Royal Rajasthan - Journey from Blue City to Lake City Via Golden City

Dear Friends,

This is in continuation to my last blog we have started our Day 3 from famous Mehrangarh Fort which we could not visit last night. 

Mehrangarh Fort 

This is one of the largest forts in India. Built around 1460 by Rao Jodha, the fort is situated 410 feet (125 m) above the city and is enclosed by imposing thick walls. Inside its boundaries there are several palaces known for their intricate carvings and expansive courtyards. A winding road leads to and from the city below. The imprints of the impact of cannonballs fired by attacking armies of Jaipur can still be seen on the second gate. Some of the interesting things to know about your journey as below:

• Ticket charges is Rs. 100 per Indian adult and there is an additional charges of Rs. 100 for still photography (tripods are not allowed). This, is the only fort in Rajasthan which uses Lift to climb nearly 120 feet. You need to buy additional ticket of Rs. 50 per adult per direction (upward or downward) 
• The monuments is armed by the private force of the fort administration and most antiques placed in the museum are fairly self explanatory and hence you may not require a guide service. 
• A foreign tourist can though take various language expert guides. 
• Some of the photographs which I have clicked of the fort and the 'blue city view form the top of the fort are as below: 

On the way to Jaisalmer: Post our visit from Mehrangarh Fort we have started our journey to the Golden City - Jaisalmer and covered following places on the way. 

• We have taken a slight detour from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer to visit one of the old temple known as "Osiyan Mata" aka "Sachiya Mata" Temple. Know More about Mythology

Golden City - Jaisalmer: Ideally it is advised to stay in Jaisalmer for two nights. 1 night in desert camp and 1 night in city to enjoy the local sightseeing. 

Unfortunately, we could only stay for one night in desert camp by name 'Chandini Resort', service of this camp was good, but was organised completely by locals, so you may not get a very polished welcome as compare to any star hotel. Most of these desert camp follow common format package which includes:

One time Camel Safari, Local Folk Music and Dance in the evening along with Tea & Snacks, Dinner & Breakfast. This can cost you anywhere between 1500 - 6000 Rs per night per package (couple). Sharing some of the photographs of desert camp & cultural program @ night.

Shot taken while camel safari

Rajasthani folk dance & music organised by the resort. 

Day4: 

On our day 4 we have spent few hours in visiting Jaisalmer fort (it is amongst the few living fort of India, a portion of which is converted into museum), The fee we have paid is Rs. 100 per adult plus Rs. 100 for camera and optional Rs. 200 for a guide. Few important things to be noticed form the fort is the monuments, family tree of current king and their linkage to 'Lord Krishna', View of entire Golden City (it looks like a shot taken from Arabian Nights). Some of the photographs are shared as below:

Aerial map of jodhpur fort.

View of Living Fort of Jaisalmer. 

Street food within Fort Campus 

belowLocals worshipping in Jain Temple. 

While returning from Jaisalmer we have tasted famous "Pyaaj Ki Cachori" near fort and also visited Jaisalmer War Museum." 

Tank & Truck Captured during the war with Pakistan. 

Some Safety Tips: While returning from Jaisalmer we were headed towards Udaipur. It was nearly 8 in the night and route between Ranakpur to Udaipur was not at all good and safe. So, we decided to stay back in a resort near Ranakpur Temple (there were plenty of resort near Ranakpur temple, we choose 'Ranakpur Natures Retreat' via Goibibo, It was good enough for the night stay although they have good plantation and river flowing at the back but we could not manage to explore the entire resort and started our day little early on day 4. 

Day 4:

We have started our day form the resort and reach "Ranakpur Jain Temple", it turns out to be a must visit place in the lifetime, it was nearly 600 year old temple built on top of over 1444 marble pillars. Know More.  

Temple administration does not allow you to go inside in a half shorts and camera is also not allowed before 12 noon. It opens for tourist after 12 noon only, however we managed to click few pictures from the outside sharing as below:

Sun Temple next to the main temple with-in the compound. 

We spent nearly an hour in temple premise, btw they serve very nice food in the canteen and they also have options of accommodations (Dharamshala) @ reasonable cost, but I guess you need to make advance bookings and preference must be given to worshippers/ followers. 

PS: There were no tickets charged in the temple for a casual Darshan, however we were told that post 12 noon if you want to take camera inside you need to buy a ticket. (we didn't enquired the price)

  

Kumbhalgarh Fort:

Post our visit to Ranakpur, we were headed towards the famous 'Kumbhalgarh Fort' also known as the birth place of 'Maharana Pratap'. This is fort is example of advance defence centric architecture with a boundary wall of nearly 12 kms centrally located in the position of advantage amongst all the neighbouring mountains, and you can see more details on the link mentioned above.

Just before you reach fort parking you may want to stop for a distant view of the fort and click some photograph, you can also try "Zipline" activity.

Tickets @ fort is only Rs. 15 per adult and there is no government rates for guide, so you may find various locals negotiating with tourists as guides, as a caution you should check their ID cards. 

If you are traveling with kids or infants it is advices to see the fort from the outside and visit the shiva temple which is right at the entrance. For anyone to reach at the top its should be nearly a 800 - 900 mtrs of track and some stairs.  

Remote view of the fort.

View from the top of the fort.

PS: There are lot of 'Custard Apple' trees nearby fort and you might see locals selling fruit in and around fort area. You may want to try some of these. 

What we missed?:

After Kumbhalgarh fort we were headed towards the nostalgic lake city - Udaipur. On our way back there was a small detour of 10 kms which could take us to the 'Famous Haldhighati' - place where the famous battle was fought between Maharana Pratap and Mughal emperor Akbar aka 'Battle of Haldighati' this place also has a museum known as 'Maharana Pratap Museum.' 

Last day @ Udaipur:

We have reached Udaipur by 3pm and decided to head to 'City Palace & Museum' because we may not be able explore this after 5 pm. 

At the entrance of city place you will find very confusing rate card of various tickets and options available, I will try to simplify tickets as below: 

• City Palace is huge compound and any adult you needs to roam around the compound needs to buy a minimum ticket of Rs. 30 per adult and if you want to see the museum inside city palace you can buy additional ticket of Rs 300 per adult. (there is no additional cost of camera or still photography) 
• There are few other tickets like car parking Rs 250, boating in a shared boat Rs. 300 per adult before 3pm, between 3-5pm boating will cost you premium Rs. 400 per adult because of sunset view etc.    

Some of the clicks of city palace and museum:

Jagdeesh Temple @ Udaipur: The exit gates of City Palace leads you very close to famous Jagdeesh Temple, (temple of lord krishna) fairly old and one time watch temple located right in the middle of market surrounded by lake. 

Hotel @ Udaipur: There are various options of good hotels in both side of city palace and lake Pichhola. 

We have decided to stay at 'Hotel Mahendra Prakash' which is less than 200 Mts walk form the city palace entrance gate. This is a family run Haveli Converted into hotel and also know as one of the oldest hotel in Udaipur, property, rooms and service is good, but the staff is extremely professional but arrogant and you can not expect them to accommodate any of your special request like late check-outs, rescheduling etc. 

Sharing some of the photographs of hotel room as below:

  

Food @ Udaipur:

• If you are vegetarian and would like to try authentic 'Rajasthani Daal Baati' you can try 'Krishna Dal Bati' Restaurant again not very far form the city palace. They server you unlimited food in a thali format which includes, mixed daal, gatte ki sabji, baati, choorma, butter milk, papad, pudina and garlic chatni. This thali will cost you Rs. 250 all inclusive per adult.

• We also went to the other side of lake in the hunt of good food, few locals have recommended 'Hari Gadh Restaurant' @ hanuman Ghat as an ideal place for Rajasthani non-veg speciality 'Laal Maas' (its an interseting mutton dish made in Rajasthani style). Restaurant has very good lake side ambience and they also servers hard drinks including cocktails and Mocktail. Sharing some of the photographs of restaurant and its lake view. 

Few Hours @ Nathdwara:

• Nathwara is a nearby place form Udaipur and we could manage to spent few hours there, Nathdwara is famous for 'Jain Temple, Shiva Temple and Saas Bahu Temple. 
• We could only manage to cover Saas Bah Temple which is a lakeside temple building with no ideal to be worshiped. Temple is know for the walls and roofs of the temple which is depicting the acts of Ramayana - Famous Literature of Hindu Religion.  

Sharing some of the photographs of the temple which will tempt you to visit this once whenever you are around Udaipur. 

Last but not the least: 

There are not enough words to describe the beauty & culture of Rajasthan. However, I have attempted to address few common questions and knowhow along with some photograph. 

Few months back when I was planning my trip and making bookings, I myself struggled a lot and was not able to find the good content on internet which talks about the journey not just the place. 

I have attempted this and hope you will like it, please share as much as possible not just to the people who are planning a Rajasthan trip, but also to the people who have interest in knowing Indian culture, food and history.

Finally please check the route map of this blog, you can fine tune this based on your travel needs.