Riding Through Rajasthan

We decided to start 2016 with a Ride through Rajasthan and what a trip it turned out to be.We flew from Bangalore to Jaipur and hired a Royal Enfield bike from WickedRide.com. Over the next 10 days, we rode 2000 kms. We went to Ranathambore, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Kumbalgarh, Pali, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Kuldhara, Ajmer and returned to Jaipur.

We’ve tried to capture the essence of the 10 day ride in a 10 part video series. Watch the entire series here!Riding Through Rajasthan – The Highlights Day 1 of 10Landed in Jaipur, got our bikes from WickedRide, Lunch at Lakshmi Mishtaan Bhandaar a 300 year old restaurant, checked in with our CouchSurfing host, hit the road again, explored Jaipur and ended the day with a Fire Paan. Day 2 of 10Started the day with some local snacks at Jal Mahal Palace, rode to the stunning Amer fort(built in 9th Century), rode to a more recent, but gorgeous Nahargarh fort, enjoyed the breath taking view of Jaipur from the back side of Nahargarh fort, rode down the lovely zig-zagging lanes into Jaipur, gobbled down more local food, rode to Chokhi Dhaani, had a ball of a time at the village themed resort and ended with a lip smacking dinner. Day 3 of 10We started Day 3 of #RidingThroughRajasthan at Chawla’s sweet shop in Jaipur, went looking for Chand Bawri, didn’t find it, then went to Ranathambore, reaching just in time to hop into the gypsy that would take us on a safari, went round and round, saw some antelopes, deers, monkeys, peacocks, did not see any tigers, returned to Ranthambore Regency a little disappointed, loved the hotel, resolved to try once again the next day and called it a day.

Day 4 of 10On day 4 of #RidingThroughRajasthan, we set off on a freezing note, went to a safari in zone 4 on the back seat of a truck, had a super bumpy ride, missed tiger spotting by a few minutes, returned to the hotel, had breakfast, hit the road to Udaipur, stopped at the majestic Chittorgarh fort, fell in love with the fort, enjoyed the sunset, rode off to Udaipur and chilled for the night.

Day 5 of 10We started Day 5 of #RidingThroughRajasthan at a Roof-top restaurant by Lake Pichola, wetn explring Udaipur on foot, went into the City Palace of Udaipur, took a boat ride in Lake Pichola to Jagmandir Palace, got back on land, went exploring the little restaurants, walked to Fateh Sagar lake, went for dinner to Ranaji Restaurant and called it a day. Day 6 of 10Left Udaipur in the morning and rode to Kumbalgarh, mesmerized by the beauty, walked along some part of the 36km wall around the fort, learned the history of the place, visited some of the temples in the fort, did zip lining across the gorge, headed towards Jodhpur after lunch, stopped at Bullet Baba ka Mandir near Pali, loved the story, reached Jodhpur and called it a day. Day 7 of 10Started day 7 by riding to the massive Mehrangarh fort, mesmerized by the history, architecture, culture and music at the fort. Went to Pal Haveli in the city and had West Rajasthan’s most popular dish Laal Maans and loved it. Explored the old city, market area, Ghanta Ghar and went into some lanes looking for the blue houses that are synonymous to Jodhpur. Had some amazing sweets at Janta Sweet Home and called it a day after a lavish dinner with our couchsurfing host. Day 8 of 10Rode off from Jodhpur in the morning and headed to the desert city of Jaisalmer. Stopped at the war memorial near Jaisalmer, felt inspired by the achievements and commitment of the Indian Army. Learned so much about the weapons used in the past and details of wars fought. Reached Jaisalmer, checked in with our couchsurfing host at a beautiful hotel owned by him, chilled out at a rooftop restaurant by the Jaisalmer fort. Day 9 of 10Began day 9 by riding to the majestic Jaisalmer fort, learned about its history, walked through several of the bylanes of the fort, enjoyed some amazing views, visited some of the beautiful temples and then headed out towards the desert camp. Visited Bada Bagh, the abandoned town of Kuldhara, went Jeep Parasailing, rode a camel in the desert, enjoyed a lovely sunset in the sand dunes and immersed ourselves in an array of music and dance activities at the desert camp. Day 10 & 11A large part of day 10 was spent on the road, riding about 500kms from Jaisalmer to Ajmer. We came across the famed Nilgai on our way and halted at Ajmer for the night. Next day morning, we went to the Ajmer Sharif Dargah, visited the Ana Sagar lake in Ajmer and then headed back to Jaipur, returned our bike and flew back to Bangalore.