In a situation where travel is barely a word in dictionary but hoping we live our memories with acquired knowledge. The values implicit when we travel is definitely something that is out of the world. Rajasthan was one of a memorable trip of my life where I educated myself about simplicity, minimalism and the plethora of courage and dedication needed to understand the unique history with great culture and traditions.
This Trip to Rajasthan was made in a hustle and I am going to tell you how? one fine morning I was talking to my old friend and we were missing our college days, suddenly we thought to plan a trip to Rajasthan. Both of us got to BINGO at the same time, It was just the moment we realised we can always live the part of life only if we desperately want to, no matters how old we are, either we are married or single, either you have a boss sitting on your neck to get things done or you are thinking to make that one trip which is not being possible from last 5 years, My schedule was very tight with work loads and a husband who barely understands cooking but I and my friend made some insane connections and thought to make this trip possible by choosing three extravagant places 1.Jaipur, 2.Udaipur, 3.Jaisalmer in 5 days.Now, I am going to tell you how I made this budget trip with my friend to visit this beautiful destinations which is absolutely regret if I would have kept it for another day. With this experience of my travel I believed in the transient world "Now" is the utmost reflex action that you could take or regret for rest of your life.
I took an early morning flight to Jaipur, the first thing I noticed in the Jaipur airport is the soothing song "padharo maare desh" the song I often used to hear when I used to watch Balika Badhu in my school days. The joy and the contentment of being in Jaipur allowed me to take the very first step that is booking an uber, and I recommend you to book an auto only if you want to enjoy the morning vibes, the fragnance of the city and thousands of pigeons flying unaninimously and disappering in the blue sky, the flutist, different colours of tied hats and and the cheerful smile on faces of thousands of localities who are keen enough to talk about their city. I was so excited that I asked the Auto rickshaw driver to drop me in Hawa Mahal and you can guess everything from the picture
There is a sense of calmness and tranquility you will absorb when you step into this temple, the temple has marvellous architecture surrounded with few trees.
Since I took a morning flight I was tired and wanted to rest in the mid afternoon, so I booked a hostel in budget where I got freshened up and took a nap in this hostel( 180 rupees per bed)
My next stop was the back side of Hawa Mahal , I spent around 30 minutes near hawa mahal and walked towards the Govardhan Nath ji ki temple, the back side of Hawa mahal. I would recommend everyone to spend sometime walking in the street because you will notice a lot of things, I noticed a music school, the snake...., colourful black metal jewelleries and hundreds of smiling faces with thousands of stories that I could imagine seeing the joyness.that is Gobardhan ji ka mandir, I am unable to locate it in tripoto, but if you walk by the street you will find the temple. There is a sense of calmness and tranquility you will absorb when you step into this temple, the temple has marvellous architecture surrounded with few trees.
Since I took a morning flight I was tired and wanted to rest in the mid afternoon, so I booked a hostel in budget where I got freshened up and took a nap in this hostel( 180 rupees per bed).I always recommend everyone to choose a hostel because you will always get to hear stories from the people and thats a way to educate yourself. In this Hostel I met a girl from Bulgaria who was doing a world tour during her college days, a single bag packer who had tons of experience to share. We planned to share our stories during our dinner time and I planned to visit City palace in the afternoon.
Udaipur the white city of Rajasthan frequently known as city of lakes has a lot of things to offer. Journey from Jaipur to Udaipur by bus is one night. We reached early morning in Udaipur and checked in to an oyo and planned to freshen up, after that we went to visit City palace Udaipur.
There is definitely a lot of information about city palace in Wiki pidia, Here I am going to share my experience on the visit to the palace. Moreover if you want to see the entire palace with a guide, it costs 2500 rupees which is quite expensive, but I got to choose it because I was quite interested to see Indian royal Palace and that is something which interest me towards the culture and heritage. I wont quote it as an expense but would recommend everyone to visit the entire palace with a government guide because you are going to learn a lot of things. I was quite fascinated with the marble art, Vegetable block printings, the Maharaja Singhasan, the antique mirrors and yes the sish mehel.
It almost took me 2 hours in city palace and I was looking for evening snacks, I jumped into a battery car(toto) and asked him to take me to a place for evening snacks and he didn't disappoint me
Since I was near the Hawa Mahal, I thought to spend some quality time seeing the lightings which I enjoyed the most.
we had a pre book bus to Jaisalmer. since our plan was to spend two days in jaisalmer, we onboarded our pre booked bus, and it took 1 day to reach jaisalmer if you are travelling by bus.
Jaisalmer is a city which is near to border of pakisthan and a deserted area, if you are there in october, you will definitely feel the hotness of sun and be ready to get tanned. The first day we rested in hotel in the morning and enjoyed the pool side in tokyo palace, in the evening we went in a desert safari. If you are in Jaisalmer please do this.
As promised to meet my friend in hostel and listen to her travel stories, I was back in time and We got to have a wholesome dinner together.
Next day we went to see Nathur ki haweli and the artistic gold colour structures which is worth the watch, you will enjoy the happening gali in the town, when I was walking in this gali, I noticed chants of the rishis, songs by street singers, pigeons flying at the same time and the colourful dolls, bangles, clothes , fragnance of camphor and sandalwood.
You might be thinking I was planning this trip with my college friend and she is not in the description till now, yes, Now is the time She comes to the frame, since she arrived late at night we met in the bus stop and as planned we on boarded the bus from jaipur to udaipur.
I never visited palaces before, the first time I entered this palace, I was thinking about disney movies, the fairy tales, all those thoughts in fraction of seconds which brought an excitement to know about the palace, we hired a guide and it almost took us 3 hours to visit the entire palace. I and my friend were jumping out of excitement after a thrilling experience. In short Udaipur city palace is a must visit if you are in Udaipur.
We had a bus back to jaipur at 7pm.
Early morning we reached Jaipur.
Since in my entire trip I didn't cover Fort, I thought to make a visit to Amber fort and Nahargarh Fort.
Though we had one day itinerary for Udaipur and it was really difficult to choose few best places, we kept forts for another day. We went to shaheliyon ki bagh and mata temple in cable car from where you can see the entire udaipur city. we planned to have laal mass in one of the famous hotels in udaipur.
In absolute no words you will fall in love with Udaipur.
We did a bus ride from udaipur to Jaisalmer and it took us 12 hours.Bus journey is comfortable and I recommend to take bus if dont have time constraint.
we had a pre book bus to Jaisalmer. since our plan was to spend two days in jaisalmer, we onboarded our pre booked bus, and it took 1 day to reach jaisalmer if you are travelling by bus.
Jaisalmer is a city which is near to border of pakisthan and a deserted area, if you are there in october, you will definitely feel the hotness of sun and be ready to get tanned. The first day we rested in hotel in the morning and enjoyed the pool side in tokyo palace, in the evening we went in a desert safari. If you are in Jaisalmer please do this.
We were taken in a jeep to the pick up point and from there we went in a camel ride to a desert safari, I never went to desert before and this felt like heaven seeing the golden sand and blue sky, even though for few people it might be like there is nothing special to see or do in desert, but I enjoyed seeing sand all around. Never miss is definitely the Sunset.
At night we went to see glimpse of folk culture of Rajasthan. Folk dance was astounding and moreover the simplicity of people and the tales of Rajasthan by songs will mesmerise you all. We met with a lady who had two daughters and is quite old and has not left the passion for dancing. We also had the authentic jaisalmer thali and headed towards our stay in Tokyo Palace.
Next day we went to see Nathur ki haweli and the artistic gold colour structures which is worth the watch, you will enjoy the happening gali in the town, when I was walking in this gali, I noticed chants of the rishis, songs by street singers, pigeons flying at the same time and the colourful dolls, bangles, clothes , fragnance of camphor and sandalwood.We had a bus back to jaipur at 7pm.
Early morning we reached Jaipur.I had to bid adieu to my friend and head towards seeing spotlights of the city.I planned to visit forts since I didn't see any forts during these 3 days of trip. My next destination was Amber Fort and Nahargarh Fort.
I spent around 30 minutes near hawa mahal and walked towards the Govardhan Nath ji ki temple, the back side of Hawa mahal. I would recommend everyone to spend sometime walking in the street because you will notice a lot of things, I noticed a music school, the snake...., colourful black metal jewelleries and hundreds of smiling faces with thousands of stories that I could imagine seeing the joyness.
I would recommend to take Uber to this fort from Jaipur city rather than booking taxi and paying them hefty and you could plan to visit fort in morning, so that you can visit the place and could easily return to city by afternoon. In the way to Amber fort I noticed Peacocks were Crossing the streets like free birds. You will enjoy the scenic beauty and also the view of Jaipur city from the fort is amazing.
I always recommend everyone to choose a hostel because you will always get to hear stories from the people and thats a way to educate yourself. In this Hostel I met a girl from Bulgaria who was doing a world tour during her college days, a single bag packer who had tons of experience to share. We planned to share our stories during our dinner time and I planned to visit City palace in the afternoon.
There is definitely a lot of information about city palace in Wiki pidia, Here I am going to share my experience on the visit to the palace. Moreover if you want to see the entire palace with a guide, it costs 2500 rupees which is quite expensive, but I got to choose it because I was quite interested to see Indian royal Palace and that is something which interest me towards the culture and heritage. I wont quote it as an expense but would recommend everyone to visit the entire palace with a government guide because you are going to learn a lot of things. I was quite fascinated with the marble art, Vegetable block printings, the Maharaja Singhasan, the antique mirrors and yes the sish mehel.
Late afternoon I decided to stop by a place for lunch since this was the last day of my trip and I didn;t want to miss few important food joints which I listed for my Trip.
It almost took me 2 hours in city palace and I was looking for evening snacks, I jumped into a battery car(toto) and asked him to take me to a place for evening snacks and he didn't disappoint me.
Later I also tried Lassi from Lassiwala shop, sorry I don't have picture captured. I also tried pyaz kachori from Rawat which is a must try if you are a kachori lover.
So, Here it comes to an end of my trip, Since I had to take flight at night. I had to rush towards the airport.
Since I was near the Hawa Mahal, I thought to spend some quality time seeing the lightings which I enjoyed the most.
10 tips for your budget trip:-
This costs exclude your Flight/Bus/Train tickets to reach Jaipur
1. Accomodation- Prefer hostels( per day/per person- 200)
2. To travel within the city- Prefer uber auto/motto services
3. Food- Prefer in hostels( if in budget), You will get variety of tasty food options in hostels.
4. Prefer bus to travel to other cities in rajasthan. Communication is faster and also a safer option for a solo traveller.
5. In Udaipur, you will get uber facilities to travel within the city.
6. Food - cheap options available in hotels, restaurants.
7. Avoid taking meals near the tourist areas.
8. Jaisalmer - No Uber facilities will be available, Rent auto to travel within the city.
9. when You are taking Desert safari, make sure to Bargain and come to a proper price( 1000-15000 rupees) range for 1 day.
10. Water bottles are quite expensive, since Jaisalmer is a desrted area. Try to take meals and Water from the Lodge.
11. No hostel facilities in Jaisalmer.
For more details on my shared trip you can contact me:-
email- ipsita.biti@gmail.com
Check out my highlights #Rajasthan in instagram
@fashion_parineeta
I took an early morning flight to Jaipur, the first thing I noticed in the Jaipur airport is the soothing song "padharo maare desh" the song I often used to hear when I used to watch Balika Badhu in my school days. The joy and the contentment of being in Jaipur allowed me to take the very first step that is booking an uber, and I recommend you to book an auto only if you want to enjoy the morning vibes, the fragnance of the city and thousands of pigeons flying unaninimously and disappering in the blue sky, the flutist, different colours of tied hats and and the cheerful smile on faces of thousands of localities who are keen enough to talk about their city. I was so excited that I asked the Auto rickshaw driver to drop me in Hawa Mahal and you can guess everything from the picture.