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

Phew ... the journey from Jaisalmer to Udaipur(our last destination) is nearly 12+ hours.

We broke the journey at Ranakpur for an hour. Ranakpur we saw the Arathi at around 6 pm. It was beautiful. Inside the temple, they still dont use electric lights (Jain temple and they feel it attracts insects) (Another thing that I did not understand was that they did something like an auction at the Arathi for the sponsorship - this explains why people from this area are so good at Business! - even the temple rituals are to the highest bidder!)

Udaipur was very scenic because of the lake. The Lake palace is organically built over the centuries by various kings and hence one can see different styles in the same building. The tickets were expensive for entry and photography

We stayed in a hotel called Rampratap. Its a small joint but a unique expeirence. Rooms are clean, service is good and best of all - he has one of the best lookouts to the lake, I dont think many of the other well known hotels can even match this property.

We drove to Ahmedabad and flew back to Chennai. (Udaipur is poorly connected and very expensive tickets to even Mumbai or Delhi)

It was one loooong vacation, but worth every bit of road travel Rajasthan roads were good. The much talked off Delhi Ahmedabad highway was a let down though as there was lots of road work and poor roads, very slow traffic at places.

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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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Kumbakonam restraunt: Mangalambika Coffee Hotel

This is a small joint inside the famous Kumbeswarar temple. Its an ok place to eat - had breakfast. Decently priced. Cleanliness is an issue though

You can easily miss the joint so here is a pic of the entrance.

Here is a Business Standard article on this restaurant too

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Haridwar and Rishikesh : A surprise trip // Photosynth a great tool

Made a surprise trip to Haridwar and Rishikesh in Uttarakhand. Bathed in the Ganges in the famous Har-ki-pauri ghat too. It was a day trip as I had a day off and we actually managed without any need for a hotel booking from Pantnagar.

BTW, I used the Photosynth app to shoot the Lakshman Jhula temple and must say that both the location and the app rock! (Click pick below)You feel as if you are standing on the bridge and seeing the ganga flowing past you.


Tips: Leave the car in the parking and walk across in the shortcut with just your towel. Its less cold than you think even in Nov . Hold the rails and it is quite safe if you do. Its refreshing and gives good sleep - so dont plan to drive after a bath in the river.

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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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