Interesting things about Rajasthan

Color coordinated city

Every big city in Rajasthan is color coordinated. Wondering what I am talking about? See! Jaipur as pink, Jodhpur as blue and Jaisalmer as golden and finally Udaipur as white.

Food
Treat your taste buds to the royal taste of Rajasthan. For a South Indian like me, it was a blissful treat to have tasted so much of it's delicacies. Indeed a Foodie's heaven.

Arts and Artifacts
Whether it is the beautiful handcrafted wooden puppets or the metal souvenirs or the silver jewelry, name it, Rajasthan has it all.

Wooden Puppets
These wooden puppets are a delight to every visitor who drops by.

Who knows, you can even watch a craftsman creating a puppet in the fort like we did or end up watching the ancient folk puppet dance called Kathputil dance.

Patch worked wall hangings

This is one thing which stole my heart. May be because of the employment it provided to many muslim women in rural Rajasthan or because of the creativity involved or because of my favourite topic of reusing the old cloth bits, I couldn't find a single reason as to why I love this Patch-worked wall hangings. Wondering what I am talking about? Read here!

Parade of Colourful Jootis

While boarding our flight to Jaipur, my friend was intrigued by a co-passenger as to know where she had bought her jootis? When she said that she got it in a Rajasthan mela, he said being a Rajasthani he had never seen any jooti like that in Rajasthan.

But Guess what! It looks like he has never searched for jootis in the land of Rajas?

Durban wala land
When you are in the land of Durban, you can't leave without buying your own right? You will find Durbans being sold in lot of places. We got our Durbans from Jaisalmer fort.

Colourful Street scenes
From the streets of Jaisalmer fort to the path leading to Amer fort, if I can call one thing common, it is the colourful street scenes that is synonymous to Rajasthan.

Say no to plastic

This one is going to nail you. In Jaisalmer, shop owners don't give you plastic covers to carry your things. Instead they use cloth bits stitched in the form of a pouch for packing. Wow! What an idea sir ji?

Lost for choice of Souvenirs
Be it the iconic Durban Moustache T shirt or the Hawa Mahal fridge magnet or the colourful decorative items, I am sure you will buy as many souvenirs as possible in your trip to Rajasthan.

Colourful vibe
Where do you think, the otherwise monochromatic desert state would have got it's vibe?

Of course from it's people!
Rajasthani people love colours. You could evidently see it from the choice of colours they used in their souvenirs and their dresses. And look at these autos? You want anything more to prove?!

Colourful autos in Rajasthan

Shopaholic heaven
Well! Do you call yourself a non-shopaholic? Have you ever been to Rajasthan? If not, please go street shopping in Rajasthan, then come and tell me!

Whether it is the colourful shawls or Bandej sarees or intrinsic handicrafts, Rajasthan has a way to make even non shopaholics to go on a shopping haul.

It's really tough to refrain guys!

Cafe culture
Thanks to the huge number of foreigners who visit Rajasthan every year. Cafe culture in Rajasthan has grown so much in the recent years.

A cafe in Jaisalmer

From Jaipur to Jaisalmer, there were interesting cafes we came across. If you had been reading my blog, you would have read about a cafe in Jodhpur named Cafe Royale which stole my heart with it's food. Yum! Yum!

Lonely planet recommended or TripAdvisor recommended

Funny how almost every homestay or restaurant in Rajasthan is either lonely planet recommended or TripAdvisor recommended.

There were places which seemed to have maintained the status of it. But few were terribly bad.

While searching for a stay near clock tower in Jodhpur, our search results ended us up in a stay named 'Hare Krishna'.

Our instincts and few reviews said not to book the stay at Jodhpur, but we finally gave in to the fancy lonely planet recommendations. You know what! we ended up in a shabby room!

Whereas we went to a Lazzi shop and Sweet shop seeing the recommendations to find it worthy. So when in Rajasthan, go with your instincts than with these recommendations.

These are all the few things which I found quite interesting in Rajasthan.

Guys! Did I miss out on any other interesting thing? Do drop in your comments.

A day in Blue city,Jodhpur

Jodhpur
The very name invokes images of blue city, mighty Mehrangarh fort and expansive Thar desert. Trust me! The grandeur and charm of the city will leave a permanent mark in your heart. But the blue lanes! I badly wish that it could have been maintained much better with proper drainage system.

In a nutshell, a perfect amalgamation of old and new city brings to you the much famed Sun city, Jodhpur.

Mighty Mehrangarh fort

Perched on a hill top, this 100 feet fort is sure to make any visitor struggle for words to describe its majesty.

While in Mehrangarh fort, every wall tells a legendary story of it's daring leaders and every doors and windows conveys you their love for art and architecture.

Wars won and lost, days gone by, still the gate of Mehrangarh fort remained intact. Such was it's mightiness!

Palaces and museum inside fort
Though Mehrangarh fort is primarily built for defense, you would find beautiful palaces inside the fort.

It is said that various generations of Rajput rulers have added structures like palaces, temples to the fort.This fort houses several beautifully decorated palaces like Moti Mahal(Pearl Palace), Phool Mahal(Palace of flowers), sheesh mahal(Mirror palace).

Not to mention the musuem inside the fort is one of the well-stacked museums stocking from royal palanquins to archaic paintings.

Shops inside Mehrangarh fort
The musuem shops have tie & dye sarees, chudithars, shawls, colourful jootis and various showcase items.

As the shops inside Mehrangarh fort are instituted for the conservation and restoration of local crafts, the prices are reasonably kept.

Treat yourself to the view of Jodhpur city

And don't forget to treat yourself to the Grand view of Jodhpur city and Umaid Bhavan palace below from Mehrangarh fort.

Can you spot Umaid Bhavan Palace in this pic?

View of Jodhpur city will be different from different sides. On the old side you would find more blue houses and the other side surrounding Clock tower, you would find less houses painted in indigo.

Jodhpur Blue city
In the early days, Jodhpur people painted their houses Indigo to escape the heat and protect them from insects. It was believed that ingredient in indigo reflected sunlight and repelled insects.

Fun fact : Blue city is actually not fully blue, you will find other colored houses too.

Jaswant Thada
Taj Mahal of Jodhpur is not going to let you down by it's stunning architecture. The mausoleum, built by Sadar Singh on memory of  his father Jaswant singh, is sure a beauty to behold.

There was something quite mesmerizing about this place which made me badly wish for a paper and pencil to have drawn this monument.

This white marble cenotaph has got some beautifully carved marbles jhalis.

Umaid Bhavan palace
On a rocky chittar hill, set in twenty six acres of land, of which fifteen are garden, it took 3000 men and women to work for fifteen years to create this masterpiece.

Umaid singh is someone who has chased his dream. From playing polo at London to giving equal importance to the love for flying, this man had chased his dream all long.

Umaid Bhavan Garden

The versatility and resourcefulness of this man had made me moved after reading about him in Umaid Bhavan palace museum.

How the king lived his life was a story enough a blog!

Clock Tower Market
Sardar market, located right in the middle of the city, surrounding the famous clock tower is the most famous market square in Jodhpur.

As you plunge yourself onto the busy streets of the market, you will find a wide array of goods from spices to vegetables to beautiful clothes to umbrellas.

Be ready to be on a binge shopping mode.

Cafe by the Clock Tower
Clock tower indeed surprised us with it's hidden gems. One such gem is Cafe Royale, a cafe we stumbled upon in Zomato.

This one is a small cafe run by a traveling couple. And they make really good food. I am not someone who likes continental food much. But Cafe Royale was an exception.

Their sandwiches were really tasty. How could I miss mentioning the Pav Bhujia we had there? A fusion dish of Bhujia stuffed inside Pav. Yummy treat!

Umaid Bhavan Palace

Umaid Bhavan Palace
Have you heard of a famine relief policy which gave rise to one of the largest royal residences of India? 

Well what??

This was my reaction in Umaid Bhavan palace while reading a piece of article in museum.

For anyone who aren't aware of the history behind the Umaid bhavan palace, the anecdote goes like this.

Interesting Anecdote behind the palace

When a period of draught followed by a curse of saint happened in Jodhpur, the farmers approached the then king Umaid Singh to sought for some sort of employment.

The king in order to help the farmers, decided to build a lavish palace and that's how the seed for the largest royal residence in the world was sown.

He commissioned Henry Vaguan lanchester, a renowned British architect to prepare plans for the palace. Around 3000 people were employed to build this palace.

The palace was designed with a blend of Western and Indian architectural patterns.

Interestingly like Khajuraho and Thanjavur temple, Umaid Bhavan palace was also constructed using interlocking system rather than mortar.

It took 14 years to complete the palace, as the main intention was to give employment to the farmers.

When the doors of the Umaid Bhavan palace was opened in 1943, it was considered as one of the largest royal residences in the world. With 347 rooms and several courtyards, Umaid Bhavan palace was certainly a magnificent palace.

However due to tragic events in the royal family, the palace couldn't function fully for many years.

It was when Gaj Singh, grandson of Umaid Singh decided to convert a portion of palace to luxury hotel, it started functioning fully.

The palace was divided into three functional parts.
1. The residence of the royal family
2. A luxury Taj hotel
3. A musuem focusing on the history of Jodhpur Royal family

Umaid Singh
There were many things about Umaid Singh which made me moved that day in museum.

Whether it was about taking his polo team to England or his famine relief policy which gave rise to this majestic palace or the dam which remained as Jodhpur main water source even after half a century, the man himself was a true visionary.

Not to mention his love for flying which brought Jodhpur, it's aerodrome. 

Even before Delhi airport was announced as International airport, Jodhpur airport had become International only by the efforts of the then king.

This man had an extravaganza of vision. He knew not only to dream but also to realise it.

A Desert Odyssey in Jaisalmer

As we proceeded for an exotic stay in Jaisalmer desert camp, we observed the change of scenery slowly.

Before heading to Desert in Jaisalmer, my imagination of desert was a stretch of barren, empty land with endless sand dunes eyes could see.

But what awaited us in Thar desert was something different.

There were barren stretches and then there were stretches filled with sands and desert plants too.

I was stunned to see a different version of desert from what I had dreamt of over the years.

As the car drove past many desert glamps, I had been thinking as to what this desert had got in store for us.

From a peaceful night stay in desert camp to going on paragliding over the sand dunes, the desert indeed had offered us variety of things.

Read further to know what all you can do in your desert Safari.

Stay inside a Swiss tent
If you want to truly get the feel of desert, you should camp here atleast for a night.

We stayed in Desert gateway resort. The stay was overall good except for the food and folk dance.(More about the stay in the end)

Adrenaline junkies! Here's Dune Bashing for you
Why should we have to go to Gulf and Arabian countries for dune bashing, when we have our very own in Jaisalmer?

This wasn't included in the package but we were happy that we opted for it.

Go on a Camel safari

What other best way than to ride on a camel along the breathtaking crests and troughs of sand dunes to experience the Great Indian desert.

Be careful while sitting on a camel's back, hold on to the hump and enjoy the moment.

Witness a magical sunset in the vast expanse of Thar desert
After a fun filled dune bashing, we were dropped near sand dunes. The desert which looked like an endless sea, was ruffled by occasional gentle breezes.

Wind whizzed past my ears and the sun set in the horizon to create a splash of colours in the enchanting sky.

The whole desert landscape turned magical at the moment. We spent a lovely evening amidst the Golden sands of Thar desert.

Paraglide over the magnificent sand dunes
As the sun starts to set in the horizon, go on a memorable ride of paragliding over the sand dunes of Thar desert.

Paragliding over the sand dunes

Treat yourself to the delightful folk music and dance of Rajasthan
Sun went down. Tired camels retired for the day. Jeep geared up to take us back to the camp. It seemed like we could call it a day.

But Guess what!
Something awaited us in the camp.
Folk music and dance! 

Bonfire had been put on for the DJ night! We took a comfy seat to enjoy the night.

See the desert wear the jewel of stars
If you are a night person, then don't forget to see the desert wear jewel of stars in the night. Desert gives a perfect backdrop for long exposures of Star trails.

One of the best places to look for milky way or shooting star.

I had forgotten my tripod in Jaipur itself that I couldn't experiment much on this.

Wake up to a beautiful sunrise like this
As soon as I woke up, I came out of my camp to witness such a breathtaking sunrise.

I took deep breath of the cool morning air and got ready to go on a camel safari.

Such sunrises are worth getting up right?

My experience with "Desert gateway Resorts"

Location : We loved the resort location-wise as it was perfectly placed just after the Sand dunes.(No crowd meandering opposite to your camp, yet walkable distance from Sand dunes)

Cleanliness : Resort was maintained pretty neat and clean. This one I would rate above normal standards.

Aesthetics : Again here, resort stole my heart. Room had the perfect Rajasthani vibe we seeked.

Food : Food was a major let down for us in the camp. There were no special Rajasthani food items to savour.

Folk music and dance : Folk music was good but the dance wasn't up to the mark. Out of two ladies, one lady performed nice and other one was just dancing for the sake.

Inclusions in the price : One Sunrise or Sunset Camel safari was included in the price.

Price : INR 5960 for three adults.

Tips - I would suggest you to go on a camel safari with your camp. As the private safari charged us more as well as took us around only little distance. And don't yield to their marketing strategy of showing untouched sand dunes.