Buzz’s comments on his
tour of Northern India with Golden Triangle With Rajasthan Tour October 2022
This trip was originally planned as a
five-day tour of the golden triangle in Northern India before a cruise leaving
from Mumbai. However, the pandemic
canceled the cruise and the original planned trip. I extended the trip to cover a larger portion
of Northern India. This trip was
conducted by Golden
Triangle With Rajasthan Tour. I was
transported in a four door air-conditioned Toyota sedan that was very
comfortable with more than ample legroom in the rear seats. The driver that met me at the airport was
with me the entire trip. Local guides
were added when appropriate. I chose the
option of selecting and paying for my hotels since I had Marriott points to use
for free stays.
3-Oct-22: My flight arrangements changed since my
outbound flight was delayed and I would have missed my connecting flight at
JFK. American transferred me to British
Airways connecting in London and arriving in Delhi two hours later than
planned.
4-Oct-22: Delhi: The driver met me at airport after I
completed immigration and customs and filing a missing bag report and took me
to overnight at Hotel
Le Méridien. This was one of the
best hotel rooms I have stayed in after receiving a free upgrade. I originally selected this hotel when I was
planning on staying in Delhi before visiting other cities, but my flight times
changed my plan. Maybe it would be
better if I picked a hotel closer to the airport.
5-Oct-22: Agra: En route to Agra, I visited Sikandra, burial place of
Akbar the Great. Local guides were available but not arranged for. I did not opt to hire one for this short
stay. On arrival, I visited Etamadaula. In Agra,
there was the Dasara
Mahatsausm festival going on that blocked many streets. After lunch, with an excellent local guide I
visited the Taj – the symbol of
immortal love. I overnighted at an excellent hotel ITC
Mughal.
6-Oct-22: Jaipur: On the six hour trip to Jairpur, with a stop
at Fatehpur Sikri - the dream city
of the Akbar and a stop for lunch. After
reaching Jaipur we drove up to Nahargarh Fort
before returning to the hotel. I stayed
at a wonderful hotel ITC
Rajputana for two nights.
7-Oct-22: Jaipur: With an
excellent local guide, I visited Birla Mandithe, Hawa Mahal, City Palace, Jantar Mantar. Amber Fort & Palace, Jagat
Shiromani Temple and viewed the scenic Jal Mahal.
8-Oct-22: Pushkar: On way to Pushkar, I
visited the famous Dargah of
Khwaja Moin-Ud-Din Chisti at Ajmer. Upon arrival at Pushkar, I got to
experience the atmosphere of the place and explore the religious touch of this
small town. I also visited the one and
only Brahma temple in the world. I stayed overnight at a rural village home in
a small village. Several houses in the village had beautiful ornamentation
gates. The rural home I stayed in is on
a working farm and is still a work in progress.
It had two bedrooms, a dining area, a kitchen a large wraparound front
porch and a large back porch on the ground floor. One flight up there were two more bedrooms
and a large outdoor veranda. All the
areas had beautiful marble floors. The
WC and shower were in an adjacent building that had a carport area and large
storage area. The kitchen included a refrigerator, an electric counter top
stove, and a wood burning stove that is used to prepare naan and other
specialties.
9-Oct-22: Udaipur: During the seven hour
drive to Udaipur I passed by the celebrated temples
of Eklingji, which was built for the deity of the Maharanas of Mewar, of
sandstone and marble in 734 AD. Its 108 temples are enclosed by high walls and
has a pyramidical roof composed of hundreds of knobs. Later, I visited Nagda, one of the ancient
palaces of Mewar
dating back to the 6th century AD. The Sas
Bahu Temples are exquisitely carved temples. I stayed two nights at an
excellent hotel the Trident
Udaipur.
10-Oct-22: Udaipur:
With an excellent local guide, I visited the City Palace, Jagdish Temple,
Bagore ki
Haveli, Pratap
Memorial, Saheliyon
Ki Bari, Bhartiya
Lok Kala Mandal and Shilp
Gram.
11-Oct-22: Jodhpur:I continued to
Jodhpur, and made a short stop at Ranakpur to see Chaumukha Jain Temple. Later with a
local guide, I visited the Mehrangarh
Fort Palaces
& Museum and Jaswant
Thada. I stayed two nights at Fairfield by Marriott
Jodhpur.
12-Oct-22: Jodhpur: I took the Bishnoi
Village Safari in a covered jeep to witness the lifestyle of Bishnoi Community and had the
lunch prepared over a wood fire with a Bishnoi family and saw: Wildlife:- about
20 blackbuck (endangered
species), deer, wild camels and peacocks, Pottery’s (pot) making, and Durry’s (rugs) made by
hands. I bought two small rugs. I was the only one booked on the safari for
that day.
13-Oct-22: Jaisalmer:. After reaching Jaisalmer I visited Gadisar Lake and Vyas
Chhatri. I stayed overnight at an excellent hotel Jaisalmer
Marriott Resort & Spa.
14-Oct-22: Jaisalmer: I visited Jaisalmer Fort, Jain
Temple and Patwa Haveli guided by
a local expert. That evening I went to experience an overnight stay over sand
dunes with tented accommodation at Desert
Camp Pal Rajah Resort Village. Be
sure to book a super deluxe tent to get air conditioning. I was the only person booked for the night I
was there but others were there for dinner and camel rides. This hotel was a real treat. I was able to add a combination sunset Jeep
safari and camel ride after I arrived (not shown on their website). The evening entertainment during dinner of
Folk Music and dancing was very good.
15-Oct-22: Bikaner: I visited the Fort, that
included older royal residences and a museum, the miniature painting
studio and the camel
breeding farm with explanations from a local guide. I stayed overnight at
an exceptional hotel the Narendra
Bhawan Bikaner.
16-Oct-22: Mandawa: After a 3 hour drive
to Mandawa, a local guide showed me the painted havelis of Mandawa. I stayed overnight
at 250 year old havelis turned into the Hotel
Radhika Haveli, Mandawa. Since the
hotel does not have a website here is a description: This hotel was beautifully
decorated with a restaurant and more rooms are being renovated. My room was very large with a king sized bed,
air conditioned with a refrigerator and a TV. It had a large bathroom but the
shower lacked an enclosure. Other rooms
had a tub. The only drawbacks were that
there was really only one electrical outlet available for my laptop and CPAP
next to the bed and there is no elevator (my room was on the ground floor). It
is an incredible bargain.
17-Oct-22: Delhi:
There was a six hour drive to Delhi. In the evening, we drove to the Hauz
Khas village, which is the venue for an extravaganza of Indian culture,
dining and music. I stayed overnight at the Hotel
Le Méridien an excellent property near the downtown Delhi sites.
18-Oct-22- Delhi:
I had a full day sightseeing tour with a local guide of Old & New Delhi
which included a view of the Red
Fort and the Rashtrapati
Bhawan (The President’s Residence) visits to Qutub Minar, India Gate, the Lotus temple, Akshardham temple and Raj
Ghat.
If you are considering a trip to northern India I
strongly recommend that you not consider driving yourself, since the traffic
and driving practices are very different.
Traffic laws are just suggestions and right of way rules do not apply;
lane changes and turns across traffic are chao[RCR1] tic.
Motorcycles and motor scooters are the most common form of
transportation and are limited to 350 CC engines so they do not go fast
especially since many are carrying 1 or 2 passengers and a driver. Traffic lanes are crowded with cows,
pedestrians, bicycles, pushcarts and other animals. There are almost no road signs. Many roads were being repaired and some
2-lane roads were being expanded to four lane roads. Many other roads badly needed repair. Most highways were in good shape. Some two-way roads were only a lane and a
half wide requiring oncoming vehicles to move the left side wheels onto the
gravel shoulder to pass. All of these
items had it difficult to estimate travel time.
Many religious sites require that you remove your shoes
to enter. I suggest you wear sandals or
shoes that you can wear without socks or wear socks that you can throw away if
they get to be so dirty that you cannot get them clean. Some religious sites ban people wearing
shorts. One banned any leather products including a belt.
A thought about money – There are almost no currency
exchange shops (if you can find a good one they are they provide the best
exchange rates). The airport is not a
good one. ATMs are scarce outside the
big cities and you do not know what exchange rate they offer. Some are not
connected to out of the country networks.
The Axis bank ATM was difficult to use. The hotels will exchange new
undamaged bills with a 5-10% fee. I had
a couple of instances where Credit cards did not work because of system
problems at the local banks that processed them for the local merchants.
English is spoken by some of the people although few of
those are completely fluent. Many signs
are in English but many are only in Hindi.
Water is a precious commodity. In some cities, water is only available to
homes for an hour a day. All most no
homes have bathtubs and only a few have showers. Locals use sponge baths to get clean. Good hotels have plenty to water for bathing
and bottled water for drinking.
Most women wore traditional clothing; some wore western
clothing (mostly younger women and girls) but none wore short skirts commonly
worn in the US. Most men wore western
clothing but many wore traditional Indian clothing.
I passed a few tent/shack gatherings and a few people
sleeping on the streets housing the very poor.
I did not see any slums that are prevalent in Mumbai. Many building needed some repair.
Most locals are vegetarian and many restaurants are “pure
veg” which means they do not serve non-vegetarian food. I enjoyed the vegetarian dishes more than the
other dishes.
During my many hours in the car, I saw many
quarries. Marble, granite and sandstone
were plentiful and used in most structures.
There were frequent advertisements for cement and that cement was
frequently used too. I saw very few
areas that grew trees capable of being used for lumber and did not see wood
being used in substantial structures.
Some teak wood was used as ornaments.
Most ornamental carvings were done by hand into stone. Tongue and grove fittings were used to hold
the ornamental stones together.
I heartily recommend Golden Triangle With Rajasthan
Tour. Included in the tour was
comfortable air-conditioned vehicle, driver, fuel for the vehicle, tolls,
parking, bottled water in the car, airport pick up and drop off, guesthouse
accommodations for the driver and some local guides. Having the tour company book hotels was an
option that I did not select. Not
included were the entrance fees to the attractions or excursions, some local
guides, tips for the local guides, and a tip for the driver.
Click
here to see my pictures from the trip.
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