Trip to Jodhpur, Jaisalmer & Bikaner

This being my second road trip to Rajasthan, was working on the plan since some time. However, considering the distances to travel, the idea was not getting materialized. And with people adding in and dropping out, it was getting tough to freeze the plan.

Any ways, after lot of planning and discussions, we finally started during the last week of January. The total distance to travel was 1700+ KM. With a kid on board, I decided to have a few stop-overs, before reaching Jaisalmer.

Following were the cities that were there on the list

a. Jaipur

b. Jodhpur

c. Jaisalmer

d. Bikaner

The other places of interest that were on the route-map but I skipped (for the time) were Ajmer, Pokharan, Osian.

The hotel bookings were done through Yatra. After a usual pre-requisite check for a road trip, I started from Delhi at 4PM. It was a late start, but considering the objective of Day1 was only to reach Jaipur, it was still fine. Delhi – Jaipur highway is good and with distance of only 250 KM, it is only a matter of 5 hours at max, with one stop in-between. For a night-halt, I had booked

Hotel Ananda Greens. This is a new hotel, just behind Fortis Hospital. Stay was cozy and food was good.

Next morning, after having breakfast at hotel, we started for Jodhpur at 11AM. Jodhpur is around 350KM and route goes through Ajmer and Beawar. Both these cities have a by-pass road, so the local city traffic was avoided. Traffic between Ajmer & Beawar kept me slow. Rest the roads are great and drive is fun.

Mehrangarh Fort view from Hotel

Umaid Bhawan Palace

 Reached Jodhpur by 5PM and moved to Hotel Jee Ri Haveli. The hotel is in heart of city, with a good view of Mehrangarh Fort. City of Jodhpur has lot to offer. Mehrangah Fort & its museum, Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jaswant Thada (a Royal crematorium). The view of City from the Fort is astonishing.

View of Jodhpur City

There is a cafe at the fort, which servers great food to the visitors. A must go place.

Stone carved buildings @ Mandore Fort

After spending my day at Jodhpur, we started for Jaisalmer the next morning. The hotel guy suggested to take a de-tour and visit Mandore fort, which is around 10 KM from the Hotel. The Fort is mostly in ruins now, but the sand-stone carvings are still clear.


After a quick stop at Mandore Fort, we were on the way to Jaisalmer. It is around 300KM from the place. The roads are great and mostly deserted. One can easily drive the car at its peak speed. I enjoyed the drive all the way till Jaisalmer city. However, the moment you reach city, tour-operators / guides will start flocking around you. It gets tough to get through them. As I had to go to the dunes, I wanted the directions. And my best bet were the guys at filling station.

Sam (pronounced as 'sum') sand dunes are further 40M from the city. I had booked a camp stay for myself and family. As the booking was totally based on the feedback of previous travelers,

Desert Camp

I was little apprehensive. But the Prince Desert Camp had lot in offer for me. The camps were neat and comfortable. They had even arranged for the camel ride to the nearest dunes, for sun-set. In evening, there was folk-dance, music, drinks & dinner. It was windy that evening, and very cold out in open. But camps were cozy inside.

Desert Panorama

Sun Set @ Dunes

Next day, while checking-out from camp, noticed one of the tyre was flat. The taxi drivers around offered help, and quickly replaced with spare wheel. It was so nice of them.

After breakfast we left for Desert National Park. I wanted to explore, so drove though the place.

Museum @ Jaisalmer Fort

But, it had not much to see. It was all 'deserted'. So we turned around and came back to the city. The visit to Jaisalmer Fort was nice. It is one of the few living Forts in the world. I would consider it mostly as a shopping place, than of fort.
Palace museum has a nice tour.

Wood Fossil Park

Also, close to Jaisalmer, on Barmer road, is Wood Fossil Park.
There are a few fossils of more than 180 million years old. It is a good place for people who have interest in archeology & pre-historic era, but it is poorly maintained.

After spending a night in Jaisalmer, I left for Bikaner. The place is some 350KM. Again, the roads are great for a day drive. Bikaner is mostly popular for Fort, and 'Karni matamandir'.

Bikaner Fort

We had a short stop at Bikaner and early next morning started for Delhi. As this is the longest stretch of my road-journey, around 450KM, my plan was to be at home by evening. There are multiple routes that connect Bikaner & Delhi, and going by my experience, the one via Hissar should be preferred Though it is 50KM longer, the roads are good and drive is swift.

The week long trip turned out to be 1900KM for me. And I enjoyed every moment of it.

Road Trip to Ranthambore & Agra

The idea of traveling to Rajasthan was brewing inside me since some time. While planning for a weekend get-away from Delhi, wanted to go to some place to enjoy the wildlife. And Ranthanbore came as a one good option.

Ranthambore National Park is a Tiger Reserve forest, located near Sawai Madhopur town, in Rajasthan. The shortest distance to the place is via Mathura – Bharatpur route, however I picked the route via Jaipur, as the Delhi – Jaipur highway is good. And also, I do not want to control the urge of driving for a long distance all by myself.

It was a nice Friday morning, in December. The breeze was cool. I started from Delhi at 1:45 PM.

The pre-checks for a long road-trip:

a.       Fuel tank-full & tyres pressure checked

b.      Refreshments and snacks packed

c.       Drinking water stocked

d.      Hotel arranged but bookings were not confirmed

Hit NH-8 and off for Jaipur. My first traffic jam was at Gurgaon. For some good reason, not known, the trucks /trailers blocked the complete highway. It took good 30 minutes to cross this stretch. The drive till Bhiwadi was cool, and with little left-and-right between trucks things started rolling. After that there was no stopping. Cruising at 90 KMpH was fun.

Drove for some 200 KM, took a break at a road-side complex having Café Coffee Day, just before Jaipur. It was the sun-set time, and Aravalies were giving a splendid view. Called-up a few places in Sawai Madhopur checking for hotels. But all nice & affordable ones were booked for the weekend. Checked with RTDC hotels, and found availability with Jhoomar Baori. So, things were back on track, as I had a hotel availability confirmed. After around 30 minutes break, I was back on road. It was 6 in the evening, and dark now. With head-lights ON, I was driving towards Jaipur.

Got my car re-fueled in Jaipur, and without stopping at Chowki Dhaani, I continued for Kouthun. It is a small village on NH-12, around 15 KM from Chaksu. As the highway widening is in progress and no proper lighting, the traffic movement is little slow at this stretch. Took left turn to NH-11A, for Lalsot. The stretch from Kouthun to Lalsot is kind of bumpy track, but at 8PM in night one can zip it at 100+ speeds. The land on both sides of road is open, flat with no obstructions till horizon.

After driving for some 40KM, I took the first right for SH-24 for Sawai Madhopur. This is a 60KM stretch and the road is great and driving is joy. I finally reached Sawai Madhopur after 10PM. The city was all closed. Called-up RTDC Hotel guys, and took the route directions to reach the place. You have to drive through the dense green patch for about 2KM to reach the Hotel. The hotel guys were courteous and ready for help even that late in evening. As I had asked to keep my dinner, I quickly jumped to the dinning room for food. The food was nice and fresh. They showed me the room. It was nice and clean place. Very comfortable. And that is exactly I was looking for, after driving for more than 400KM. Never took long to fall asleep.


Hotel Jhoomar Baori

View from Hotel

Morning 7AM the safari for Tiger Reserve starts. But as I had no prior bookings, I had to skip the morning trip. Hotel people suggested me to go for Ranthambore Fort and Ganesh temple. So, took my car, and drove to the Fort entrance. The road goes through the wild greens, and badly maintained. The steep climbs at few places make it tricky to drive pass. You can see lot of peacocks on the way. The Fort is huge and from parking, one has to climb some 150 stairs to reach the entrance. The main attraction point in Fort is the temple of Trinetra Ganesh. It is the only temple in world with idol of Ganesh having three eyes.


Trinetra GaneshJi

During afternoon, took a jeep safari for the Ranthambore National Park. The place is beautiful, and the feel to be so close to nature is enormous. During the safari, never had a chance to see the big cats, but their pug-marks were clearly visible around the dirt track. Since limited forest area is open for safari, finding tiger is a rare scenario. But you can see beautiful birds, different species of deer, wild bore and crocs.


Tiger Pug Marks

Other pics from Safari

 

After an evening long excursion, returned to hotel. The wind was chilling, but the experience of an open jeep safari was great. Spent evening at hotel. Had a nice meal and a pleasant sleep back at hotel, started for Agra in morning. Got my car re-fueled at Sawai Madhopur. This time I took a different route, and from Lalsot continued on NH-11A to Dausa. The road is broken, and patch is under construction. It is all dirt tracks for most of the stretch. It took more than an hour to cross, and reach Dausa. Dausa appeared to be a big town. For Agra, took a right turn to NH-11. The road is great and smooth. It is a pleasure driving this highway. The stretch is of around 200 KM Took one break during drive, and had lunch. The road takes you around Bharatpur, and Fatehpur Sekri. After Toll Road ends, drive as per the road signs for Taj Mahal. Locals may direct you to a short-cut, but via congested market area.

As Taj Mahal entrance closes by 5PM, had to rush-up. There are plenty of guides to help you with their services, but I preferred staying on my own. It is a beautiful monument, but the beauty fades away the moment you watch the other side of Taj Mahal. The river Yamuna does not appear to be a river anymore.


Taj Mahal

Started from Agra at around 7PM to drive back to Delhi. As there were no sign-boards identifying the new Taj Express Highway, preferred to stick to NH-2 via Mathura. The road here is nice and well maintained. Driving among trucks was tricky, but it was good. With new Toll road at Badarpur border, entry to Delhi was swift and easy. Reached Delhi by 10:30PM, and was at home by 11PM. In total, I drove 1,000KM. It was a great experience and a pleasure going to so many places just over a weekend time.