Rajasthan round up: Vacation in 10 days (Part 3 of 4)

Jaisalmer on the extreme edge was one of the fun places we went to. The hotel we stayed was also great - Fort Rajwada.

The main fort area was good - glad we went in December - I cant imagine how it would be in Summer.

The fortress has a full fledged bustling town inside.

 The hotel arranges a evening desert camp/safari where you can ride a camel or para glide. This includes a dinner with a camp fire and rajasthani folk dances

Jaisalmer, was once part of the silk route and hence, this was home to several wealthy merchants. Each of them had beautiful ornate homes built in the city. Each multi storey building is worth visiting - These are called the Havelis.

The roads from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer is quite good - but it is mostly through the desert, hence not much to see or stopover.

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Rajasthan round up: Vacation in 10 days (Part 2 of 4)

Jodhpur is en-route to Jaisalmer - When travelling Jaipur to Jaisalmer, just to break the journey stop at Jodhpur :-) . (Jaipur to Jodhpur is probably about 5~6 hrs)
At least thats my take on the city, in comparison to Jaipur and Jaisalmer.

Most tourists land up at the new palace - Umaid Bhavan - constructed as late as the 40s and is partially a hotel. The kulfi is good but does not stand up to the architecture or the history of the old fort - Mehrangarh fort.

Umaid Bhavan (Dont miss the Kulfi in the stall inside :-))

Mehrangarh Fort Please dont miss the old fort and palace (if you are short of time to head to Jaisalmer - see just the old fort)

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Rajasthan round up: Vacation in 10 days (Part 1 of 4)

A post after a real long time. Had a great vacation in Rajasthan. For anyone wanting to travel, December is a great time to travel in Rajasthan (a little cold brrrrr.....) but its better than going in summer

A typical route could be Chennai-Jaipur (Stay 2 nights) - Jodhpur (1 day) - Jaisalmer (2 nights) - Ranakpur (1 night) - Udaipur(2 nights) - return from Ahmedabad to Chennai

I shall cover it in 4 posts - Jaipur (Part 1) - Jodhpur (Part 2) - Jaisalmer (Part 3) - Udaipur (Part 4)

Jaipur

We went to Albert Hall, Birla temple, on the way to City palace. In city palace, take the regular ticket (the 2.5K ticket may not be required unless you are an enthusiast). A guide can help and can charge anyway upwards of Rs. 400

Birla Temple - Our start for the vacation

 
Albert Hall - The pigeons are fun - they are trained to fly in unison and return - we saw this from outside only

City palace

Amber fort

Please feel free to contact me if you need any tips or clarifications and are planning your trip

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Mahabaleshwar: Day 3: Strawberry farms direction: Part 4 of 4

Mapro near Panchgani is absolutely the highlight of the Mahabaleshwar trip. Mapro gardens are famous and they run a large restraunt and garden area that you can visit.

 

The place serves FANTASTIC wood fired pizzas , mocktails, grilled sandwiches and MOST IMPROTANT, their famous strawberry and cream. It is very professionally run for the kind of crowd they manage and is a nice open air spot to visit and eat.

You can also buy various Mapro products there. One of the reasons people typically put it on the 3rd day before leaving is so you can buy the stuff and leave (also Panchgani is on the way to Mumbai/Pune so if you want to leave the same day, you could do it too)

See my 4 posts on Mahabaleshwar below:
Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar, Planning a vacation, Stay , food etc
Day 1. Pratapgad fort direction
Day 2. In and around - Arthur seat  et al
Day 3. Strawberry farms - 3rd day

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Mahabaleshwar: Day 2: In and around, Arthur seat et al: Part 3 of 4

Technically there is a lot to see at this one place - Arthur Seat, Hunter point, Echo point, Malcolm point, Tiger springs, Window point....phew - looks like a lot but is actually a series of view points along a single walkway.

Warning to couch potatoes: its quite a walk downhill and back up, but my 4 year old did it with a little bit of carrying
The best part of this is that it is filled with vedors who sell goodies from ice lollies to vada pav to salads.

Since its only an hour long drive to this place, you can actually come back and go for shopping in Mahabaleshwar or go to the lake and enjoy the horse rides and various other rides for kids.

Also, there are 2 places called sunset point and sunrise point where one can get a panoramic view of the sun as it comes up or down the western ghats. (The sunset point is a beautiful walking distance from MTDC if you want to plan it that way!)

See my 4 posts on Mahabaleshwar:
Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar, Planning a vacation, Stay , food etc
Day 1. Pratapgad fort direction
Day 2. In and around - Arthur seat  et al
Day 3. Strawberry farms - 3rd day

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Mahabaleshwar: Day 1 : Pratapgad fort: Part 2 of 4

The fort is about an hours ride from Mahabaleshwar and is entirely worth it. Pratapgad fort has a steep climb - about 20 mins climb for a first lot of about 100 steps , a few things to see and some restraunts and a second set of steps to the temple and shivaji statue.

Some tips on your visit to Pratapgad fort:
1.Take caps and arrive early to avoid the sun.
2.The restaurants at the end of the first flight of stairs are better than those in the car park. So plan to eat there
3.A guide kiosk is there at the car park and they charge about Rs 300 and give you receipt too. It is entirely worth it!

There is a nice place to eat at the end of first flight of stairs . They make pitle and bajra roti. These are hand beaten and hand made on wooden fires. Its very interesting and tasty too.

 

They make hot puran polis too! (On wood fired stoves)













See part 3 of Mahabaleshwar vacation for what to do in and around . See Part 1 for planning your trip to Mahabaleshwar, reaching there and stay.

See my 4 part Mahabaleshwar travelogue:

See my 4 posts on Mahabaleshwar:
Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar, Planning a vacation, Stay , food etc
Day 1. Pratapgad fort direction
Day 2. In and around - Arthur seat  et al
Day 3. Strawberry farms - 3rd day

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Mahabaleshwar: Getting there from Mumbai and stay: Part 1 of 4

Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar
For most people a vacation plan to Mahabaleshwar will involve how to get there, where to stay, how long to plan and what to see and enjoy. I planned to go from Mumbai by road and it will take between 6 to 8 hrs if you travel with your family and plan to stop often. The route is best via Pune using the National Highway. The best places to Stop are (1) After the Toll naka in Mumbai and (2) About 20 kms after Pune in Hotel Natraj

The drive is not too great as the frequent lane changes and arid deccan landscape in summer were just ok. There are long tunnels and can be very interesting for the kids

Stay: MTDC Mahabaleshwar: Very nice place for families
MTDC was a very homely stay and the staff are extremely helpful, especially if you are travelling with family and children. The cottage rooms are ok, though not the best maintained. The newer standard rooms are good. There are lots of monkeys too.

 

There are 2 restaurants inside and the food was very good. The "PWD" restraunt where we used to eat had good service too and they serve breakfast lunch and dinner.(Indian)

There are strawberry and mulberry/blackberry vendors who come and charge about 40 bucks per cup and its quite nice.

You can even get horserides inside the MTDC



An optimal way to see Mahabaleshwar is to split it into 3 -
1. Pratapgarh direction - 1 day
2. In and around Mahabaleshwar -2 day
3. Strawberry farms - 3rd day

This way, if you are with family and kids, you get a break on day 2 and also what you buy on day 3 at the farm(Mapro) can be taken with you back from vacation!

Mahabaleshwar to Pune:
And yes!, the ride to Pune on the return takes about 3 hours - incase you plan to take a train or flight out of there.

See my 4 posts on Mahabaleshwar split like above:
Mumbai to Mahabaleshwar, Planning a vacation, Stay , food etc
Day 1. Pratapgad fort direction
Day 2. In and around - Arthur seat  et al
Day 3. Strawberry farms - 3rd day


Pics from my trip:

PS: What puts you off is the rip off guys do at the entrance of Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar saying they are collecting a toll. Those are fakes and not authorised by the government.

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