A trip to Jaisalmer

Huge sturdy walls with its ninty-nine bastions, enclosing the still inhabited narrow lanes of the old city with its havelis and mansions, the majestic palace rising over the horizon reminds us of the city's past splendour. The citadel and the havelis are all built with the same rich honey coloured sandstone making the city appear to be enameled with gold, hence the name 'Golden City'. The city was once an important trade route of camel-train caravans between India and Central Asia. Great wealth is brought here from different countries and the city florished for several ages. Jaisalmer experienced its share of seiges but the damage was minimum compared to the rest.

Tourist InformationTourist Reception Center ph: 02992-252406

Sightseeing

Jaisalmer Fort
Maharaja's Palace
Jain Temples
Laxminath temple
Havelis
Patwa-ki-haveli
Salim Singh-ki-haveli
Nathma-ki-haveli
Gadi Sagar
Museums
Excursions around Jaisalmer
Lodhruva Jain Temples
Sam Sand Dunes - Desert National Park
Khuri
Barmer - hosts the Thar Festival
Pokaran

What you can do

ToursJaisalmer Camel Safaris
Shopping : Jaisalmer is famous fro its stunning embroidery, bedspreads, mirror-work wallhangings, oil lamps, stone works khadi textiles, carpets, shawls and antiques

Where you can stay

Shahi Palace ph: 02992-255920; www.shahipalacehotel.com
Residency Centerpoint Paying Guest House ph: 02992-252883;
Desert Moon ph: 02992-250116; www.desertmoonguesthouse.com
Hotel Jaisal Palace ph: 02992-252717; www.hoteljaisalpalace.com
Fifu Guest House ph: 02992-252656; www.fifuguesthouse.com
Hotel The Royal Guest House ph: 9252808707; www.hotelroyaljaisalmer.com
Hotel Nachana Haveli ph: 02992-252538; www.nachanahaveli.com
Jawahar Niwas Palace ph: 02992-252208;

Top End
Mandir Palace ph: 02992-252788; www.welcomeheritagehotels.com
Gorbandh Palace Hotel ph: 02992-253801;
Hotel Rajwada ph: 02992-2786835;

Where you can eat

Chandan Shree Restaurant (All you can eat Gujarati, Bengali, Rajastani and Punjabi Thalis) Hanuman Chowk
Desert Boy's Dhani (veg) Seemagram Campus
Trio (Barbecue tandoori Thali) Gandhi Chowk
Saffron (veg and non-veg) mains
Little Italy (veg pizzas) First Fort Gate

Getting there and away
A well connected city. Buses, trains and planes are available from all major cities.

Visiting Ranthambore National Park

Ranthambore National Park is a 1334 sq km of wild jungle scrub hemmed in by rocky ridges. A tits center is the 10th-century Ranthambore Fort, and are scattered  nearby are ancient temples and mosques, crocrodile filled lakes, chhatris (cenotaphs) and hides. The park is a Maharaja's hunting ground till 1970 - a curious 15 years after it had become a sanctuary.

It is the best place to spot some wild tigers in their natural habitats. Aside from the enormous Ganesh Mela every August, traffic is restricted to organised safaris. Seeing a tiger is just a matter of luck, but the park is also worth visiting for the scenery and other wildlife, particularly if you walk upto the fort. There are more than 300 species of birds in the park.

Best time to vist between October and June

Where you can stay

RTDC Vinayak Tourist Complex ph: 07462- 221333
Hotel Tiger Safari Resort ph: 07462- 221137; www.tigersafariresort.com
Hotel Anurag Resort ph: 07462- 220751
Hotel Ankur Resort ph: 07462- 220792
RTDC Castle Jhoomar Baori ph: 07462- 220495
Hotel Ranthambore regency ph: 07462- 221176; www.ranthambhor.com
Nahargarh Ranthambore ph: 07462- 252146; www.nahargarhranthambore.com
Khem Villas ph: 07462- 252099; www.khemvillas.com
Accomodation is also available in Sawai Madhopur

What you can do
Half-day and Full-day safaris are available in gypsies and canters which can be reserved on the website www.rajasthanwildlife.in, or they can be booked directly from the Forest Office in Ranthambore rd.

Shopping : Saris, scarves, bags, and bedspreads are produced by the tribal women.

Getting there and away
Busses are available from the nearby Sawai Madhopur.
Trains and busses are available from Jaipur to Sawai Madhopur.

 

Visiting Pushkar?

Brahma dropped a lotus flower on the earth and Pushkar appeared. This is a Piligrimage town, with one of the world's few Brahma temple, the city curls around a sacred lake. The main attraction of this piligrim town are the temples and the Ghats.

Festivals & Events

In the month of Kartika during the full moon, is one of the holiest days observed by the Hindu piligrims who come to Pushkar to bath in the holy waters of the lake. Incence is burned, oil lamps were lit and set afloat on the holy waters, piligrims, tourists, mystics this place is filled with people from all over, making it one of the extraordinary and magical places to be in. As if that was not enough, this is the time of the year, Pushkar hosts the famous Camel Fair. Its a crowded, noisy, chaotic, tacky affair filled with musicians, tourists, traders, street performers, snake charmers, acrobats; and a mind boggling swirl of colors. Every year around 20,000 people converge here and bring their 50,000 or so animals from across different parts of Rajastan. Be here if you wish to experience the full extent of the chaos of Rajastan.

Sightseeing

Temples
Ghats

Where you can stay

Hotel White House ph: 0145-2772147
Bharatpur Palace ph: 0145-2772320
Hotel Navaratan Palace ph: 0145-2772981; www.pushkarnavaratanpalace.com
Pushkar Inn's Hotel ph: 0145-2772010
Green Park Resort ph: 0145-2773532; www.greenparkpushkar.in
Seventh Heaven ph: 0145-5105455; www.innseventhheaven.com
Hotel New Park ph: 0145-2772464; www.newparkpushkar.com
Hotel Goyal Inn ph: 0145-2773991; www.hotelgoyalinn.com
Pushkar Resorts ph: 0145-2772944; www.pushkarresorts.com
Jagat Palace Hotel ph: 0145-2772953 www.hotelpushkarpalace.com

During the Camel Fair, the RTDC and several private operators set up a sea of tents near the fair grounds. There are usuallyfilled up with tour groups. Its cold at night , so bring something warm; a torch (flashlight) is also useful. You need to book well ahead.
RTDC Tourist Village ph: 0145-2772074
other option for tents
Royal Desert Camp ph: 0145-2772957; www.hotelpushkarpalace.com
Royal Tents Ph: 0291-2571991; www.jodhpurheritage.com

Where you can eat

Sunset Cafe (breakfasts Indian and Italian) mains
Sun-n-Moon (italian) Bari Basti
Honey & Spice (breakfast and lunch) Laxmi Market
Raju Terrace Garden Restaurent (pizzas) Sardar Bazar
sixth sense () Hotel Seventh Heaven
Rainbow Restaurent (Continental) mains
Moon Dance (Indian and Italian) mains
Little Italy Panch Kund Marg

What you can do

Camel Treks : For a long relaxing camel rides and travelling to Jodhpur and Jaisalmer.
Reflexology by Dr NS Mathur ph: 0145-2622777
Music at Pushkar Music School ph: 0145-5121277
Yoga by Dr Kamel Pandey at Old Rangji Temple
Reiki by Master Roshi Hiralal Verma ph: 0145- 2773154
Shopping: Known for its silver trinklets, costume jewellery, glass lamps, embroidery and wall hangings. Textile handiwork comes from Barmer, this is a good place to buy some indo-westren wear.

Getting there and away

Regular buses are available from Ajmer.
Busses are also available from Agra, Bundi, Delhi, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodpur, Udaipur.
Private cabs can also be rented.
 

Rajastani Music

Rajastan is a living study in ethno-musicology.From the hauting melodies of the lovers to the bards and ballads of the valors of their heros, rajastani music is always heartwarming and reaches the hearts of even the ordinary soul. There are two traditional classes of Rajastani musicians in Rajastan : The Langas of the westren Rajastan are favoured mostly by the Muslim audience as they have a distinct Sufi flavour. While the manganiars have a more hindustani bent. Then there are the saperas, snake charmers who blow into the two tubed poongas, while the bhopas are priest like singers who play in the village circuit in times of sickness and poor harvest. The mirasis and jogis of Mewar are famed for their gurguling voices, the maand are highly  sophisticated folk singers, once heard only in the royal palaces.

Songs are often inspired by daily life and their music instruments range from rustic  resonators to thunderous kettledrums. Rajastani instruments are facinating devices often handicrafted by the musicians themselves. They include morchang, a hand-held trumpet, the sarangi (a popular bowed instrument), the kamayacha (a 16-stringed langa speciality that is played with a long bow of horse tail hair), the kharta (a metal castanet) is a favorite with saints and seers, the algoza of th Ajmer region is the South Asian equivalent of a bagpipe.

Where there is song there is dance and the Rajastanis are never backward in shuffling forward. The ghooma gait - a series of gentle, graceful pirouettes; the teerah taali of the kamad community in Pokaran, a boisterous dance in honour of the theft deity Baba Ramdeo. It's an unusual festival in which men play a four stringed instrument called the chau-tara while the women move with dozens of manjeeras (tiny cymbals) tied to their bodies.

In Shekawati the kacchi ghodi is skillfully performed on horses. Holding swords aloft, riders move to the beating of the drums, while a singer narrates the exploits of notorious bandits.
In Bikaner, Jasnathis, revered for their tantric powers, dance on flaming coals until the music peaks and the dancers fall into a trance.

The drum dance of Jalore sees five men with huge drums strapped around their necks accompany a sword-swallower who simultaneously juggles.

Concerts and dances are held regularly for tourists in all major cities, usually in upmarket hotels.

Visiting Kota?

Historically a city of strategic importance, Kota still boasts a huge army base but its contemporary guise is that of a modren industrial center. The revitalising  Chambal river, populated by crocrodilea and piled by boats of all sizes, is the only permanant river of the state. Kota is famous for saries which are woven with a golden thread in the nearby village of Kaithoon. Accomodation and dining in Kota is pretty lacklusture, so consider  it as a daytrip from Bundi or a place to spend a few hours when making a transport connection.

Sightseeing

City Palace and Fort
Jagmandir
Brij Vilas Palace Museum
Gardens

Excursions around Koti

Baroli
Jhalawar

Festivals and EventsDussera Mela in Oct attracts thousands of piligrims in the month of Kartika

Where you can stay

Palkiya Haveli ph: 0744-2387497; www.alisar.com
Brijraj Bhavan Palace Hotel ph: 0744-2450529
Sukhdham Kothi ph: 0744-2320081; www.sukhdhamkothi.com
Umed Bhavan Palace ph: 0744-2325262

What you can do

Boat Trips
Shopping : Rampura rd is famous for its Kota doria saris.

Getting there and back
Buses are available from Ajmer, Bikaner, Bundi, Chittor, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur.
Trains are also available from Agra, Chittor, Delhi, Jaipur, Mumbai, Sawai Madhopur, Udaipur.