Rajasthan Trip
The yearend annual vacation to Rajasthan was a good one . December was the best time to visit this state for the weather is cool and nice. The recommended season to visit is Nov – Feb. but Dec was probably the best time to visit.
Planning for this trip began some five months in advance. In fact, we wanted to do this trip in Dec 2011 , but we realized if we did not plan in advance , it would be difficult to make it work. ( getting in , availability of transport, Hotels at the right price was a challenge) So , planning for this year's started in July of this year.
We must have met at least three times ( two hour sessions ) to do the planning . ( Originally it was to be three families to go on this trip , but it ended up with two families).
Several discussions went on :
Where to enter and where to exit ( out of the Rajasthan state )
Cities to visit , cities to dropout , hotels to be consider , travel options between cities etc.
As a team , we came up with many options. As the number of options became more , it was difficult to agree to a particular plan. We tried to go by Rail between Cities , realized that we were late as the trains were booked up ( 120 days limit ). This led us to drop Jaisalmer. If we had to go to Jaisalmer , it would mean a long travel by road and halt at Bikaner that we did not want . So , it was finally down to Jaipur , Jodhpur ( through Pushkar ) and then to Udaipur. Once this got firmed up , we quickly booked our Air tickets in and out of Jaipur from Chennai. We also decided that we will spend more time at Udaipur to relax. We also decided that travel between cities will be by road ( even this had to be done in advance ). We also blocked out hotels. It is also difficult to get good accommodation as there are plenty of tourists to Rajasthan during this time and the rates go steep.
Quick Tips :
Advance planning is key to making the trip successful.
Two days per city is good enough ( Jaipur , Jodhpur , Udaipur ) . In fact Jodhpur can be just one full day trip.
Be prepared to engage Guides. Very useful to understand plenty of information in the Palaces or at various sites. Engage the Guide for the entire day by city . that helps to bring down cost or you pay by the site you visit .
Plan your entry and exit in to Rajasthan – I do not believe we did it efficiently. We got in and out from Jaipur and had to travel back from Udaipur to Jaipur by train to get to Chennai from Jaipur. Connections are not good from Udaipur to Chennai. . You need to get to Delhi and then get back to Chennai and fares are not good by this option. May be Udaipur – Ahmedabad – Chennai should have been a better option. Ahmedabad is around 250 Kms from Udaipur . I am sure we could get a train.
December seems to be the month of Great weather. Warm clothing is a necessity .
Travel by road from Jaipur to other cities is probably the right mode. Gives you flexibility of having transport with you that can help to go around .
Drivers do not have local knowledge. For example our Driver knew only about Jaipur. Other places he was struggling to take us around ( Here is where the guides come in – Best bet to get tips on local shopping , Food joints , places of interest )
Book Hotels well in advance. Look for ones that give you Breakfast along with the tariff
Shops open in most of the places only past 11 AM ( because of the weather may be at this time )
Enjoy Rajasthan food ( we did it too much that we yearned for our Rasam , Sambar as the trip drew to a close )
A 10 day clean trip will help cover Jaipur, Pushkar , Bikaner , Jaisalmer , Jodhpur and Udaipur.
Knowledge of Hindi is good. ( ability to speak )
For travel by road do not rely on websites for timing -- although the distances are accurate , time taken often is incorrect due to state of the road and traffic.
Highlights from me :
The Palaces all indicate the luxurious lifestyle that the Kings lived in . Can cause you frustration as well as amazement at how people live. Envy the Rajas ...
The Meharangarh Fort at Jodhpur was probably my favorite for the way the entire Fort has been constructed and developed. A small dance with the drummers at the Fort—One look at us and they sang “Why this kola very “ song for us !
Biggest Cannon of the world at Jaigarh Fort in Jaipur.
The boat ride at Lake Pichola next to the Udaipur Palace was wonderful.
Darshan at NathDwara of Sreenathiji was divine ( enroute Jodhpur – Udaipur , more closer to Udaipur.
Shopping around the Citi Palace of Jaipur – the area looks very similar to our own Parry’s area .
Walking around the Fatehsagar lake ( Udaipur ) in the evening is nice and cool –
Overall , great trip -- thanks to the planning.
Planning for this trip began some five months in advance. In fact, we wanted to do this trip in Dec 2011 , but we realized if we did not plan in advance , it would be difficult to make it work. ( getting in , availability of transport, Hotels at the right price was a challenge) So , planning for this year's started in July of this year.
We must have met at least three times ( two hour sessions ) to do the planning . ( Originally it was to be three families to go on this trip , but it ended up with two families).
Several discussions went on :
Where to enter and where to exit ( out of the Rajasthan state )
Cities to visit , cities to dropout , hotels to be consider , travel options between cities etc.
As a team , we came up with many options. As the number of options became more , it was difficult to agree to a particular plan. We tried to go by Rail between Cities , realized that we were late as the trains were booked up ( 120 days limit ). This led us to drop Jaisalmer. If we had to go to Jaisalmer , it would mean a long travel by road and halt at Bikaner that we did not want . So , it was finally down to Jaipur , Jodhpur ( through Pushkar ) and then to Udaipur. Once this got firmed up , we quickly booked our Air tickets in and out of Jaipur from Chennai. We also decided that we will spend more time at Udaipur to relax. We also decided that travel between cities will be by road ( even this had to be done in advance ). We also blocked out hotels. It is also difficult to get good accommodation as there are plenty of tourists to Rajasthan during this time and the rates go steep.
Quick Tips :
Advance planning is key to making the trip successful.
Two days per city is good enough ( Jaipur , Jodhpur , Udaipur ) . In fact Jodhpur can be just one full day trip.
Be prepared to engage Guides. Very useful to understand plenty of information in the Palaces or at various sites. Engage the Guide for the entire day by city . that helps to bring down cost or you pay by the site you visit .
Plan your entry and exit in to Rajasthan – I do not believe we did it efficiently. We got in and out from Jaipur and had to travel back from Udaipur to Jaipur by train to get to Chennai from Jaipur. Connections are not good from Udaipur to Chennai. . You need to get to Delhi and then get back to Chennai and fares are not good by this option. May be Udaipur – Ahmedabad – Chennai should have been a better option. Ahmedabad is around 250 Kms from Udaipur . I am sure we could get a train.
December seems to be the month of Great weather. Warm clothing is a necessity .
Travel by road from Jaipur to other cities is probably the right mode. Gives you flexibility of having transport with you that can help to go around .
Drivers do not have local knowledge. For example our Driver knew only about Jaipur. Other places he was struggling to take us around ( Here is where the guides come in – Best bet to get tips on local shopping , Food joints , places of interest )
Book Hotels well in advance. Look for ones that give you Breakfast along with the tariff
Shops open in most of the places only past 11 AM ( because of the weather may be at this time )
Enjoy Rajasthan food ( we did it too much that we yearned for our Rasam , Sambar as the trip drew to a close )
A 10 day clean trip will help cover Jaipur, Pushkar , Bikaner , Jaisalmer , Jodhpur and Udaipur.
Knowledge of Hindi is good. ( ability to speak )
For travel by road do not rely on websites for timing -- although the distances are accurate , time taken often is incorrect due to state of the road and traffic.
Highlights from me :
The Palaces all indicate the luxurious lifestyle that the Kings lived in . Can cause you frustration as well as amazement at how people live. Envy the Rajas ...
The Meharangarh Fort at Jodhpur was probably my favorite for the way the entire Fort has been constructed and developed. A small dance with the drummers at the Fort—One look at us and they sang “Why this kola very “ song for us !
Biggest Cannon of the world at Jaigarh Fort in Jaipur.
The boat ride at Lake Pichola next to the Udaipur Palace was wonderful.
Darshan at NathDwara of Sreenathiji was divine ( enroute Jodhpur – Udaipur , more closer to Udaipur.
Shopping around the Citi Palace of Jaipur – the area looks very similar to our own Parry’s area .
Walking around the Fatehsagar lake ( Udaipur ) in the evening is nice and cool –
Overall , great trip -- thanks to the planning.
Comments
Great Summary. Not sure whether you went to Mount Abu which is about 8 hrs drive from Udaipur. Also did u manage to have the traditional food at Choki dhani in Jaipur. Sometimes off season works well in terms of less crowd and better rates. Ladies enjoy shopping in Rajasthan becoz of the colours used in fabric