Memoirs of a Wandering Nomad

Udaipur - The City of Lakes -------------------------------------- Udaipur City from atop Karni Mata Temple Fort Of all the touristy places in Rajasthan - rather, in India - Udaipur is perhaps the most over- hyped and commercialized one. Don't go by anything you read on the Internet (including this post) on face value. Most of it is just cleverly planted, airbrushed, and photoshop'ed (not including this post though - this one tries to be as unbiased as it can get!). And yet, Udaipur -  rather, "Oudieipore" as is spelled below a 18th century French sketch in the City Palace museum - has a charm of its own, if it can be called 'charm', that is completely different from the Jaipur-Jodhpur-Bikaner variety. Some of it is due to the number of lakes and hills doting the landscape of the city. I mean, the entry to the city is brilliant, as the road winds through green hills and you can see the expanse of the city contained yet spilling through cervices amon...

Ramthambore -------------------- The problem with going to wildlife preserves, especially a tiger sanctuary like Ranthambore , is not that they are in such exceedingly faraway places from normal civilization that only dusty and rusty roads lead to; or that you have to make do with some terribly basic accommodation with half-lit rooms cluttered with old cranking beds and soggy mattresses and a swarm of tiny blood-sucking winged monsters; or that you are expected to get up at ungodly hours of wee morning only to find that the safari canter has got delayed. Any travel junkie in his right mind or pair of smelly socks will not find much difficulty adjusting to these trivial irritants. No, the problem is that in spite of suffering all the above and much more - like the sweat and heat from the progressively menacing rising sun, the bumpy ride into the jungle and the non-existence of shock absorbers on the safari canter (which makes you feel that you are sitting directly resting your now-...

Bikaner - Daal Kachoris and 360 Cenotaphs Days: 2, Total Km: 1000 Gurgaon - Till Kotpulti via NH8 - Right towards Udaipurwati on SH - Opening at Sikar - Sri Dungarpur - Bikaner via NH 11 [450km] Stay at Bikaner Bikaner - NH 11 till Ratangarh - right to Churu on NH 65 - SH to Jhunjhunu - Bagad - Chirawa - Rewari - Gurgaon --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- November is the best time to travel around northern India. And we want to make up for the lost time this year. So this weekend we plan to do one trip to Rajasthan. Since most nearby parts are already done many times over, we decide to go further North and cover that one apex of the Rajasthan triangle that is not yet covered - Bikaner . We leave early on the Saturday, around 6:30am, since Bikaner is far and we do not know the condition of the roads. We pay the customary visit to the Manesar McDonald's for breakfast. By 8am w...

Route: Gurgaon - Jaipur - Tonk - Devali - Hindoli - Bundi - Back Now this is what you should do: find yourself an extended weekend, where the skies are cloudy and north wind blowing across the plains. Then get your vehicle out on the Gurgaon - Jaipur highway and head towards Bundi - that tiny exotic teardrop (lit; Bundi means drop) of Joy, held in the palms of the mountains. Not camels, not folk songs, not the traditional and oh-so-boring Rajasthan; but a completely new and fresh look at the magnificent state of India - the Hadoti region that is Bundi - and a haven for the bag-packing and adventurous tourist. DAY 1: You will go through the usual Jaipur highway, crossing Behror and Kotputli, straight towards Jaipur. Some 20km before Jaipur, you will see the bypass that leads to Ajmer. Do not take it. Just keep going towards the city of palaces. You will reach a junction (about 3 hours from your starting point in Gurgaon), where to your right is the old road to Ajmer, and to your left i...

Spice Court Restaurant, Jaipur (This is a review of the Spice Court restaurant in Jaipur - which has appeared on TripAdvisor.com ) I remember the last time this happened to me was in year 2002, when I first tasted the mutton seekh kebabs at Karims in the old Delhi near Jama Masjid. Today, as I lick the last bits of Kulfi at Spice Court in Jaipur, I think I am in love again. Hua yun ki we were returning from a short trip to Bundi - near Kota. We had a lovely trip - about which I will write shortly - but food-wise the experience remained very ordinary. So we decided to hit Jaipur before 3pm, and try out one of their famous restaurants - maybe Copper Chimney or Niro's or Spice Court - about which we had only read - never been. So we drove and reached Jaipur in time. After some search and wrong turns and then right turns, we finally found Hari Bhawan Palace in Civil Lines - where you have the Spice Court. Spice court has the old British architecture, with large windows and walls painte...

Travel date: Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 May 2007 Distance: 250km from Gurgaon Route: Gurgaon - Jaipur Highway (N8) till Dharuheda - Right towards Rewari Rewari to Narnaul - Singhana - Chidawa - Jhunjhunu - Mandawa Leave Gurgaon 3:30pm.Gurgaon to Dharuheda via NH8. Take right after crossing Dharuheda towards Rewari. Cross through Rewari. Little town with weird architecture. Take right from Ambedkar chowk for Narnaul. Rewari - Narnaul about 60km. Good road. Narnaul - a small sleepy hospital town. Well-connected.Just some km before Narnaul, a road goes to Behror (30km) in case you want to open to the highway.Otherwise the roads hereafter lead to deeper and deeper interiors. Cross Narnaul and head to Singhana (35km).Home of all Singhanias. See Singhania school, Singhania college etc. Singhana is on the border of Haryana and Rajasthan.The moment you enter Rajasthan, bad and patchy roads start.Singhana to Chirawa (pronounced Chidawaa - 25km) is bad, patchy, like an old mattress. Chirawa is a ...