Royal Heritage of India, Rajasthan

The Ranakpur Temple, as majestic inside as it is outside

Trip taken: April 1st to April 5th

As always, like many people who are slaves to the 9-5 jobs and corporate rats, I planned this vacation around a long weekend, plus a day. It is difficult even today to find accurate information on what seem to be the basics, like distance and time, because road conditions in India will pretty much double normal travel time, and I have yet to come across a comprehensive blog that is true and honest about the information. It is as if even the travel agents figure if they can just get you there by saying a 3.5hour drive is only 2hrs, then you sit through the rest of the hour and a half hoping you are there but having no choice anyway!

Nikki Lake, Mount Abu. On top of the hill is the hotel we stayed at.

So it was. Mount Abu has no airport. The closest airport, most will say, is Udaipur, 185km. That may be very well true but the road is not too good, so the drive will take you 3.5hrs at least. The next closest airport is Ahmedabad, 215km. But the road is good although there are some heavy tolls along the way and because Ahmedabad is in Gujarat, a different state, an inert-state toll of around Rs1100 has to be paid upon entering Rajasthan. I picked Ahmedabad because there is nothing like bad roads and constant brake motion in a car in India!

It took us 3 hours to get to the bottom of the hill of Mount Abu, and another 45minutes to an hour to get up to mount Abu itself, up the hill. Mount Abu is the only hill station in Rajasthan, where the royals built their holiday summer homes and went to get away from the hot desert sun. Driving up the mountain I saw naked trees, stripped of leaves and flowers by early April heat, parched, dry and brown. There is a sudden point where the temperature seems to have cooled off, and the mountainside turns colourful, full of life and trees that now are dressed up, healthy, blooming. That is when the beauty of the place strikes you.

Ranakpur Temple, similar carvings and detail as teh Dilwara Temple in Moutn Abu, just bigger

I booked a hotel online. Service and return email are slow, but I wanted a heritage hotel since I enjoyed the one in Udaipur, so I was determined to find a deal here too. It was actually costly for the small town, but I went for the Jaipur Palace Hotel at Rs2500 per night for a standard air condition room. The reviews said it had a great view of the lake and the town too, so I bit. As we drove through the mountain, we saw this wonderful palace hotel on a cliff above, and I joked that I wish I could afford that hotel but I am sure that is not ours. Well, turned out it was the place I booked, and it was the best view and hotel around even though many others were priced much higher than this. We also ended up upgrading to a suite, which was not the smartest idea and there was no need for it, at Rs4000 per night. Anyway, the hotel was beautiful, service average, but that doesn’t rank too high for me as long as the food is decent and doesn’t get me sick!

Mount Abu is a very small town, with a beautiful story and Niki lake at its centre, mountains rising all around it. It is calm and a local resort since many tourists don’t have the time and/or money to get here as there is no airport and car cost is high (We paid Rs3000 per day for 300km minimum, plus tolls, taxes etc). It is a religious place and many Hindus from in and around the area come to the renowned temples, and to spend long lazy weekends up on the hill, away from the desert heat below. As such, it is a lazy town, with the highlight being the Dilwara Temple, a intricately carved Jain temple. One is not allowed cameras, the lines are long, and you will be herded along if there the line is longer on that particular day. Otherwise, one can easily wrap up Mount Abu in a day and a half.

Jodhpur

We started on day three, early morning, headed towards Ranakpur, which we heard was sort of on the way to Udaipur. The plan was to see the Jain temple there. Many people raved that was one not to miss, but there is nothing else to do near there, and Ranakpur is but a village, so we planned to drive the 3.5hrs there, hang around the temple and maybe grab lunch near it, drive to Udaipur the remaining 3hrs. A full day, but the luxury car eased the pain with a long break and walking in between, I figured. As we covered almost 3 hours to Ranakpur, the driver and I started to have a chat about time and distance. Technology works faster than two people talking it seems, and more accurately. The wonderful iphone was asked the question: Is Jodhpur closer or Udaipur closer from Ranakpur? The answer is: Udaipur is closer but the road is worse so the time from Ranakpur to Udaipur is the same as Ranakpur to Jodhpur. Laptop flipped open, internet went to work, and within the next hour, I changed our plans to Jodhpur since all of us had already seen Udaipur. We also decided to take an extra night and spend some time seeing at least the main sights in Jodhpur since we were paying a much higher last minute air fare and cancellation charges of the old ticket.

The clock Tower, Jodhpur

Ratan Nivas Hotel was recommended as the best heritage hotel at a price of Rs2500 inclusive of breakfast. Can’t really argue with that. The heritage hotel in Udaipur turned out to be awesome so we decided to try another such property. We were not disappointed at all. Elegant large rooms, an open courtyard, courteous staff, furnished verandas, and a good location is what we got. The Taj hotel is about 10 minutes from there and we decided that since it was a renovated hotel, we would go have dinner there and see the hotel as well that evening. That worked out well as they had live dancing along with the whole musical group in the open courtyard from 6:30pm to 7pm. Near the swimming pool, they were hosting a variety of Rajasthani cultural events including a puppet show, handmade bangles on sale, a typical village magician who did a whole show, all dressed ethnically. It was a full evening and a worthwhile one. I’m glad that simple question, “Should we eat at the Taj?” turned into things we could have not seen anywhere else in Jodhpur!

Traditional Rajasthani dance at the Taj, Jodhpur

There is only so much we could cover in a single day: the main palace will easily take three hours and is open from 9am. The audio visual for that is very good and informative. After that, there is a mausoleum of sorts, right down from the road; it is quite a unique and intensely carved structure and well worth an hour walking around. After that we had lunch and then drove to Uday Vilas Palace. This palace is opulent to look at from far, as it is pinkish red, but there isn’t much they let you see after paying for the ticket. Most of the palace and the best areas including the gardens have been taken on by Taj for a hotel and you can’t even get a glimpse into it. The only way to see the real part of the palace is to have dinner there, so we did. Again, the gardens blew me away and were probably the best part of the palace, and we could see the Pink palace lit up, similar to the Acropolis.  

One other place to see is the clock tower. If you have a couple of hours, this is the local market for the people: spices, different kinds of teas, knick knacks, daily household goods, vegetable market and also some handicraft shops. It is not high end at all and is all pretty much sold on carts or vendors sitting on the street. Definitely colourful and with a unique characteristics, the women and men are dressed traditionally and the clock tower itself resonates British times architecture. We didn’t any more time to see other local parts of the city or to do much more shopping for those beautiful legendary local items that are so popular, but I am not much of a shopper anyways. We are, however, photographers, and it was well worth the change in plans and the extra stress to change the trip from Udaipur to Jodhpur. The mystery of why it is called the blue city is revealed!

The Jodhpur Palace

Trip Taken March 2010

Lake Palace from Lake Pichola

As Indian as they claim I am, I have never been to the most popular tourist destinations of India, i.e, the north: Taj Mahal, The Golden Triangle including Agra, Rajasthan etc. So when I was almost forced to go to Udaipur (it is an expensive flight and not a direct one from Hyderabad), I wasn’t quite sure how royal it really would be and how well preserved to make the time and money worth the effort. Oh boy, research wasn’t descriptive enough on this one, and I guess numbers (of tourists) don’t lie!

Yes, even he can see the beauty of the view from the City Palace!

There is so much to say about such a small area, I don’t want to puke it out in a disconnected fashion, so I am going to start with at the very beginning. The best way to research Udaipur is to get the information from the Indian tourism department, whether online or by visiting an Incredible India office. The central attraction of Udaipur is on Lake Pichola, a man made lake. The City Palace, Lake Palace, Jag Mandir are all located on the lake and will take up a full day.

The best way to go about the day is to start with a boat ride since you have to buy tickets to each thing at the entrance at the bottom of the City Palace, at the entrance of the lake. The package deal costs around Rs.850 or so, including a boat ride around the lake with a stop at the Jag Mandir.  Avoid the audio part or they will sell you the more expensive ticket with the audio. If you are a history buff, or just really interested and have read no back ground on this, I would guess it is worth it. No, you can not visit the Taj Lake Palace. No, you can not go there for dinner. No, you can not buy a visitor’s pass. Only way to get to see it by walking through it is to stay there. We did not know; don’t think I would stay there on a two and a half day trip for the money it takes anyways.

There are a lot of “Palace” hotels. Not many of them are palaces as the pictures on the web will show, and not all of them look worth the Rs1500 even. I lucked out (I think the only time I have luck on my side is travel, or my gut instinct only works then!). Rang Nivas Palace was a great palace to stay at. The room interiors were old but neat as can be; the staff polite and professional, a swimming pool included, and breakfast too, very affordable and five minutes walk to the lake. I didn’t know the proximity, so I wasted money on a taxi for two days!! I would say that is a hidden pearl of a hotel there and well worth the money. I thought this time of year would be hot and booked an a/c room, but it actually got cold enough to where I had to call for a comforter at night and never turned the air conditioner on!

Just another beautiful open theatre built on the lake

The morning started, as I mentioned, with the Lake boat ride. How the hell, and why the hell they built so much around this lake seems a mystery as you go around the waters but the history of each palace explains the rebellions, conquests, glory and the egos of the wealthy and powerful. It also showcases the art and opulence of a time not so long ago. I have never been to a place that oozes so much royalty and romance so I got carried away into the world of kings, queens and beauty. Breathe it, soak it in, let it into the pores and imagine it: it’s the best way to enjoy the place.

We stopped at the Jag Mandir, an open courtyard with beautiful paintings and architecture that is a romantic’s dream. I walked through the wrong door only to find out that area is converted to a spa. Really? The spa rooms are fit royalty. What the hell? When else am I going to pretend I am one of them? So I booked it for that evening. Come to find out, there are about six rooms for rent there, a restaurant open to the public with a minimum Rs2200 per couple and a boat that takes you back and forth. I realized I’d rather pay for this experience of an entire evening than spend the obscene money at Taj Lake Palace. But that is just me. What I don’t know, I can’t miss!

Jag Mandir from the temple on the mountain

It took until 2pm by the time we got done with the gigantic city palace where the movie Octopussy (James Bond) was shot. Food, then the Crystal Gallery, then a couple of hours of rest before we started the evening and night adventure at the Jag Mandir. Then I heard some one mention a temple on top of a hill on the east side of the lake and thought maybe that would be great during sunset. One has got to see what the royals saw to make this their play ground during all times of the day. It must be ever changing beauty. So we took the ride up the mountain and weren’t disappointed with the over all picture.

Entrance to Jag Mandir at night

The ride to Jag Madir at sunset was divine. I realized then that Udaipur is a valley, the ranges reflecting off the setting sun on all sides, the colors and sight just majestic. Night time on the lake is a must do. More than anything, the reflection of all these wonders in the still lake are surreal and can draw one into the harmless looking waters. I don’t think there is a better place to drown than that lake and I am hydrophobic! The spa and dinner were so romantic, it is rare I hurt for the romantic partner, but I did then!

Next morning, we had to discover the city around and relics less visited. So, first the drive up to an east side mountain to the Monsoon Palace. Though the palace seems to be all new with the old architecture in mind, I imagine it was there before though I didn’t read anything about it anywhere. None the less, the view of the city to the west and the mountains to the east gives me the feeling there was something at that location that was not well protected but is in the process of renovation, though it may be too late.

Cool pic... me in the mirror in there

Then I make an executive decision to go to an excursion little further from the city and see the popular Jain temple at Eklingi, about 25km from Udaipur. This is a wonderful temple but a popular one too. No hang bags allowed, no photography and long lines of devotees. Maybe not the place to go for a tourist. So I asked the driver if there was a tourist temple with the intricate carvings and look of that one. He promptly drove me to one that was actually more beautiful and completely unmonitored!! That is the part of India that I don’t understand, but I guess I am missing the beauty of letting history alone too. Sometimes one gets more than one asks for.

Part of having such a rich heritage and culture is the fact that the town still retains the art forms of painting, block printing, dressing and other old arts that made it the rich cultural centre. I took half a day visiting the co-operative societies that let you see the artists at work and the art that is still respected and nurtured generations later. If for no other reason, it is worth buying a piece just to keep the traditions alive.

A child's point of view - City Palace and the city below

All in all, Rajasthan, I can assure you, is a must see state of India, capturing the true elegance of a great warrior kingdom where women were respected, held their own, art was nourished and encouraged, and the people still revere the past in their eyes and heart. Colorful, beautiful, graceful, romantic and powerful. I promise you I will write more on other parts of this royal state. But I am blessed to have seen what I saw. And as you can tell, even from an amatuer photographer like me, it is a photographer’s paradise. I use a basic powershot, but if you have an eye for the art, this place is can be a catalyst.

Is that what they/we call graffiti?