RAJASTHAN

Hey everyone! Hope all of you had a great New Year! 

Last year involved a lot of traveling for me which turned out to be good but also very exhausting. 

This year out of all the trips, this trip ironically was not planned but just fell into place on the right time. Visiting Rajasthan was part of my bucket list which I got to tick off this time.

Udaipur

This trip was organized by my aunt's family (mom's sister). We took a flight to Udaipur from Mumbai and upon arrival, we headed to the hotel Dream Palace. Weather was the coldest among all the three places we visited during the trip. 

This aesthetic set up and interiors brought us all back to ancient times that we usually only read in our history books. Classic artifacts placed in the hallways and a building that screams history with its intricate architecture. The marble floors made it even harder to walk around in our room as the weather was in single digits. We would end up shivering despite with many layers.

 

After settling in, we left to Nehru Garden where we sat on a small motor boat and travelled to the small island to watch the sunset above the lake. 

 

Woke up early in the morning to see the City Palace overlooking the beautiful lake Pichola. We got the tickets at the booth and hired a tour guide to explain the history while sightseeing.

 

  

 

The architecture was what left me in awe. So royal yet so simple. I might not look like it, but I was huge history geek growing up, exploring backgrounds and historic events of countries before I travelled there. Stopped at every spot to take pictures for the Gram!

After all that walking and food, we went back to the hotel to take a good night's rest. We would stop at local street shops for a tea/coffee break. The specialty of Rajasthan is to serve hot drinks like tea and coffee in mud cups called "Kulhad" to enhance and give it an earthy flavor.

Jodhpur

The next morning, we got back on the road and travelled to Jodhpur. The package we had booked for this trip came with a driver that took us everywhere. It was a long trip and got very tiring but we got to the city and only had time to visit the Merahangrh Fort. Again, a glimpse of the sunset and view from the top proved that it was indeed a blue city! 

  

We got to the hotel after dinner and rested our feet from walking up and down all those stairs.

Early in the morning, we rushed to visit Umed Bhawan. The iconic place Priyanka Chopra got married with Nick Jonas. We got tickets with a tour guide to explain the history behind it all. 

  

Jaipur

Upon arrival to Jaipur by road, we  visited Jantar Mantar, a collection of 19 architectural astronomical instruments and is a UNESCO World Heritage site featuring the world's largest stone sundial.

 

Also included, was a tour of the museum where they had kept the attire of the Kings back in the day for display. 

We then drove to the Amer Fort, where the iconic movie "Jodha Akhbar" was shot. One of the props used in the scene where they cooked large meals called the 'kadai' (large wok utensil) is still placed in the palace for visitors to see. A beautiful palace with beautiful interiors and every palace had a unique area called the "Sheesh Mahal"- a palace of mirrors solely used to light up the palace with natural sunlight in olden times. It  was sometimes used for prayers too. This palace was modernized to occupy cafes for visitors to stop for a cup of tea/coffee while enjoying the breath taking views. 

 

 

We even stopped by a well nearby called "Hadi Rani Ki Baori" which was featured in one of my favorite movies growing up, Paheli starring Shah Rukh Khan.

Before leaving to the airport we got to watch a puppet show outside the restaurant we had lunch in and he was mimicking Bollywood stars through his puppets. He even called me to volunteer and ended up scaring me with a plastic snake as one of his puppets. 

 

Overall Rajasthan is rich in heritage and royalty, it made us feel delighted to see a place with so much history being restored in every building and human being there. This was the end to such a beautiful and memorable trip. It was even better to travel with more of our extended family and I think that bonding time was the icing on the cake of this trip.

Hope you enjoyed my trip review and stay tuned for more! :)

x PRAYA x