the fort...
Day 5: The plan was to pack up and return ...but Jodhpur will remain incomplete without visiting the Clock tower market, having the Makhaniya lassi and seeing the Umaid Bhawan palace....
It will be injustice to end this blog without mentioning this amazing creature of God.....The Camels!.....we had seen plenty around and did ride them multiple times...calm, colourful and majestic...
Tips around the cities:
This year I was fortunate to get a close look to these palaces, forts and last but not the least the kings who still live...through my visit to Rajasthan...
The planning was for just 5 days - hence we where to select only the key destinations in Rajasthan..
We had dropped Jaipur since that can be done from Delhi at any point of time and Jaisalmer was too far off and was expected to be crowded because of the Desert festival...So we aimed for three things:
- Udaipur - the city of lakes
- Jodhpur - the Blue city
- Desert Camp in Osian ( 70 kms away from Jodhpur)
- Desert Camp in Osian ( 70 kms away from Jodhpur)
To stay in Rajasthan and feel like the Maharaja's the stay needs to be similar...so I had intentionally booked a traditional hotel called Jaisingh Garh, which was typical Rajasthani Haveli converted into a hotel....this added to the spice of living like Royals for those few days !
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| Treebo JaisinghGarh |
Day 2: We followed our plan to visit the Haldighati - where the famous battle of Haldighati was fought and absorb into the greatness of Maharana Pratap ....it was like travelling back to our history text books....
The place around haldighati is also famous for Gulabjal - if possible do taste it, see the process how it is made and bring in a pack or two...
Returning back to Udaipur, we spend the evening taking a boat ride in Lake Pichola and enjoying the sunset and enjoying the views of City Palace & the Monsoon palace .....
Just in case you haven't seen the movie... James Bond's Octopussy; then I will suggest do watch it, key scenes where shot exactly at this location !
The City Palace light & Sound show is one thing you should not miss....in a 45 minute session they cover the whole history of Mewar dynasty and the city palace...Day 3 we were on our way to Osian the desert Camp which was a 6 hrs journey from Udaipur....We all where waiting anxiously to see the desert....for all of us "First" time .... and when we saw it ...it was mesmerizing....
and then the tiring day came to an end...
...looking forward to another eventful day in Jodhpur!!
Day 4:
We started late in the morning and reached Jodhpur at around noon . The plan was to visit the Mehrangarh fort and the Jodhpur market..( you guessed it right ...ladies where excited!!)
Few things in my lifetime has amazed me...and Mehrangarh fort is definitely one of them...it stood tall & magnificent....from distance you could see the huge ramparts of the fort...
Day 5: The plan was to pack up and return ...but Jodhpur will remain incomplete without visiting the Clock tower market, having the Makhaniya lassi and seeing the Umaid Bhawan palace....
It will be injustice to end this blog without mentioning this amazing creature of God.....The Camels!.....we had seen plenty around and did ride them multiple times...calm, colourful and majestic...
Tips around the cities:
- Driving around Udaipur gave me a feeling of a well planned , neat and clean city. It is a bit costly if you want to buy any handicrafts, I will suggest that you better buy it from Jodhpur
- Jodhpur is a city where you can breath the authenticity of Rajasthan - be it handicarfts, culture or food.
- Do not miss Jaisalmer !
- Take road transport as much as you can....you will be awed how the terrain changes...
- Best time to visit : Oct - To - Feb.
Lastly ...I dedicate this blog to one of my Close friends Abhishek who had helped in preparing this travel plan...thanks Abhishek...I wish everyone has a friend like you.....
