Ajmer Fort
We considered taking the Palace on Wheels – it is expensive but runs only during the Indian Summer vacation schedule i.e April through mid June. Xzmde2 h2
Indian vacations are great, as we don’t have to do the fine grain granularity level planning, pack your bags and get rolling; you know what to expect, and we are able to think on the fly and improvise////as you will see…read on.
We were quite tied up with work activities and “Vacation Planning” just stayed on the TO DO list. We did surf quite a few web sites, and did some online exploration nothing serious. Airline reservations are good to have, and India pretty much works like the USA, the earlier you book the better off you are. You don’t need an Indian travel agent to help you mostly. The online world has enough information to help you navigate. And just talking to other folks who have been there, done that, certainly helps too.
We booked our tickets on Deccan, one of the cheapest airlines in India. Sometimes the fare was Rs 0/- and the taxes would get tagged on. Some pretty good deals, but it is a basic airline, does not offer the end to end experience of a Jet Airways - but makes us feel right at home considering the pathetic state of American Airlines. Depends on what you want. We ended up flying from Mumbai to Jaipur, and then to Delhi and then back to Bombay. Delhi, Jaipur and Agra form an isoceles triangle with each side being 250 kms. Thus, it is not advisable to fly between any of these points. Fly to one point and then drive down to the others. Doesn't matter which sequence you do it in.
We were planning this vacation in the month of August which is off peak season for India (as schools and vacations are taken during April – June) and the only advise that was offered to us was to take it easy and let things happen. There is no hurry to make the bookings. We took it too easy and made our flight reservations at the very last minute. We got our car reservations done for Jaipur and Delhi – through some family friends. At Jaipur, we had the INNOVA which was quite comfortable and ideal for city driving. At Delhi, we rented the Toyota Qualis, which is quite rugged, but a tad uncomfortable. The Qualis is now discontinued and we usually end up getting older run down SUVs - stay away from the Qualis. We didn’t bother to find out the specifics of the rental. Typically rental charges for the city is Rs. 900/day and you are restricted to 8 hours and 80 kms. Anything beyond that you need to get the rates set before you get into the car. The charges typically are Rs x for each extra hour and Rs Y/ each extra km. You can get an estimate of the total distance, everything is negotiable. If you have the car for a longer period (beyond 3-4 days) you can also negotiate a lumpsum payment.
JAIPUR
We had booked the ManSingh Hotel in Jaipur. The hotel is divided into two properties with separate rates – the ManSingh Towers and Hotel Mansingh. The Tower is 5 star, (we were told because it has a gym too), while the Hotel Mansingh is 4 star. This is not the Taj type hotel and needs a remodel but neverthless quite nice, breakfast included in the rates. We had negotiated a rate of Rs.4500/ for 2 nights. This was the rate that was offered to us also by calling the Mansingh hotels Mumbai office.
We ended up spending the first evening at Chokhi Dani, on the outskirts of Jaipur. This is an ethnic cultural fare hosted by the Chokhi Dani management team. A wonderful effort to provide a livelihood for the traditional people of Rajasthan. You get to understand the arts and crafts of Rajasthan with friendly locals. A Rajasthani Culture 101 of sorts. We took Camel rides, Elephant rides etc and also enjoyed a very traditional Rajasthani dinner. We spent a good 3 hours at Chokhi Dani.
The next day, we ended up visiting the 3 forts. Sangamner Fort, City Palace Hotel and the Jaisalmer fort. The City Palace hotel – where BHOOL BHULAIAN was shot at - is right in the heart of the city and not to be missed. Part of the palace continues to be occupied by the resident king and the the other half is exposed out as a tourist attraction. This is worth a visit. There is shopping inside the hotel and the prices are quite reasonable (specially because it was off peak season). You can done some of the shopping done here – or wait to get into the heart of the Jaipur shopping district. But no harm in checking out the merchandise that the merchants enthusiastically hawk at you. Hawa Mahal is right next door, so don't miss it. Be prepared to shelve out extra for the camcorder whereever you go. Jaisalmer Fort is quite striking and not to be missed. Sangamner Fort has hosted lots of Bollywood films and you will have that familiar feeling when you walk inside. The Hawa Mahal was under construction, but neverthless we walked in there.
The next day we ended up shoopping at Bapu Bazaar. Excellent shopping and very reasonable rates – do not miss out on the experience. We wanted to head to Puskhar – which is one of the pilgrimage - pure and pristine spots of India - has the only Brahma temple of India, but we didn’t make it there. There are lots of things to do around Jaipur and you can’t do them all- as they are a good driving distance. We also wanted to go to the Maqbara of
DELHI
We flew that evening to Delhi. We got stuck in the Delhi traffic. Delhi is seemingly like how Mumbai was in the mid 90s. Lots of traffic jams all over, they sorely are in need for flyovers and drainage systems. We got stuck due to an incessant downpour that water logged many of the roads. Delhi is certainly greener than Mumbai. We stayed in the **** area, at one of the non descript hotels. They all have hot water and air conditioning and make reasonable attempts to make you comfortable. The breakfast is typically included too. We spent the first day checking out the tourist attractions starting with the Red Fort. We checked out India Gate, Gandhi Samadhi, Kutub Minar, Lotus Temple, Swami Narayan Mandir etc. We made the cardinal mistake of allocating a Sunday for this and found most areas to be very crowded. Most places have separate lines for women and are usually much shorter, so make sure you leverage this facility instead of standing in long lines.
AGRA / MATHURA / VRINDAVAN
The day after we drove to Agra. We stopped on the way at the birthplace of Krishna - Mathura Vrindavan. The temples close at Noon, so make sure you get there prior to noon. We then drove to Fateh-pur-Sikri (passing Agra) which has lately become a tremendous tourist attraction due to Jodha Akbar. We also visited the Saint Chisti memorial behind Joda Bai’s palace.
AGRA
By the time we got back to Agra it was past 10PM. We were wishing we had driven down from Jaipur to Agra and finished up Fateh pur Sikri on the way. We had booked the Taj View hotel. We had been recommended the Oberoi hotel across the Yamuna with a view of the Taj - but that was Rs.30,000/night and we were looking for two rooms - and we couldn't quite get a deal for that one. The internet deal for Taj View was Rs.6000 for 2 nights which included breakfast and dinner. But we were staying only one night - and we were paying about Rs 5000/ night. We were supposed to have a Taj view – we got there late night and all we could see was a foggy view of the Taj Mahal about 5 kms away in the distance. The next day was a rainy day, not the best day, but we did the best we could. Put Anu’s recommendation. We scampered back to New Delhi where a new driver awaited us for our Char Dham trip.
Our pictures from the trip to Jaipur, Delhi, Vrindavan, Mathura, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra and CharDham (Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath) July 18, 2007 to August 2, 2007
We considered taking the Palace on Wheels – it is expensive but runs only during the Indian Summer vacation schedule i.e April through mid June. Xzmde2 h2
Indian vacations are great, as we don’t have to do the fine grain granularity level planning, pack your bags and get rolling; you know what to expect, and we are able to think on the fly and improvise////as you will see…read on.
We were quite tied up with work activities and “Vacation Planning” just stayed on the TO DO list. We did surf quite a few web sites, and did some online exploration nothing serious. Airline reservations are good to have, and India pretty much works like the USA, the earlier you book the better off you are. You don’t need an Indian travel agent to help you mostly. The online world has enough information to help you navigate. And just talking to other folks who have been there, done that, certainly helps too.
We booked our tickets on Deccan, one of the cheapest airlines in India. Sometimes the fare was Rs 0/- and the taxes would get tagged on. Some pretty good deals, but it is a basic airline, does not offer the end to end experience of a Jet Airways - but makes us feel right at home considering the pathetic state of American Airlines. Depends on what you want. We ended up flying from Mumbai to Jaipur, and then to Delhi and then back to Bombay. Delhi, Jaipur and Agra form an isoceles triangle with each side being 250 kms. Thus, it is not advisable to fly between any of these points. Fly to one point and then drive down to the others. Doesn't matter which sequence you do it in.
We were planning this vacation in the month of August which is off peak season for India (as schools and vacations are taken during April – June) and the only advise that was offered to us was to take it easy and let things happen. There is no hurry to make the bookings. We took it too easy and made our flight reservations at the very last minute. We got our car reservations done for Jaipur and Delhi – through some family friends. At Jaipur, we had the INNOVA which was quite comfortable and ideal for city driving. At Delhi, we rented the Toyota Qualis, which is quite rugged, but a tad uncomfortable. The Qualis is now discontinued and we usually end up getting older run down SUVs - stay away from the Qualis. We didn’t bother to find out the specifics of the rental. Typically rental charges for the city is Rs. 900/day and you are restricted to 8 hours and 80 kms. Anything beyond that you need to get the rates set before you get into the car. The charges typically are Rs x for each extra hour and Rs Y/ each extra km. You can get an estimate of the total distance, everything is negotiable. If you have the car for a longer period (beyond 3-4 days) you can also negotiate a lumpsum payment.
JAIPUR
We had booked the ManSingh Hotel in Jaipur. The hotel is divided into two properties with separate rates – the ManSingh Towers and Hotel Mansingh. The Tower is 5 star, (we were told because it has a gym too), while the Hotel Mansingh is 4 star. This is not the Taj type hotel and needs a remodel but neverthless quite nice, breakfast included in the rates. We had negotiated a rate of Rs.4500/ for 2 nights. This was the rate that was offered to us also by calling the Mansingh hotels Mumbai office.
We ended up spending the first evening at Chokhi Dani, on the outskirts of Jaipur. This is an ethnic cultural fare hosted by the Chokhi Dani management team. A wonderful effort to provide a livelihood for the traditional people of Rajasthan. You get to understand the arts and crafts of Rajasthan with friendly locals. A Rajasthani Culture 101 of sorts. We took Camel rides, Elephant rides etc and also enjoyed a very traditional Rajasthani dinner. We spent a good 3 hours at Chokhi Dani.
The next day, we ended up visiting the 3 forts. Sangamner Fort, City Palace Hotel and the Jaisalmer fort. The City Palace hotel – where BHOOL BHULAIAN was shot at - is right in the heart of the city and not to be missed. Part of the palace continues to be occupied by the resident king and the the other half is exposed out as a tourist attraction. This is worth a visit. There is shopping inside the hotel and the prices are quite reasonable (specially because it was off peak season). You can done some of the shopping done here – or wait to get into the heart of the Jaipur shopping district. But no harm in checking out the merchandise that the merchants enthusiastically hawk at you. Hawa Mahal is right next door, so don't miss it. Be prepared to shelve out extra for the camcorder whereever you go. Jaisalmer Fort is quite striking and not to be missed. Sangamner Fort has hosted lots of Bollywood films and you will have that familiar feeling when you walk inside. The Hawa Mahal was under construction, but neverthless we walked in there.
The next day we ended up shoopping at Bapu Bazaar. Excellent shopping and very reasonable rates – do not miss out on the experience. We wanted to head to Puskhar – which is one of the pilgrimage - pure and pristine spots of India - has the only Brahma temple of India, but we didn’t make it there. There are lots of things to do around Jaipur and you can’t do them all- as they are a good driving distance. We also wanted to go to the Maqbara of
DELHI
We flew that evening to Delhi. We got stuck in the Delhi traffic. Delhi is seemingly like how Mumbai was in the mid 90s. Lots of traffic jams all over, they sorely are in need for flyovers and drainage systems. We got stuck due to an incessant downpour that water logged many of the roads. Delhi is certainly greener than Mumbai. We stayed in the **** area, at one of the non descript hotels. They all have hot water and air conditioning and make reasonable attempts to make you comfortable. The breakfast is typically included too. We spent the first day checking out the tourist attractions starting with the Red Fort. We checked out India Gate, Gandhi Samadhi, Kutub Minar, Lotus Temple, Swami Narayan Mandir etc. We made the cardinal mistake of allocating a Sunday for this and found most areas to be very crowded. Most places have separate lines for women and are usually much shorter, so make sure you leverage this facility instead of standing in long lines.
AGRA / MATHURA / VRINDAVAN
The day after we drove to Agra. We stopped on the way at the birthplace of Krishna - Mathura Vrindavan. The temples close at Noon, so make sure you get there prior to noon. We then drove to Fateh-pur-Sikri (passing Agra) which has lately become a tremendous tourist attraction due to Jodha Akbar. We also visited the Saint Chisti memorial behind Joda Bai’s palace.
AGRA
By the time we got back to Agra it was past 10PM. We were wishing we had driven down from Jaipur to Agra and finished up Fateh pur Sikri on the way. We had booked the Taj View hotel. We had been recommended the Oberoi hotel across the Yamuna with a view of the Taj - but that was Rs.30,000/night and we were looking for two rooms - and we couldn't quite get a deal for that one. The internet deal for Taj View was Rs.6000 for 2 nights which included breakfast and dinner. But we were staying only one night - and we were paying about Rs 5000/ night. We were supposed to have a Taj view – we got there late night and all we could see was a foggy view of the Taj Mahal about 5 kms away in the distance. The next day was a rainy day, not the best day, but we did the best we could. Put Anu’s recommendation. We scampered back to New Delhi where a new driver awaited us for our Char Dham trip.
Our pictures from the trip to Jaipur, Delhi, Vrindavan, Mathura, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra and CharDham (Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath) July 18, 2007 to August 2, 2007
