Tryst with Royalty in Jaisalmer and Jodhpur

With an extremely fascinating history, Rajasthan enchants more than just domestic tourists from India. It ranks 5^th for the highest number of foreign tourists arriving in India. And it’s not for nothing. Every city delivers something unique. Ergo, no wonder most of them have earned their sobriquets. I decided to visit The Golden City, Jaisalmer and The Blue City, Jodhpur on an extended weekend in early October, 2015.

I chose it to be a backpacking adventure, without any company except myself, surprising many on and off the trip. Although it meant no friend to talk to, it gave me ample opportunity to interact with people hitherto strangers. The overnight journey from Delhi to Jaisalmer by train took me nearly 19 hours and it was already afternoon by the time I reached Jaisalmer. I put up at a decent Jain Dharamshala for the next one day.

Almost all cities in this kingly state have a regal history. Kings used to build forts to protect their kingdoms. Jaisalmer fort or the Sonar Quila is one such living fort. King Jaisal had built it in 12^th century. The streets inside the fort are always abuzz with activity. Several people have their residences inside the fort premise and tourism is their mainstay. The museum in the fort premises is vast and fascinating for history buffs. It offers panoramic views of the Jaisalmer city. Spellbound, I spent more than a couple of hours observing the museum.

 

While I was deciding where to head next sipping tea outside the fort, someone gave me a visiting card for camel safari tour operator and I gave the person a call. Excitedly he came to pick me up and next we were negotiating the cost of camel safari. But it was getting nowehere as the place for camel safari was nearly 40 km away from Jaisalmer and I had no way to  reach there. Fortuitously, I met a few strangers from Sancher in Rajasthan who also wanted a similar package. I made a deal with them and together we left to enjoy camel safari in the Thar desert. I paid INR 400 for a package which included a camel safari, folk dance and music programme from tribals and chai pakoda. I rode along with these strangers, befriended them on the way and we reached the place where camel bearers took us for a desert safari at sunset. Later, we watched the dance and music show by the tribal artists at night. We left at around 9:15 pm from there to Jaisalmer again and reached there at around 10:00 pm.

 

Something in me asked me to start my next morning by offering prayers at the Jain temple in the dharmshala premises, which I gladly did. Patwon ki haveli was also on my cards. I walked till the haveli and paid INR 100 for the entry ticket which also included photographing. The haveli is very well maintained and surely worth a visit. It captures the lives of a Jain businessman and his family, including five sons. The businessman, Ghuman Chand Patwa, gifted separate havelis to each of his five sons. The patwon ki haveli contains artifacts from their life preserved in different rooms. A local market surrounds the haveli and I could not stop myself from buying some goodies for friends and family. The weather outside was getting really hot but I walked till the Gadisar lake. This lake was constructed to supply water to the city of Jaisalmer. In winters, you might even find migratory birds who take pitstops enroute the bharatpur bird sanctuary.

I went back to the dharmshala, packed my bags and caught a bus to Jodhpur at around 1:30 pm. It took me nearly 4:30 hours to reach the blue city. I roamed around just to get the buzz of the city, had dinner and found some time to browse through a few pages of 1984 and went to bed making up my mind to begin another adventure the next day.

As a researcher in the natural resource management field, I feel particularly inclined towards nature. Thus instead of beginning my last day of the trip from the famous Mehrangarh fort, I chose to visit the less frequented yet amazingly well maintained Rao Jodha Desert Rock park. Way to the desert park and the Mehrangarh park are same for most part of the overall distance except in the end where the steep and rounded road bifurcates to these two places.

 

I had read about this park on the internet and had high hopes from it. And it did not disappoint. I met couple of people on entering the park and they guided me to follow the yellow color coded trail to avoid getting lost in the 200 acre park. I found the red one and still came out fine. I am sure I was the only person roaming in the whole park. Although, I did see a bunch of adventure buffs trying their luck on the flying fox in the backdrops of the Mehrangarh fort. This park boasts of both floral and avian diversity. While I did find floral diversity but the marvelous scenery would not really allow me to focus on noting the avian diversity, instead I chose to click pictures.

Somehow after some 1.5 hours I emerged from the trail victorious. Such nature walks will invigorate me forever. The hot weather was a letdown though, which I could not have managed without the water bottle I was carrying along. Mehrangarh fort is not far from the park and I walked from the park to the fort gates. Luckily, for some festival, I got free entry at both the park and the fort. To be frank, I found the Mehrangarh fort to be a bit overhyped. However, the strategic location and the thick walls of the fort are definitely one of the best among all Indian forts I have seen. A number of canons are perched on top of the fort, which was done to prevent attacks from enemies in those times. The museum is well-stocked and has several stories to tell. The fort also houses the (in)famous Chamunda Devi temple, wherein the stampeded that killed more than 200 people, took place. This fort is also the place where shooting of the Batman: the Dark Knight Rises took place.

Coming back from the fort, I headed to the extremely popular Umaid Bhavan Palace. But reaching the palace-cum-hotel was not easy. I had to change many buses from the fort to the palace before I stopped at a point from where the palace was still at least 2 km away. It’s always better to take a rickshaw to reach the palace directly but they all ask for exorbitant amount, especially if you are alone. City buses are a cheap option if you are able to find your route by yourself or by asking the locals, who in general are very helpful.

An entry ticket of INR 30 to visit the museum and the vintage car collection is paltry compared to exorbitant tariffs of the rooms in Umaid Bhavan Palace. The palace is spread in 26 acres and one of the largest private residences in the world. Henry Manchester, designer of the palace, left no stone unturned to prove his mettle in art deco. A security guard told me that 90% of the palace has turned into the Taj group of hotels, 5% is museum and the remaining is where the royal family still lives.

Visit to this palace brought me to the end of this fantastic solo backpacking adventure. I took the train back to Delhi that would drop me to Delhi Cantonment next morning. My understanding of Rajasthan as a royal place with rich culture and even 'richer' people has only strengthened. I wish to come back to the state again, that time for some other adventures.

Weekend Escape to The Jewel of the East Coast: Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh

They say, "A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it ". Sometimes most memorable moments happen sans planning. Such was my fascinating trip to Vishakhapatnam aka Vizag, Araku Valley and Borra caves. With tatkal train tickets booked just a day before and no deliberations on how to come back; four of us set off for this wonderful weekend journey from Hyderabad to Vizag on 17th Aug, 2012.

We were greeted by a mesmerizing view of the Eastern Ghats when we landed at Vizag the next morning. Looking at those picturesque mountains, I could only imagine what our trip was going to offer. We bargained for our stay & transport and got decent deals. After having rejuvenating tea and breakfast at the hotel, we left for a day's expedition to Vizag.

It seemed as if weather had reserved its best for our arrival. Mild drizzle and gentle breeze setup a perfect weather condition for peregrination. First stopover in the itinerary was the famous Hindu temple, Simhachalam, cocooned in the verdurous Eastern Ghats which we followed up with the ruins of a Buddhist complex, Thotlakonda, perched imperturbably on a hill along the sea cost.

On our way back, we stopped over at the Ramanaidu Film Studios which had to be approached along a sinuous yet a spellbinding road giving a magnificent view of the curvilinear coastline of the Bay of Bengal. No wonder why the movie producers are making a beeline to shoot here.

We headed ahead to the renowned Kailasgiri Hills. It can be reached either through a ropeway or a walkway to see the majestic 40 feet statue of Lord Shiva and Parvathi and the adjoining pleasing garden. Because of the hordes of tourists, a barely moving queue and the strict timelines of the ad lib trip, we had to give it a miss.

We proceeded to the prominent Rushikonda beach. It was a cracking time there with my three other daredevil companions. Despite lack of swimming skills, we withstood the battering waves. Frolicsomely we played and sported there for a long time before marching further to the Mahankali temple near the other lionized beach, the R.K. Beach and its unique museum. For some people, visit to a museum is a wearisome affair but this one was a bit unconventional as the museum is a retired war submarine! INS Kurusura, living history of the 1971 Indo-Pak war, has now been converted into a tourist attraction. Going inside that submarine would only marvel you. To imagine a 75 member crew working in such a small space (91 meters) and at such low depths of the oceans gave me goose bumps. We sat at the RK beach for an hour, unfazed by the hustle and bustle of life. Soon, it was dusk, time to leave and end day one of our journey.

Next morning we had to catch the noted train from Vizag to Araku Valley and get down at the Borra Caves in between. And were not the caves a wonder! Formidable and astounding; well taken care of by the Tourism Department of AP, these caves have a lot to offer. Irregular limestone stalactites, stalagmites, a small Shiva temple inside and an opening along the top of the caves with a folklore associated to it, provides a great vista and a challenge for photographers under meager lighting conditions. A sumptuous meal at a nearby dhaba awaited us and we gluttonously devoured what was on offer.

And if the caves were not grand enough, something even better was to follow. We went along a delightful nature trail till the Katiki waterfalls originating from the Gosthani River, tumbling from a height of about 50 ft. Enroute was another attraction of the place, the bamboo chicken. The indigenous people roast chicken in bamboo obtained from nearby jungles. While every non-vegetarian was having a go at it, the monsoon weather made it inevitable for us (vegetarians) to have a bite of the masala-flavored corns applied with tangy lemon, taken along with a cup of hot tea.

After rejoicing a great deal, we came back to our hotel worn out but not without accruing more respect for nature and the gifts it has bestowed us with. If we could only be more selfless and less greedy, we will realize that neither it is too difficult to conserve our environment nor too easy too degrade it.