Trek inside Bannerghatta

Time: Jun 19th, 2020

Place: Bannerghatta National Park (not zoo)

Company: Wife and Daughter

Highlights: After being cooped up in the house for close to 3 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we were itching to get out for a long ride. Came across a dam called Muninagar which is apparently close to our place. Using Google maps, we set out on our Dio 2-wheeler. It was a cloudy day and we were hoping it wont rain.

Instead of the usual hustle-bustle of the Bannerghatta Main Road, I opted for a road that passed through several rural villages (even over the Nice road, where we stopped to wave at the travelers!) and it was a wonderful drive amidst lush greenery. It was fascinating that within a few minutes from my home, we were in the midst of such a rural setting that one could hardly imagine we were already out of Bangalore! Just goes to show how far I am out from Bangalore urban now, compared to Jayanagar 4th Block where I spent almost 3 decades!

We lost our way once. Realized and got back on track. And then we lost our way once more. Realized and got back on track. But it was not even a paved road. Nevertheless we forged ahead. Thankfully we got back into paved road. And then we lost our way once more and realized Google had screwed it up this time! The track was asking us to navigate through Bannerghatta Park limits to get to the dam, which we could not because it was barricaded and fenced up using electricity.

Disheartened that we could not get to the destination, we turned back. We were at that time in a small village called Hakki Pikki Colony. Just when we were about to go back home, a guy met us and told that he could take us inside the park limits since he works inside the park as a driver and sometimes even as a mahout, promising us to show elephants. Half-believing him and half not-believing, we thought we might as well take a chance as we had come so far anyways. It was about an hour's ride. 

We parked our bike and followed him by walk. Just a short walk later, we came across the barricades for the vehicles which we went through and then electric fence which we crawled through while the guide held it up for us in a stick. We followed him in what was now inside the Bannerghatta National Park limits. It was a short trail that climbed steadily. Some outgrowth here and there but mostly rocky. Very soon, within a few minutes, we were atop a hillock. The view was great. One side was the thick national forest region of Bannerghatta and another side was the view of Bangalore. In the latter, we could even see our multi-storey apartment building from where we always used to see this hillock!

From the hillock, we saw an elephant, just as what the mahout had promised. It was a baby wild-elephant - so it kept walking to and fro. Very restless but it was tied. It seemed to be in what was a shelter for the elephants. There was also a pond. But we were very far from it all, and pretty safe atop the hillock. We spent some time atop the hillock, admiring the beauty of the nature and clicked few snaps.

Daughter suddenly had this urge to attend to Nature's call. Seemed very strange and she seemed unable to control any further. So, while the guide and I gossiped, my wife attended to the daughter. This unexpected turn of events later, we made our way back to the bike. The guide tried to market his skills and his influential capacity so that we could get back with more references which I acknowledged. 

Once back at the bike, he didn't ask for much but I offered him Rs 200 and he seemed happy with it. The whole trek had taken about 45 minutes. I still had hopes to go to that dam but wife and daughter had had enough. Anyways, it seemed it was going to rain any time and in fact, it had even drizzled too some time back. So, we decided to head back home and this time I took the BG main road.

So what if we could not go to the dam. The objective was to spend time with nature and we had abundance of it! A day well spent!

Rajasthan

Time: Oct 1st, 2019 - Oct 8th, 2019

Place: Pushkar, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Jaipur

Company: Wife & Daughter

Budget: 66.5K for 2 adults and 1 child including travel to and from Bangalore

Highlights:

Overview: 

A trip to the culturally enriched Indian state like Rajasthan was always on the cards. Perhaps a few years down the lane but never expected it to happen so early in our lives! Thanks to the near-expiry of Paavani’s passport, any overseas vacation was hence ruled out. So when we were exploring options for a vacation during Dasara holidays, an idea for a trip to Rajasthan popped up. Thus started the planning, the itinerary, the places to see, the things to do, etc. First was to decide on the main cities to visit considering we had 7 days. So we finalized on Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur & Jaisalmer. Purposely left out Bikaner since it seemed out of the way - especially because we added Pushkar. One another variable was Mount Abu. I had heard a lot about it and in many discussions, it seemed to be a much hyped place. So we skipped that too. That done, next we had to figure out the itinerary.

Ideal option was BLR - Jaipur - Pushkar - Jaisalmer - Jodhpur - Udaipur - BLR. Or the other way around based on flight availability and rates. However, I got to know that to be eligible for LTA, better to book round trip airfare. So, we had to add another unnecessary leg of Udaipur - Jaipur - BLR. Well, if that saves some tax, why not. Hence, itinerary got settled.

Next was flight booking (BLR - JAI - BLR), train booking (PKR - JSLMR, UDP - JAI), bus booking (JSLMR - JDPR - UDP), hotel booking. Finally, we were all set to depart!

Day 1: Oct 1st (BLR - JAI - AJM)

Our flight from BLR was at about 4ish, so left home just before noon. Took the bus (as against the taxi) to airport, reached by about 2. Had some snacks and then hopped on aboard the flight to JAI. Reached JAI on time at 7 pm. Enquired at the airport about how to go to Ajmer, got some insights (which ratified my findings in the internet) about getting a bus at a certain point in Jaipur, & found a cab for Rs 500. Coincidentally, there was a Kiwi guy who wanted to go to that same place to catch a bus to go to Mount Abu (which didnt make much sense to me because if I were him and wanted to go to Mt Abu directly from BLR, I would have taken a flight to Udaipur which is nearer to Mt Abu, not Jaipur). So, we shared the cab, split the fare and hopped aboard the cab. It was a quick 30-40 min ride and we came to the bus stop, or rather a place where buses were generally stopping!

Just as we pulled over, a bus towards Ajmer came and we hopped on. This (JAI - AJM) was the only unreserved part of our trip and it happened in a jiffy. The bus was Non-AC sleeper, & Paavani enjoyed sleeping on the top of the bunk bed! A short 3 hour ride, and we were at Ajmer at about 10 pm. The cab guy at Jaipur was trying his sales pitch for us to take a cab for Rs 1500. The bus journey took one fifth of that amount! Anyways, an auto took us to Hotel Malwa where we had booked despite warning us that it was not good. I kind of did not believe him because it was an Oyo hotel and the ratings were good. But once we entered the room, realized that the auto-wallah was right! Too many tiny flying insects on the bedspreads & an unclean bathroom made us walk out of the hotel despite having paid the reservation in full. We found another better hotel nearby and shifted despite it being midnight. It costed us dear but there was no other way and it was the right thing to do!

Day 2: Oct 2nd (AJM - PKR - JSLMR)

We got up by 7ish and left the room at 8. We had to catch the train at 1 pm and hence we had to rush through to see Pushkar. Our initial plan was to take the local bus but while we were on the way to the bus stand in an auto, somehow a cab guy “agent” saw us, followed us till the bus stand, knew we were going to Pushkar and convinced us enough that we should do the Pushkar trip in cab and not in bus. Although we hadn’t planned for it, we went with it. The “agent’ bid us adieu and started searching for another tourist! Anyways, it was about 30-45 minute journey to Pushkar from Ajmer. The cab driver was pretty friendly and convinced us that we could see all that we wanted to see in the stipulated time. 

He stopped the car close to the Pushkar lake and assigned us a priest, which seemed to be the only way to go about the Holy city. The priest, in a pant and shirt unlike dhoti and kurta, led us to the Holy Lake of Pushkar. He gave us the background story of the lake - much of which can be gather in wikipedia. We then took bath in the Holy Lake of Pushkar and it was refreshing. And then we even performed the rites to the Departed. It was my first such undertaking since my parents are still alive. The priest convinced us that we can do it for anyone of our relatives who have departed - such as the grandparents, in-laws, etc. So, at the banks of Pushkar Lake, I performed my first rites wearing pant and shirt - which seemed so commericalized - because after all was done, came the ask for a hefty fees in the name of donation. I bargained in my broken Hindi and finally was able to escape with a meager amount.

And then we went to visit couple of nearby temples - The Brahma temple, the Narasimha temple. Although there were other temples in our list of to-see, we did not have enough time. Anyways, the main to-do in Pushkar was the Holy dip in the lake and that was done, so we were satisfied. More than us, our daughter wanted to have a dip in the Pushkar lake because she had read about it in her comic book (pic given!)

The driver then took us back to a nice hotel in Ajmer where we could have our brunch, since we did not even had our breakfast. Although the hotel did not seem clean and neat, the food was hot and good. From there, we took an auto to our hotel, checked out (we had already packed) and then took another auto to the railway station. We were right on time. Within a few minutes, our train arrived and we were on our way to Jaisalmer!

It was a long train journey (almost 10 hours) and I was afraid it might get too hot in the afternoon since we were in Rajasthan and I had not booked an AC coach. But the motion of the train offered a lot of wind and we were saved. At about 7:30 pm, we had dinner and we all slept since Jaisalmer was still 3 hours away. Sometime around 10 pm, we found out the whole coach was filled with desert sand! Apparently we were in the middle of a desert sand storm and the open windows did not do us any good. The whole coach, including the berths, the luggages, our body, etc. was smeared with sand! Even the air that we were breathing was full of sand particles! It was quite an experience. On top of this, another unique experience was the uber-scheme marketing of hotels in Jaisalmer. There were ‘agents’ even in our train coach trying to convince us to take lodging in their hotels at Jaisalmer and drop our reservation citing our reserved hotel was ‘not-so-good’. After the Malwa episode in Ajmer, I was scared we might have to again re-do the hotel booking but thought I will as well give it a shot, so did not heed to the agents.

Once at Jaisalmer railway station, we were swarmed by a plethora of ‘hotel-agents’ to take up their hotel including free transportation to the hotel. Of course, the lodging at Jaisalmer is just the starting point. The subsequent city tour and the desert stay which costs about 5k is what the agents were behind. Since I had booked the desert stay already, most of the agents left me alone. Anyways, our hotelier had parked his car at the station and took us to the hotel. 

It was actually a house converted to a hotel room set in a remote area. But the cleanliness was awesome. Highly recommend. Name of the hotel was Ruchi Guest House. It seemed like I was in Pakistan though - with all adults wearing traditional Pakistani wear. But all of them were extremely hospitable and nice to talk to. We planned about the next day (city tour + desert drop off) and retired for the night.

Day 3: Oct 3rd (JSLMR & Desert Stay Overnight)

An AC car is a must here although I must confess I was not so sure if it was really needed when booking cab from Bangalore (thank God since I didn’t). We left our hotel at 9 in the morning and our very first stop was the famous Jaisalmer fort. It was still before 10 and we were already sweating! A short climb brought us to the entrance of the fort. 

There was no one single way to go but many alleys. We did not take the services of a guide since we did not want facts & figures, we just wanted to experience. We took the most walked-alley and walked through a maze of small streets and shops until we came to a dead-end. It happened to be a spot for a nice view of the city. No wonder it was called the Golden city for the view was indeed golden! From one view point to another, everywhere we went, the view was great & golden. Some of the view points were in fact for the ballistic missiles used erstwhile against the army. We spent quite some time in a number of such view-points - almost four of them, and realized this is what the fort was famous for. 

Also in the middle of the fort were two temples. The Vishnu temple & the Jain temple. It was a great respite from the scorching sun. But we went only inside the Vishnu temple, spent some time relaxing and moved on. Had some tender coconut and decided against having our lunch although the smell of the cooked food was awesome! We went our way down back to the cab and asked the driver to take us to a hotel. Our next stop was Patwon Ki Haveli. It was a nice place but realized that this was the way of life for folks here - all that we were seeing was the olden-era of kitchen, bedroom, living room, trade room, etc. and they had preserved all the items that were used before. It was a ticketed entry and I guess it was worth it for once. There were almost 3-4 stairs to go through and each floor had its own specialty. From the terrace, we could see a nice view of the fort. 

Our next stop was lunch very close to Mandir Palace. A very nice lunch followed by some pics in front of the Mandir Palace. We decided against entry and instead we thought we might as well go to the lake since we were done with ‘Haveli’s for one day! Mandir Palace was just another Haveli, we felt. Our next stop was Gadisar Lake. Stood under a tree and enjoyed the scenery amidst the hot sun. Decided against boating since we had planned it after couple of days in the City of Lakes. By now, it was about 2 pm, and we started moving towards the city of Sam. On the way, the driver took us to a Jain temple. Extremely well carved, outside city limits.  Spent just a few minutes at that place and continued on towards our resort in the desert.

From the main road, we had to take a right on a non-paved road and go almost 2 kms to reach our resort - Sam Sand Dunes Desert Safari Camp. Had to wait for a few minutes to be welcomed and once we got access to our tent, we were left to ourselves and the driver headed back to Jaisalmer promising us that he will be back the next day. By now, it was almost 4 pm. So, here was the itinerary - 

Welcome drink, evening snacks, camel ride before sunset, some cultural events with bonfire and dinner. For some reason, I was too tired and I dozed off on the bed while daughter and wife spent some time on the sand that was surrounding us everywhere. At about 5 pm, we got a call that we better hurry for the camel ride since it was getting cloudy. We were surprised that there was a threat of rain in the middle of a desert and we thought the clouds would go away. But by the time we came near to the camel, the clouds were almost about to pour, so the camel driver said we need to wait until the rain got done. So we rushed back to our tents and then, all of us a sudden, we were in the middle of a desert sandstorm! It was raining heavily with great gusts of wind. Some of our tents were almost tearing apart and some even did - so customers were complaining. Thankfully nothing happened to our tent except for a small leak in the corner. 

The rain and wind lashed for almost an hour and it was intermittent. Which meant our cultural events was washed out too, much to our dismay. Still, the programmers tried to give us a performance and held us enthralled for about 3-4 song and dance sequences. What should have been a 3-hour program only lasted less than 45 minutes. And the snacks which we should have had during the program, we ended up having on the porch of our tent. Still, it was a great experience because not many people experience the desert sandstorm and we were glad we could do that plus we also had a little bit of the cultural event too! At about 9 pm, we had our dinner and it was a typical Rajasthani Thali buffet. The chapathis were amazing - fresh from the oven. Although the sweet is famous, we didn’t like it much and it was time to retire for the night. 

When we got back to the tent, there was a huge insect. Almost as big as half of my slipper! I hadn’t seen one so big. It was sitting inside the tent, and I smashed it although it scared me doing so. Had to do it, since that was the only way to get to the bathroom, which is nothing but a tented-partition between the bed and the bathroom. Every part of the tent - even the floor inside & the bathroom too - was sandy, thanks to the desert. Nevertheless, we all three enjoyed it the most since it is not every day that we get to sleep in a desert. The fine sand particles of the desert was a treat to play with. I had a hope of seeing clear starry sky in the desert but that was not to be due to the rain and clouds. Apparently the last time it rained in Oct was a few decades ago - so I guess we were lucky in a way!

Day 4: Oct 4th (JSLMR & Jodhpur)

Got up 6ish. Enjoyed the freshness of the sand and the desert around us after the previous night’s rain-lashing. The resort had promised us the sunrise camel ride in the morning since we missed it the previous evening sunset ride. And it was a beautiful sunrise! We were glad we got up early. The camel escort was such a nice down-to-earth guy, it was a treat talking to him. He told us about his simple life: “I take care of the camel during winter and the camel takes care of me (by giving rides to tourists) in the summer.” All three of us sat on the camel and he took us to the dunes nearby. It was unbelievable, as if we were actually in the desert. The crests and the troughs of the sand was mesmerizing. There were a number of photos that we could take in different angles. We ran above the mounds of sand and spent a long time. No one was around and it was as if the whole desert was for ourselves. Finally we were satisfied and asked the escort to take us up. 

Back at the camp, we refreshed, had our breakfast & packed. Our pick-up cab had already arrived, and we bid adieu to the resort at about 11 am. It was one of the finest resorts we had been to since a long time. The cab took us to the stop where we had to catch a bus to Jodhpur. But we had to wait for almost 1.5 hrs since the bus was at 12:40 pm. We just sat under a tree and spent nice time. Although it was hot, it was windy so it didn’t bother us much. We were ever so grateful to the tree. Also it was a nice waiting spot since it faced the fort - so nice view. Spent some time reading book, playing with Paavani, munched something to eat (as lunch), etc. Soon our bus arrived. 

The bus was from Laxmi Traveller & it was A/c. I was impressed by the tourist bus. The fact that seat numbers had changed from what was allotted slightly confused us (reason being the bus was new) but it was sorted out. I liked the punctuality. There was a TV inside the bus too, and strangely they had put a Kannada movie (dubbed in Hindi)! We could recognize looking at the actors. It was a long 6 hr journey and by the time we reached Jodhpur, it was almost 7 pm. The roads were great - I was expecting bumpy ride but it was nicely paved. 

Took an auto to our next guest house called Pushp guest house which was very close to the Jodhpur fort. Auto driver knew where it was although it was inside some gully (where ever autos couldn’t go!) It reminded us of our stay at Varanasi where we had to walk in gully too. The place was in the midst of a bustling market area but hardly any nice place to eat nearby. Thankfully the guest house had a terrace where we could order and eat freshly cooked food. We checked in, refreshed, went to the terrace for a nice cup of tea, and sat staring at the Jodhpur fort all lit up wonderful blue lights. It was a sight to see!

Since we had some time, we walked amidst the gully and the market area to Ghanta Ghar which was closeby. That too was lit up and nice to see. Took some selfies, and headed our way back to the guest house. There we saw a residential celebration of Durga pooja and we went with the crowd to see the arathi. It was so nice to be amongst the locals! Finally we returned back to the guest house terrace. The lights on the fort were now switched off. The order took an unusually long time to be delivered and it was not that great either plus pricey. Anyways, we were done for the day - and we retired. 

Day 5: Oct 5th (Jodhpur & Udaipur)

We had a packed day and we knew it. So we researched what time the fort was to open in the morning (9 we were told) and hence planned accordingly. Got up early, got done with breakfast and since the guest house was close to the fort, we walked directly to the famous Mehrangarh Fort & Museum. Although, it was more of a ‘climb’ than ‘walk’. The route which we took was more of a shortcut for walkers and not the ‘usual road’ taken by vehicles. So had to climb a lot. And then suddenly the walking track merged with the road, and we were at the entrance. The fees were pricey, as expected. As soon as we entered, the lines got divided into two - one for each gender. The females walked at the edge of the fort whereas the male walked inside the fort. Needless to say, the former had nice view of the ‘Blue city’ as Jodhpur is called. Apparently since it was Durga pooja time, and there was a temple inside the fort to which huge crowds gathered at this time of the year, the fort authorities had come up with this rule to split the lines. Otherwise, I guess this is not the norm. 

Anyway, a huge walk all the way to the temple. Had darshan and another huge walk almost back to the entrance, where we entered the museum. It was a multi-storeyed museum full of the usual things which we were now familiar in any Rajasthan fort - the King’s chamber, the queen’s chamber, the eating area, the entertainment lounge, etc. This museum had a lot more - different types of swords, palanquins, elephant riders, etc. with their peak periods historically, etc. Family & I are not so keen on museum artifacts, so quickly scanned through them all and forged ahead. On the way back, we (as a family, together) were finally able to see the entire city of Jodhpur from one of the fort-edges - and it is no wonder why Jodhpur is called the ‘Blue city’ for everywhere we could see, it was blue in color! If Jaisalmer was golden, Jodhpur is blue!

Once out of the fort, we started walking towards Jaswant Thada. We could have walked but we were running out of time. So we grabbed an auto, gave him our full itinerary, bargained on the price (somewhere about 500 or 600) and he took us to JT. This, we realized later was more of a memorial place for one of the kings. Not much to see here except photos of great maharajas inside. But the building was nice and architecturally well built. Within 15-20 minutes, we were done with this place, and hopped on the auto on the way to our guest house. It was back alleys and bylanes and we couldn’t figure out how the driver knew where to go. And then at one point, he said he cannot go any more and we had to find our way ourselves. Somehow by asking, we reached the guest house. We paid the bills, took our already-packed luggages and rushed back to the auto. 

The auto-wallah rushed to Umaid Bhavan next. It was pretty far in fact. And seemed to be in the most posh place of Jodhpur. We kept our luggage instead the auto, took the entry ticket and ran to the palace. Once again the same set of grandeur. The inside of the palace was great but we had very less time to spend. So we ran through the entire corridor, read quickly some history, saw some great statues and we are out of the palace in less than 15 minutes. But the building had an excellent architecture, superbly maintained gardens and this one had an eat-out too where we had ice-creams. In addition, it hosted an vintage car museum too.

Once out, we called the auto wallah and he zipped us through the streets of Jodhpur at great speed. We told him to take it easy since we still had more than an hour but he was adamant to get us to the station before our bus to Udaipur left! Anyways, we reached the bus station (Jain travels) promptly by about 1 pm and the but was at 1:40 pm. There was a restaurant (Hotel Jain Excellency) right beside where we thought we would have our lunch and we hurried the waiters to get our thalis fast. It was really delicious food. Just as we got done, the shuttle to the “actual bus stop” was waiting to take us. That was full though with no space. So we had to wait for another shuttle. That one happened to be an auto which took us to another ‘waiting place’ for the bus. This was a horrible place with no proper seating or waiting arrangement. And a horrible loo, still had to make-do with it.

Finally our bus came. This was a non-AC bus but it had one sleeper and two seats side-by-side. So daughter enjoyed the sleeper and we got to sit for most of the journey. At the very end of the journey, wifey and i took turns to sleep although we didn’t get much sleep. Although I was concerned about having booked non-AC bus, it was not that bad. The roads are really great and the travel was very smooth indeed. We had almost reached the Udaipur when some cops caught the driver and we never came to know what happened. We were stuck for a very long time - 30 to 40 minutes. Finally we started again and reached our destination by about 9 pm. An auto-wallah took us to our hotel Gokul Palace. It was not that great nor it was too bad. Just ok-dokey. Had some packed food as snacks and retired for the night.

Day 6: Oct 6th (Udaipur)

We had the whole day with us today, so we took it easy. In fact, we checked out of the hotel and with luggage in hand we thought we will sight-see the entire city. Had booked an auto from the hotel itself for the entire day and he came about 9 am. The auto itself became the ‘cloak room’ for our luggage! Our first stop was Saheliyon-Ki-Bari. It is a royal garden for the women-folk, one would assume because it had all the charisma of femininity written everywhere - with fountains and flowers and lawns, etc. Lots of greenery and man-made small ponds. A very different and unique garden filled with as many fountains as possible. A welcome bliss in the Rajasthan hot climate I suppose!

Our next stop was Fateh Sagar Lake. This one popped our eyes out! It was filled with so much of water - I mean, we knew Udaipur was a city of Lakes but did not expect so much of water. And the place where the auto-wallah stopped, the water from the lake was gushing out to god-knows-where, and it was like a roaring water falls right beside and below us. It was an awesome place to spend time and sure enough, we spend more than enough time - not just there at the falls but also walking beside the lake edge and clicking snaps. We refused boating because this was not where we wanted to go boating anyways.

Our next stop was Sajjangarh Monsoon Palace. This happened to be an extremely complicated place in Udaipur because the tourists were regulated meaning, each tourist was given a ticket with a number at the base of the hill and one had to wait for one’s turn. Ours was a long way out - and we were told the wait is almost 2 hours! This is because we did not have our own private vehicle. We had not factored this in our itinerary. So if one intends to visit here in auto, one must plan in advance. Anyways, we were kind of hungry so we thought we might as well have our lunch to kill the time. Nearby was a nice ‘organic-only’ restaurant, and we had a relatively nice lunch there albeit slightly pricey. 

We got back and very soon, it was our turn. A shuttle came to pick us up and drove us to the top of the hill where the Sajjangarh Monsoon Palace was situated. From atop, Udaipur was even more beautiful. We could see two lakes - almost one beside the other: Fateh Sagar lake and Lake Pichola. All around the palace edge we walked with stunning views of greenery and lakes and it was a sight to behold. The Palace in itself was just like how now we were used to! Lots of chambers and museum-like. There were couple of floors too and it was great to catch a sight from atop. Spent quite a bit of time at the palace and soon, it was time to head back.

Our next destination was City Palace. But due to Durga Pooja, the auto wallah had to stop us pretty far off as the streets were cordoned off. Upon enquiring, it came as a shock that the palace entry fee was way too pricey. So, after having watched enough palaces and forts, we thought we might as well skip the City Palace. Wifey did some shopping in the bustling area and there was a Jagdish temple nearby. We thought we might as well visit it. Very nice temple, full of intricate carvings and captivating idols too. After spending some time there (we had to wait for some time since it was closed for the noon-break), we headed down to Gangaur Ghat which was walkable. Spent some nice time near the lakeside but it was too hot. There, near the ghat, was a poster for folk dance show at 7 pm and 8 pm, we decided that we might at least go for it - especially because we missed it in Jaisalmer. So, with that in plan, we headed back to our auto-wallah and he took us next to Lake Pichola. 

A great tourist spot - lots of tourists, eateries, fun and family gatherings, boating, etc. We went on a long boat ride that lasted almost half hour or more. He took us on Lake Pichola in its entirety also showing the Taj Lake Palace and Jagmandir which are like islands in the middle of the lake. It was beautiful. Boating done, we went walking to a nearby park called Manik Lal Verma park. This was unique too - it was like we were almost climbing a hill except that there were beautiful gardens and scenery all around us plus monkeys! We even noticed the Udaipur Ropeway - although we were half inclined to try it out, we knew we were running out of time for the show. So we ditched it. 

As per original plan, if we had visited the City Palace, it would have been either 7 or 8 pm by now. But because we skipped City Palace, it was still 6-ish. We bid adieu to the auto-wallah who dropped us back at the Jagdish temple from where we had to walk down (now with our luggages) to Gangaur Ghat where the show was almost underway. Much to our chagrin, there was already a huge queue! And by the time we got to the counter, we were out of the 7 pm show but thankfully we could make it to the 8 pm show - which was ok because our train to Jaipur was at 10:20 pm. 

We passed some time at the ghat looking at the now-fully-lit island-palaces which looked amazing. Had some light eateries and spent time overall until it was time for the show. For the show, there was already another huge line - we realized later because the ahead you are in the line, the best position you can choose for viewing! Anyways the show was over-crowded. It was like over 200 people were cramped up in a very small Haveli kind of thing. Somehow we cramped ourselves in and soon enough the show began. 

A very traditional Rajasthani folk show ranging from easy to medium-difficult to very-difficult dance steps with local attire and costume. There was an English narrator as well which made it easy for the foreigners but not entirely. The local dialect had much more to offer which the translation cannot do justice. Anyways, the icing on the cake was the dance with a number of pots on the head - which starts with just a few, and then more pots get added on and then even more! It was simply brilliant - and definitely a show not to be missed. (https://dharoharfolkdance.in/).

As soon as the show got done, we ran with our luggages since we did not want to be late to our train. And just like us, there were several folks who wanted autos to get them to their homes, so it was imperative to get to the first auto and secure it! Still, we lost the first few but finally, one of them agreed. We were really glad because the neighbouring areas already had all closed out and the market area was becoming empty. Last thing we wanted was to get stranded!

Finally we reached the station at almost 10 pm and we had a light dinner inside the railway station restaurant. The train was already there and we took up our berths and retired for the night. It was good-bye to Udaipur….

Day 7: Oct 7th (Jaipur)

We reached Jaipur at about a quarter past 5. In the map, I thought I had booked the hotel pretty close to the railway station - almost walkable but it didn’t seem so on Google maps now that I was there! So we took an auto and dropped us off at the hotel Sangam. The only reason I chose this hotel was because it was in Mistay who offers 24 hour check-out policy from the time of arrival albeit scheduled. In our case, scheduled arrival time was 8 am but we had reached by 6 am itself. We couldnt wait for 2 hours in the lobby and it seemed pretty silly of the receptionist not to give the room when it was available anyways - and we would anyways depart before 6 am the next day. So we ended up paying extra for early check-in. The hotel itself was not that great nor was it’s location.

Had a light sleep till 7, refreshed and had breakfast at a neighbouring restaurant and we were ready for the city-tour of much-awaited Pink city, Jaipur! This time, we had booked a cab from the hotel receptionist and it seemed like they get commissions because I was asked to pay a percent of the full discussed value to the receptionist. Anyways, the driver seemed to be in a hurry as he kept pushing us to get going because there were lots of places to see. It was only later we came to know what he had in mind.

So we started off from the hotel just after 9 am. Within a few minutes, we realized that our driver did not seem to be the right kind of driver to show places. He had a way of marketing ‘aura’ about him and trying to nudge us to buy this, shop that so that he would get his commission. Anyways, our first stop was the Birla Mandir. Excellent place, as usual, in any big city of India. Spent quite some time taking snaps. And then, next stop was Albert Hall museum. Ticket was too pricey so we skipped it but took some snaps in front of it. And our next stop was Jantar Mantar. This place is scientifically brilliant except that most of us are not just as brilliant to understand. So most of the artifacts look like Greek and Latin, and we just nod at all the instructions given. We could see Hawa Mahal from JM but the driver had his own itinerary. Right opposite to JM was City Palace. We made a conscious decision to skip it since we had had enough of palaces and museums since last one week plus we had enough to see as yet. 

We asked the driver to take us next to Amber Palace. He took us via Old Jaipur also known as Pink City where every part of the market and shop was pink in color. We didn’t spend time shopping here but the driver had his own place where he wanted us to take. We gave in - and it seemed like a normal shop where they were selling blankets and bedspreads - full Rajasthani style. Unnecessarily we spent 30-40 minutes refusing to buy anything. And then driver took us to another place where he hyped up the shop to have one of the oldest owners - some 110+ year old guy - who makes the best footwear ever. Another marketing gimmick - we were inside the shop and out in few minutes. The driver realized we were not his usual scapegoat-y customers. Nevertheless, this driver wasted almost an hour of our time taking in and around Jaipur’s market shops in the hope of commission instead of us allowing us to spend time in Jaipur’s tourist spots despite us telling him to take where we wanted to go. So, a tad strongly we told him to take us to Amber Palace. And then we got stuck in traffic - so he started blaming traffic and we started blaming him that it was his fault for taking us to those shops instead of getting us here first. 

In the slow moving traffic, we got down and almost ran to the top of the fort. It was an excellent view from atop. It started raining too but thankfully it stopped soon. We didn’t enter the palace as such but we visited the temple and other fort-like spots atop from various points. Also we hiked up as much as possible to the Jaigarh fort but it just kept getting higher and higher. Finally, we had had enough of Amber Palace and we ran down the fort to a place where we had mutually agreed with the driver to meet up - on our way down we had some roadside eatery as our lunch - some papad actually. It was now raining on and off quite frequently. Our next stop was Jai Mahal. Thankfully the rain stopped again. A very pretty place actually - full of fanfare and eateries despite the rain. We had some bananas to eat here. After a few clicks, we signaled to the driver and off we were again.

And destination now was Hawa Mahal - one of the most popular places of Jaipur. But the driver told he cannot take us to the entrance, so he dropped us off at some point, asked us to take a local transport, get down and go on our own. But it was raining cats and dogs now. Still we managed it somehow. The entrance to Hawa Mahal was a market place, full of shops. Anyways, the Hawa Mahal was destined to get closed soon, so we had to make it somehow. So, in the rain, we got the tickets and made our way inside and boy were we glad we could get this done! And this place is definitely worth a visit. 

Surprisingly, the entrance fees here is a pittance compared to other palaces. And the time taken to see this place in its entirety takes easily an hour. Agreed, it is just a building filled with many many tiny windows, a place where no one can really live and yet it is architecturally beautiful. Amidst the comings and goings of rain, we flitted from one compartment to another (for there is not much roof cover) and it was fun. After spending our heart’s worth of time at HM, we exited. Wifey wanted to do some shopping because this was a true market area and we bought some gift items for relatives, some Rajasthani bedspreads for ourselves, etc. And then we signaled our driver to come over to a common junction point. By this time, we were pretty much done with Jaipur. We had seen all that we wanted to see and shopped all that we wanted to shop. So, we let the driver take us (even against our wishes) to his set of shops for his commission. This one was another ‘bedspread’ shop - where we spent almost an hour but didn’t buy anything. Another one was the last stop just before our hotel and we flatly refused to get down the car itself. Needless to say, our driver was very angry at us - for he lost his day’s commission. Moreover, seeing us with our shopping bags from Hawa Mahal further irked him. All the nice air of pleasantries that he was showing off to us suddenly vanished from him. We didn’t care much anyways and asked him to drop us off at our hotel. It was about 7 pm by the time we reached our hotel.

We still wanted to have our dinner, so we walked about the hotel and came across what seemed to be a busy bus stand for private buses which were all plying now for the overnight travel. So lots of passengers everywhere, and to cater them were a bunch of roadside eateries. We took some sweets for friends and relatives back home and had light dinner as well. Back to our hotel room and retired for the night - our last night in Rajasthan.

Next day, we took an Ola auto to airport (which is unheard of in Bangalore because autos are not allowed to BLR airport). Jaipur airport is right in the city, within a 30-40 minute’s drive, I felt. Had light breakfast at the airport itself. Our flight was on time. We reached BLR about noon and headed to the nearest eatery for a mouthful of South Indian food - Idli, Dosa, Vada! After 7 days, our own food seemed so delicious! Got our bus and reached Banashankari (thereabouts) after which another Ola auto took us home. By the time, we reached it was almost 3 pm.

Summary: All in all, it was a great trip. Culturally very beautiful and literally very colourful. From the Golden city of Jaisalmer to the Blue City Jodhpur to City of Lakes Udaipur to the Pink city Jaipur - it was one grand tour. The only two other popular places perhaps we missed in Rajasthan were Bikaner & Mt Abu. But with the limited number of days we had, added to the fact that we wanted to visit Pushkar, it was just as well that our itinerary suited us. Rajasthan is undoubtedly a great state to visit and definitely to be prioritized over foreign countries! And yes, October is a great time to visit!