Rajasthan - a memorable 6-day road trip!

Mention Rajasthan and the first images that come to one's mind are the vast sand dunes of the Thar Desert, the Hawa Mahal of Jaipur, the multi-hued and brilliantly coloured turban of the villagers,  and ofcourse a picture of the staid and unaffected camel.

We got to see all this and more during our brief, highly hectic but memorable six-day tour of Rajasthan. It sure is a vast state.  We covered close to 1500 kms but still could not cover the entire state!

We flew out to Jaipur from Bangalore and picked up a self-drive car (were lucky to get a less than a-year old Honda Jazz) from Zoom Cars.   This was our itinerary-

Jaipur - Bikaner - Deshnok - Jaisalmer - Sam San Dunes - Jodhpur - Ajmer - Pushkar - Jaipur.

The roads were mostly good (except for a few patches) and with the new car, we averaged a speed of 70-80 kms per hour!

Every day we woke up in a different place, in a different bed!  We freshened up, had breakfast and hit the road.  We drove nearly 300 kms each day (except the first day), arrived at the next destination by noon and spent the day sight-seeing.  Late evenings, we walked around the market place, took in the sights and sound of each town, did some shopping and sampled local food.  We chatted up the small shop-keepers; it was very interesting to hear their opinion of life and politics - especially the effects of demonetisation.

We also found the people of Rajasthan to be extremely warm, helpful and highly courteous. Strangers offered us help and a cup of warm tea when our car got stuck in sand.  Cab drivers spontaneously came forward to help fix a broken plate in our car and refused to accept money.  Their comment was "You are guests of our state, we will not accept money!"

It was an absolutely amazing experience and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly!    Here are some pictures from our trip - that offer a glimpse of remarkable Rajasthan!


Day -1 JAIPUR

Jaipur, the Pink City - its famous facade, the Hawa Mahal!

Grain seller outside the City Palace, Jaipur - attracting plenty of pigeons!

The majestic Amber Fort / Palace - a view from the road

A view of the moat and garden from the steps leading to Amber Palace

The impressive Ganesh Pol within the Palace 

The vegetable colours used in painting - bright and beautiful!

At the entrance, turban-clad, on the steps of the Amber Fort 

Rajasthan's famous sweet - Gewar! Filled with paneer!  Mouth-watering!

A Gewar tower on display!

Day - 2  BIKANER

Link - TO READ ABOUT BIKANER, click here 

On the road to Bikaner - big, voluminous and colourful cargo!

Junagarh Fort, Bikaner!

Inside Junagarh Fort - the Kings played Holi here! Lovely use of white and red stone

A piece of marvel built with sandstone - Bikaner

The King's royal quarters!

The Room of Clouds! - in Bikaner Fort

Our Princesses!

The beautiful Lalgarh Palace - home to the present RajMatha of Bikaner.

Day - 3  DESHNOKE,   JAISALMER

Entrance to the Karni Mata Rat Temple, Deshnoke

Rats enjoying 'prasad' in front of the deity

'Ksheera sagar' - feeding on a tray of milk!

Patwon ki Haweli - palatial home built by merchants in Jaisalmer

Framed in the ornate balcony of Patwon ki Haweli

Day - 4  JAISALMER ,    SAM SAND DUNES

At the entrance to the Jaisalmer Fort

A riot of colours!

The exquisite 'toran' carved in stone - Jain temple within the Jaisalmer Fort 

Awe-inspiring design, built to perfection

Jaisalmer Fort - the sandstone is almost golden in colour

The Golden City of Jaisalmer - view from the Fort!

The Golden-framed family!

A weathered Rajasthani villager playing a traditional instrument

As colourful as it can get - a shop within the fort.

Welcome to the Desert!

Camels - Hrithik Roshan and Babloo - taking us for a ride! 

Beautiful Sunset - picture courtesy Balu!

Selfie Time!

Our tented accommodation in Sam San Dunes 

Day - 5   JODHPUR

Passed Pokaran enroute to Jodhpur

The fantastic Mehrangarh fort at Jodhpur - first glimpse from the road!

Going up to 4 levels - impregnable certainly!

Jodhpur, the Blue City.  View from the fort

Totally awe-inspiring.  View of the fort entrance

View of the city centre with the Clock tower in the middle

Impressive rooms within the Fort

Mehrangarh's Sheesh Mahal

An elderly man with the hookah.

Mehrangarh Fort - lit up in the evening!  

Day - 6  AJMER,   PUSHKAR

At Moinuddin Chisti's Dargah, Ajmer

With young Syed Aadil Chisthi - a descendant of the Ajmer Sharif!

The shimmering bangles! 

Lake Pushkar, nestled in the Aravallis

The sacred and famous Brahma Temple, Pushkar

Kanyakumari – the southernmost tip of India!

------published in TheWeek's TripTease column in December 2016 ----

The Vivekananda Rock Memorial - Kanyakumari

This temple town in Tamilnadu forms the southernmost tip of India.  Situated right at the confluence of the three seas – the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean – Kanyakumari is a historic and beautiful destination. 

Kanyakumari is situated about 90 kms from Thiruvananthapuram and we took a bus from the Thiruvananthapuram Bus-stand, close to the famous Padmanabhaswamy temple.  The bus-ride was painfully slow and it took a good 4 hours to reach Kanyakumari. 

The photographer captured!

The famous Vivekananda Rock Memorial is situated about 500 m from the mainland.  One has to take a ferry to cross over to the other side.  Being a Saturday, the place was crowded and the queue for tickets was long.  The watchman assured us that the crowd that day was significantly lower than on other national holidays! The spell-binding view of the Rock  

View from the mainland

 Memorial and the imposing Thiruvalluvar Statue is spectacular.  It is believed that Swami Vivekananda sat on these rocks and meditated for a good three days.  He is supposed to have found answers to all the questions that plagued him and thus attained salvation.  The beautiful memorial that has been built here is remarkable and the huge statue of Swami Vivekananda, standing tall and erect is an inspiring sight.  It is a tribute befitting one of India’s much admired and respected philosophers / social reformers.  The Meditation Hall built in the lower precincts of the building is cool and inviting, and offers solace and peace to the wandering mind.

Posing beside the ornate door of the Memorial

 A walk around the outer platform is thoroughly enjoyable – the sea breeze is quite strong and refreshingly cool. One can spend any amount of time just watching the lashing waves and enjoying the breeze as it plays around with your hair and clothes, gently billowing and blowing through, providing the much needed respite from the hot sunny day.  The thought that one is standing on unique ground - right at the southernmost tip of India, surrounded by three seas – adds to the awe and magnitude of the experience.  

Enjoying the cool breeze!

A few metres from the Vivekananda Rock, on an adjacent stone island, is the majestic 133 ft. tall Thiruvalluvar Statue.  Thiruvalluvar is a great Tamil poet and philosopher whose famous work, ‘the Thirukkural’ is an important treatise on life and offers teachings on good conduct, morals and how to lead a happy and contented life.  The poet wrote the 133 chapters (and thus, the height of the statue) in ancient times but his teachings remain true and 

relevant even to this day.  One is left totally wonder-struck, admiring the beautiful stone cut figure of Tamilnadu’s much revered poet.

Medhini holding the Thiruvalluvar statue in her palm!

As we headed back to the main land, the lights were switched on at the Vivekananda Rock and what a sight it was!  Truly remarkable and well worth all the wait that one has to put up with!  The sun had set and as the last rays slowly vanished, the illumined lights of the Rock provided a fantastic view. 

When the lights were turned on.

We then slowly edged our way to the main temple dedicated to the young-girl goddess Kanyakumari.  The deity of the Goddess is beautiful – like an adolescent girl wearing a long-skirt, blouse and a ‘daavini’, or half-sari, holding a rosary in her hand.  The story is that Goddess Parvathi took the form of a young, virgin girl to kill the evil Banasura, who had been granted the boon that he could be killed by no man but only by a young, virgin girl.  Thus, she remained unmarried to fulfil her prophecy. 

The ring adorning the Goddess’s nose has a powerful glitter and shines lustrously.  In fact, it is believed that the bright light emanating from her nose-ring could be seen from the seas.  Several ships mistook this brilliance to be the lighthouse, sailed towards it and ended up crashing against the rocks.  As a result today, the eastern side of the temple facing the sea, has been walled up to prevent such mishaps.

At the confluence of the three water bodies!

After a long but memorable day spent in the beautiful and historic town of Kanyakumari, we took the bus back to Thiruvananthapuram.