Udaipur
Udaipur was our first stop on the classic Rajasthan tourist trail, after a couple of weeks at Goa’s beaches. It’s got much cooler weather (think 20-23 degrees instead of 32-36), and our time here was very leisurely.
We had a great room with an extremely hot and powerful shower (a rare luxury, it’s usually one or the other, or sometimes neither), a smart tv, a comfy rooftop chill out area, and a perfect location right next to the lake. We spent a lot of time relaxing at various rooftop restaurants overlooking the water. For reference, this is the lake from Octopussy where James Bond sneaks up to a floating palace inside a crocodile – we have the movie downloaded onto our USB to compare with our experience!
We did some touristy things, of course. The palace was spectacular, and we got a discounted entry ticket for no apparent reason. We visited a very sad aquarium that felt more like a pet shop, with a touch tank literally made out of an old hot tub, but the walk along the lakes to get to it was very pleasant. We saw the most incredible sunset from a hilltop temple we reached by cable car. We watched a cultural show where some talented ladies danced with bells and swords and fire.
Jodhpur
After 6 days in the City of Lakes, we moved on to the Blue City – Jodhpur. Creed missed Jodhpur on his first India trip, so it was nice to visit somewhere that was new for both of us, for a change. Our time here was fairly leisurely, too. Again we had a rooftop, this time with incredible views of the fort looming above the city. The houses are mostly painted blue, but there are some oranges and yellows and purples too, and those buildings which aren’t painted are built out of pink sandstone. The small windy streets are a colourful maze perfect for getting lost in, so we spent an afternoon just wandering with no destination. There is also a deep stepwell in the middle of the city, which is quite a mesmerising sight, and a great place to sit and people watch, fish watch and turtle watch.
The fort here is one of the largest in the region, perched on a rocky cliff with some fantastic views over the blue city. Other points of interest in the area are best explored by scooter, so we organised over Whatsapp to pick one up one morning. But apparently the confirmation message was not in fact a reservation and when we arrived there were no vehicles available. There were none available anywhere else in the city either, except a manual motorbike that neither of us wanted to figure out how to drive, and for a higher price than usual, so we passed on that in favour of a lazy day. As it turned out, there was an afternoon event happening in the courtyard right outside our hotel that we would have missed – thwarted plans are sometimes a good thing! It was an early Holi celebration with flowers and coloured powders being thrown around, and lots of music and dancing with mandatory participation. We were painted, given chai and snacks, and pulled into the crowd to learn some moves. The local kids loved being spun around so fast I got dizzy, again, and again, and again, and I loved their giggles when they got into a flower-throwing war with Creed.
We tried again to have a scooter reserved for us for the next day. There was still no money down or names taken, so we weren’t sure if we’d ever get to see the out-of-town sights. But, we had better luck and did secure a scooter for the day, and spent it whizzing around the outer Jodhpur points of interest. This included taking a road which turned into riding along the top of a fort rampart with no warning and no exit, getting stuck in a traffic jam and having to back up to let an elephant pass, and pretending we wanted to eat at a restaurant hidden in the swanky acres of a lakeside garden estate in order to get into some exclusive palace grounds. We visited Mandore Gardens and the beautiful marble mausoleum of Jaswant Thada. We met confused locals at remote temples who had never had white tourists visit before and loved taking pictures with us. We biked through more blue winding alleys of the old city crammed with shops and vendors overflowing into the street. We had a great day!
We were back in time to catch a 3 hour 5.30pm bus to our next destination: Pushkar. (Of course 3 hour buses actually take 5 hours, plus the 30 minute tuk tuk ride at the other end, so we ended up arriving fairly late.)
Pushkar
Pushkar is a small town surrounding a lake which is considered one of the holiest in the country. The myth goes that Lord Brahma (the creator of the world) dropped a lotus petal, and where it landed water immediately sprouted, creating Pushkar lake. The Brahma Temple located here is the oldest in India, making Pushkar a popular pilgrimage site for Hindus. It’s also a popular backpacker spot with a relaxed atmosphere, and we were very glad we had added it onto our itinerary at the last minute.
The evening time is when the town comes alive, as everyone heads down to the water to watch the sunset and pray. There are over 500 temples in the small town, but instead of praying at these, the sunset prayer rituals are performed at the water’s edge on the many successive staircases almost entirely surrounding the lake called ghats. Priests light candles and chant, sing and play for hours into the night, creating a cacophony of sound around the small lake.
A bout of ‘delhi belly’ which we’d so far successfully avoided hit the day we were due to leave Pushkar, so we extended out our stay so as not to have to suffer through a long, hot and bumpy bus journey while feeling rough. Pushkar is a lovely little town, so we were happy to stay longer, though it meant cutting our time in Jaipur shorter than we’d originally intended. After a second evening of enjoying the lakeside ceremonies and atmosphere, we caught a 6am bus to Jaipur the next day.
Jaipur
Jaipur is known as the Pink City, as many of the old buildings are entirely built out of pink sandstone, but honestly the colour is more orange than pink. Either way, it’s an impressive sight, and our hotel was right in the middle of it all. This was one of the nicest hotels we’ve stayed at on this entire India trip, so it was a shame we would be out of it and exploring so much! On the plus side, it was located opposite a bakery with the most delicious chocolate log cake that we definitely ate too much of (it’s possible our stomach issues are more to do with how much chocolate we’re currently eating than the curries).
There are too many sights in Jaipur to pack into 3 days. We rented a bike again, and ticked off the City Palace, Amber Fort, 6 temples, 2 more palaces, 2 stepwells, 2 royal cenotaph complexes, and many many viewpoints on the mountain pass between 2 more forts. We also hit up Raj Mandir, a cinema often ranked one of the best movie experiences in the world, thanks to its art deco design and audience that tends to laugh, cheer, boo and talk through the entire film. We caught Shaitaan, a Bollywood movie about a demon who possesses a family’s teen daughter and causes havoc. It was in Hindi with no subtitles, so we left at the intermission having no clue what was going on in the plot.
On our last morning in Jaipur we visited the Hawa Mahal, one of the city’s most iconic sights, but decided to skip the observatory and other temple visits we had planned. All in all our sightseeing in Jaipur wasn’t as full as we’d planned out, but you can never see everything, and we did enough to feel satisfied of a successful visit to the Pink City. Unfortunately this time we couldn’t afford to take an extra day and leave tomorrow instead, as we had exciting things in store that could not be postponed.
Ranthambore
Here we celebrated Creed’s birthday! Ranthambore is one of the biggest National Parks in India, known for being one of the best places to spot tigers. March to May is supposed to be the best time, but there’s still only a 50% chance of seeing them according to our guide. We booked a morning and an afternoon safari, in an attempt to maximise our chances – 50% multiplied by 2 safaris equals 100%, right? Nope.
Aside from tigers, you can see different kinds of deer and antelope, wild boar, leopards and other cats, and many different birds. Spotting leopards is very rare, and the other animals weren’t really of too much interest to us (spoiled as we are), so, despite knowing the odds, it felt like our enjoyment of the safaris would be entirely reliant on the tigers. The guides tried their best to interest us in the other animals along the way as we traversed the park, but with every minute spent watching a deer rather than a big cat, my hope faded. We saw hundreds of peacocks, a few crocodiles, and many monkeys, but, alas, no tigers. There’s always the risk with any wildlife related tourism, and so far on our travels we’ve been extremely lucky. But you can’t make a wild animal appear when you want him to, even when it’s your birthday. Very rude of them not to join the party, I think.
We later found out that a tiger had been sighted in sector 1 (our sector for our morning safari) the afternoon before, and in sector 5 (our afternoon safari sector) in the morning. So it goes! I believe (and hope) that Creed still had a great day, making use of the hotel pool between safaris and eating a lot of very cheap and delicious food at the local food court, as well as cake, of course.
Mathura
We had timed our Rajasthan trip to be in Mathura for Holi, the colour festival. Mathura hosts the biggest Holi celebrations in the whole country, and you can read about our experience of it here. Without the festival going on, I wouldn’t visit here on a Rajasthan itinerary – it has some great temples and riverside ghats, but doesn’t match up to the beauty and history of the other destinations in this post. We actually left the city during the two slow days in the middle of the festival week, and headed to nearby Agra.
Agra
In Agra we found a great hotel with a rooftop view of the Taj Mahal! It really is a majestic sight, and we headed straight out to visit it. Agra is often visited by tourists for only 1 day, with a rushed visit to the world wonder and the Red Fort before heading off to the next destination. With 2 nights in town and only an hour journey back to Mathura we were able to take our time, which felt like a luxury after a fairly packed itinerary over the past couple of weeks. We spent the afternoon exploring the Taj Mahal at a leisurely place, with plenty of stops at various benches around the gardens just sitting and talking and taking in the iconic view. At dusk we headed to the riverside to watch the sun go down behind the gleaming white marble of the famous Taj. The following day we made the most of having more time than we needed by not getting up until midday, then hit up the fort, took in more views of the Taj Mahal, visited another marble mausoleum known as Baby Taj and ate some truly delicious curries.
After failing to visit a few final sites in Agra due to things being closed for renovation and some general confusion as to whether we were allowed in the mosque or not, we headed back to Mathura for the final few days of Holi.
The ordinary end (or beginning if you’re travelling in the opposite direction) of this itinerary is Delhi, the bustling capital of India. We did not go here. (Creed has previously visited and you can read his overview here). I somehow travelled India for 2 months and skipped the capital entirely. I guess I’ll have to go back! Even without this iconic city, my Rajasthan trip was absolutely fantastic and I consider it a trip that everyone should take once in their lifetime. Contact me to help you plan it!