Delhi - Rajasthan Trip 2023

Day 1 (Dec 20) - Mumbai to Delhi

Day 2 (Thursday, Dec 21) - Delhi (Qutub minar, Lotus temple)

Qutub Minar

We reached Qutub minar at about 11am after about 30 minutes of drive from Mayur Vihar. This was a good day since pollution/ AQI was relatively lower. There is a parking lot across the street from Qutub complex. 

We skipped the lines by buying tickets online on Archeological Survey on India (ASI) website. It was very convenient since all we had to do was to scan a QR code and make a payment through UPI.  This was a refreshing experience! Ticket price was Rs 40 for adults. We entered the Qutb complex after going through security line. 

Qutb complex has Qutub Minar itself along with Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque, and some other ruins. This complex was built after destroying 27 Hindu and Jain temples and that inscription is made on the mosque in Arabic. The pillars of the mosque are evident of this. 

We spent about hour and half to explore and take pictures. There is plenty of open space for kids to play and they enjoyed it a lot. 

Hindu architecture on mosque pillars

We grabbed a lunch near Bhool Bhulaiya in Meharauli area. Bhool Bhulaiya is tomb of Adam Khan, a Mughal general.  

Bhool Bhulaiya

Lotus Temple:

We visited Lotus temple (a Baha'i temple) after lunch. This is one of the famous landmarks in Delhi built post-independence of India. 

Day 3 (Dec 22) - Delhi (Red fort, India gate, Akshardham)

We started our day at around 11am and took a taxi to Red Fort. This fort is located in Old Delhi which is a crowded part of the town. This was a Friday, so we were expecting a lot of crowd, but it was not too bad. The entrance gate 1 where we reached was closed at 11.30am, but was opened shortly after then. We bought tickets online on ASI website by scanning QR code. No hassle of standing in long lines! 

Today the pollution levels were very high, so the sky looked hazy. We spent about an hour exploring the fort. Most of the buildings inside the fort were destroyed in due course of history. There are few buildings left such as Diwan-e-aam, Diwan-e-khaas. There are some shops at the entry area where one can buy souvenirs.

After exploring the fort we headed to Haldiram's restaurant near India gate. 

India Gate: 

We spent about an hour at India gate after lunch. The area was not too crowded since we had reached there at 2pm. We took a taxi ride to Akshardham mandir and saw Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Sansad Bhavan on our way there. 

Akshardham temple Delhi is 2nd BAPS temple I have visited besides Swaminarayan Mandir Los Angeles. BAPS is very well organized, and we entered the temple complex after spending about 30 mins through security. They don't allow phones and cameras due to security reasons. So no pictures from the temple visit. This temple complex is massive and very beautiful. They had a sound and light show at 6.30pm which we opted to skip since it was only 5pm. We headed back to Chetan's house after having some coffee at their food court. 

A day well spent! 

Netaji Bose Statue

Day 6 (Dec 23) - Delhi to Jaipur

Day 7 (Dec 24) - Jaipur (Hawa mahal, city palace)

We started our day a bit relaxed at 10am. Veer had some fever so Chetan's family did not join us in the morning. We headed to Hawa Mahal which is at the heart of Jaipur. We got tickets online on Rajasthan Tourism website by scanning the code. This website was not as good as ASI website and it took 5-6 attempts to get the tickets online. We were able to skip the lines, none the less. 

There is not much to see inside of Hawa Mahal. And it was very crowded due to Holiday season. We did not spend much time here and decided to step out due to large crowd inside the mahal. We headed to lunch at Laxmi Misthan Bhandar which was about 500 meter away from Hawa Mahal. They had a Rajasthani Thali which was very tastey and worth the money! 

Crowd inside Hawal Mahal

Rajasthani Thali at Laxmi Misthan Bhandar (LMB)

Jaipur City Palace: 

In the afternoon we met with Chetan's family and we went to Jaipur city palace which is about 5 mins walk from Hawa Mahal. There was Rs 300 entry fee which was way too much for what this palace has to offer. There is a museum inside which is not that great! 

We headed back towards the hotel after spending about an hour and half at City palace. We took a metro train from Badi Chaupar metro station which is 5 mins walk from Hawa Mahal. 

Some chill moments at Badi Chaupar Metro station 

Day 8 (Dec 25) - Amer fort, Birla mandir

Birla mandir 

Moti Dungri fort on hill behind Birla Mandir

Day 7 (Dec 26) - Jaipur to Jodhpur via Pushkar

We left Jaipur at 10am and started heading towards Jodhpur. We had rented a taxi for remaining 5 days of this trip and our driver Yatendra Kumar showed up sharply at 9.30am to our hotel. On the way we had planned a stop at Pushkar which has the only Brahma temple in the world. We reached Pushkar at 1pm. We directly headed to the temple since temple was set to close from 1.30pm to 3pm. 

There was a mad rush of devotees trying to enter the temple. There was an unusual rush today due to Paurnima (Full moon). We made it to the temple after scrambling for 15 mins. To be honest - I regret the decision to be climbing the temple stairs during the rush time. The rush dies off after temple's doors were closed at 1.30pm and then we headed down. We went to Pushkar lake after visiting the temple. Lake is about 5-10 mins of short walk from the temple. We sat at the lake for a short pooja just to realize that we had forgotten backpack at the shop outside the temple. We retraced our steps back to temple after the pooja and had a sign of relief to see our bag untouched at the shop. 

We grabbed lunch at Vela Resort (https://maps.app.goo.gl/YbymSgGBx8qTFEAm9) and at 3.30pm continued our trip towards Jodhpur which was 4 hours away from Pushkar. 

We reached Jodhpur at 7.30pm after a tiring day. We checked in at our hotel - Hotel President (https://maps.app.goo.gl/QJceFt7bNSGSWP5P7), ate dinner at rooftop restaurant and called it a night. 

                              

Pushkar Brahma Mandir

Day 8 (Dec 27) - Jodhpur sightseeing: Mehrangarh fort, Umaid Bhavan, Mandore gardens

Mehrangarh fort: We started our day early and headed to Mehrangarh fort at 8.30am. The fort was about 20 mins drive from our hotel. This is a private fort operated by Royal family of Jodhpur. So we bought tickets at ticket counter (No option of skipping lines). We had no rush since we reached to fort before it was set to open at 9am. We also paid for a guide as this is a large fort with a lot of history. We spend about 1.5 hours at the fort exploring and enjoying great views of the blue city! There is Cafe Mehran inside the fort where we grabbed some breakfast for Ojas.  

View of Blue City from the fort

Umaid Bhavan Palace: We opted to skip Jaswant Thada which is samadhi of Maharaja Jaswant Singh which is right outside of Mehrangarh fort. It is also called Taj of Marwar. We headed directly to Umaid Bhavan palace which is 15 mins drive from fort. This fort is residence of Royal family of Jodhpur. 50% of this palace is residence of the family, another 25% is hotel operated by Taj hotels, and remaining 25% is turned into museum which is open to public as Rs 40 entry fee. This palace is grand and reminds me of Rashtrapati bhavan of Bharat. It was crowded, but we could see the entire museum. You need about an hour to see the museum. 

We grabbed lunch at Baari restaurant (https://maps.app.goo.gl/GvXfDEFbpVqEEhtQA) which was a very cozy place. Their thali was good, although their Daal Baati was not that great. But worth a visit to enjoy a good ambiance with good food 

Toorji ka jhalra (Step well):

We visited step well called Toorji ka Jhalra after lunch. This is located very close to Ghanta ghar (heart of Jodhpur city market). Car had to parked about 500 meters away and we opted to walk to this place due to narrow streets. 

We also did some window shopping in nearby market before heading back to hotel for an afternoon break.

Toorji ka jhalra (Step well)

Toorji ka jhalra (Step well)

Mandore Garden:

We visited Mandor garden at 6pm after taking a short break at hotel room. This garden is about 30 mins drive north of Jodhpur city center. Garden has some ancient temples and a very well maintained park. Entry fee is mere 10 rupees. They happened to have a sound and light show at 6.30pm and 7pm. We bought Rs 20 tickets for the show and enjoyed a 25 mins show telling the history of Jodhpur state's fight against the invading forces for centuries. The temple complex is very beautiful and worth a visit if you go to Jodhpur. We took a ride in toy train which Ojas enjoyed a lot! 

After spending about an hour and half at Mandore, we went to dinner at Curry cafe situated near Ghanta ghar (center of Jodhpur city). This cafe has a rooftop restaurant which provides evening views of Mehrangarh fort. 

Sound and light show

The Royal Deval

Toy train ride at Mandore Gardens

Curry cafe rootop restraurant (View of Mehrangarh fort)

Ghanta ghar Jodhpur

Day 9 (Dec 28) - Jodhpur - Kumbhalgarh fort - Udaipur

Today was another long drive from Jodhpur to Udaipur with a stop at Kumbhalgarh fort. We headed out from hotel at 8.30am. Kumbhalgarh was about 4 hour drive away from Jodhpur. We were making a good time until we had a flat tire at around 11.45am. Our driver replaced the tire and we continued towards Kumbhalgarh. We reached to the village at 1pm and decided to eat lunch before visiting fort. We grabbed lunch at Shree Vasudev Vraundavan restaurant. Food was tastey, but it was a bit pricey for the quality of the restaurant (https://maps.app.goo.gl/XQKnkeWAJdp88ESx9) 

Kumbhalgarh fort: 

Kumbhalgarh fort was built by Rana Kumbha in 15th century. This fort boasts 2nd longest wall in the world after the Great Wall of China. This fort is well hidden in hills of Aravali and cannot be seen until you are very much at the base of the fort. We had to get down from the car about half a km away from the main entrance and walk towards the fort due to heavy traffic navigating the narrow road.
The fort is well maintained by ASI and it takes about 20 mins to get to the top of the fort (at a fast-walking pace) from the ticket counter. The views open up from the top and you see the 360 degree view around you. 

Ojas and Sharvari came half way up. I sprinted rest of the way up and explored the top of the fort. One can see many temples on the fort, some of which might be 2-3 kms away from the main entrance. We had some coconut water at the fort entrance and headed back to our car. 

At 4pm we were moving towards Udaipur which was about 2.5 hours away with a quick stop at Haldi Ghati (Maharana Pratak Smarak) 

Haldi Ghati (Maharana Pratap smarak and Chetak samadhi)

We reached Haldi Ghati smarak near sunset time after a 1-hour drive from the fort. This place is very serene. There is a Chetak (Rana Pratap's horse) smarak on one side of the road and Maharana Pratap smarak on the other side of the road on a small hill. I will highly recommend visiting this place to pay tribute to this great warrior.

We reached Udaipur at 6.30pm and luckily our car could go all the way up to our hotel parking lot (Hotel Karohi Haveli). Beware of Auto drivers who would tell your destination is farther away and cannot be reached in a car. It is true that cars on not allowed in some part of the city during peak hours to avoid congestion but do confirm this with your hotel before you make your way to the hotel. 
We checked in at our hotel and opted to grab dinner at a rooftop restaurant of our hotel. Our hotel had great views of Lake Pichola and City of Udaipur. We enjoyed those views while eating our dinner. 

We were so exhausted after long day of travel that we quickly surrendered ourselves to sleep at 9.30pm. 

Maharana Pratak Smarak at Haldi Ghati

Chetak Samadhi

View of Udaipur from Rooftop restaurant

Day 10 (Dec 29) - Chittorgarh fort & Fatehsagar lake sunset

Chittorgarh Fort:

Plan for the day was to visit Chittorgarh fort which was 115km away from Udaipur. Chittorgarh is a historic capital of Kingdom of Mewar with brave tradition of valor and sacrifice for the motherland.
There are 2 famous sayings in Rajasthan. People of Marwar say - "जहा ना जाये बैलगाडी वाहा जाये मारवाडी" Whereas people of Mewar proudly say - "गेहू छोड के बाजरा खायेंगे, मेवाड छोड के कही ना जायेंगे" 

We started from hotel at 9.30am and reached Chittorgarh at around noon. This is largest fort in Asia and you can drive the car to various points on the fort. We paid for entry fee and hired a guide.

First point after entrance is Royal palace which is in ruins. 

Royal Palace

Royal Palace

Royal Palace

Sant Meerabai temple is second point after the Royal palace, but we decided to skip it since Ojas was very bored. We directly headed to Johar Sthal and Vijay stambh. 

Vijay Stambh

Johal Sthal

Bheru Ji Temple near Vijay Stambh

Bheru Ji Temple near Vijay Stambh

Vijay Stambh

Kirti stambh and Jain temple are on the other side of the fort. Kirti stambh resembles Vijay stambh but is much shorter compared to it (4 floors Vs 9 floors of Vijay Stambh) 

Kirti Stambh

After spending about 2 hours on the fort we grabbed lunch in town and started heading back towards Udaipur at 3pm. Our driver suggested an option for Sunset at Fatehsagar lake and we opted for the same. We reached Fateh sagar at 5.40pm, just before the sunset time. 

Fateh Sagar lake sunset and boating:

Fateh sagar is one of the two lakes in Udaipur. We went there for sunset views and did a boat ride on Ojas' request. It was an evening spent well! 

Sunset at Fatehsagar lake

Day 11 (Dec 30) - City palace, Sajjangad fort, Sas Bahu temple

Udaipur City Palace:

We reached City palace at 9.30am where it was supposed to open. Palace was 10 mins of walk from our hotel. This is a private palace so we couldn't skip the line for tickets. Ticket price was Rs 250 per adult. 
The palace is now residence of Royal family of Mewar. The palace is worth a visit and museums here are very informative. Museum is also well organized with signage. We ended up spending close to 2 hours at the palace. Closer to noon we headed to Sajjangarh fort which is about 5km away from city. 

Sajjangarh fort:

Sajjangarh fort provides great views of Udaipur, but we could not see anything since we had reached here closer to 1pm and there was fog/ smog in the city. This is an incomplete watch tower fort built in 19th century. There is not much to see in fort itself for a fee of Rs 155. It would be good to visit this fort at early morning or near sunset to get views of the city. 

After exploring the fort we went to lunch at Krishna Dal Bati Restro which is a family dining with one Rajasthani thali. So service is fast and food is authentic! 

Saas Bahu Temple at Eklingji:

We visited town of Eklingji which is 30 mins north of Udaipur. This has temple complex of Eklinji Mahadev which is deity of Sisodiyas of Mewar. We reached to temple at 3pm just to find temple closes between 1.30pm and 5pm. 

Luckily there was a Saas Bahu temple 2 km away and we visited it. This was a hidden gem as there was no crowd and it was located on a lake with very serene environment. Ojas had a lot of fun here, and we got to take a lot of pictures without too many people coming in our way. 

                              

We headed back to hotel after the temple visit and grabbed some coffee on the lake. We grabbed dinner at our hotel rooftop restaurant to mark the last night of our Rajasthan trip. 

Day 12 (Dec 31) - Udaipur - Mumbai - Pune

Our flight was scheduled to depart at 8.30am. We headed to airport at 6am and reached there at 6.35am. Security and check-in was smooth. This is a small but well organized airport. Our flight departed at 9.15am after a delay due to bad weather. We reached Mumbai terminal T1 at 10.45am. We got our luggage in-time and hired a taxi to Pune. Luckily there was no traffic and we reached Pune at 2.30pm to conclude our 12 day long trip!