Trip Plan
Trip members: Karthik
Trip date: 28 Oct - 01 Nov 2022
Trip Plan : Chennai - Jodhpur - Osian - Nagaur - Deshnoke - Bikaner - Mandore - Jodhpur - Chennai
This trip was to see the forts of Jodhpur, Nagaur and Bikaner, plus give it a shot on the deserts of Osian. It was planned Solo trip and dear friend Tirthankar joining in Jodhpur local.
Day-1
Had a early morning start of 4 AM flight from Chennai to Jodhpur via Ahmedabad - transit of 3 hours. This was the cheapest option for the day and booked it. The first day of the trip was planned to be a workcation. I had a booked my stay at Hostel Moustache in Jodhpur. The red eye start ensured I slept well on my both flights - breakfast covered at the Lounge at Ahmedabad. The flight landed at Jodhpur little late than expected and reached the Hostel by 11:45.
I was quite hungry and the hostel had a very good restaurant at the roof top. I ordered a Jodhpur thali - rotis, Jamun gravy, Kadi, Ker Sangri, Dal, Papad ki subzi and Boondhi raita. I also had a small bowl of rice and extra rotis. The food was absolutely amazing.
The important part of staying in Jodhpur is to get the view of Jodhpur famous Mehrangarh fort. The fort was greatly visible from the hostel. Anyway, I had booked my stay for the next set of nights in the old city of Jodhpur - Blue city! This is much closer to the fort and awesome views are guaranteed.
Post my work, around 7:45 PM, I walked from the hostel area (Poata circle) to Ganta Ghar (clock tower) - around 2 kms and had some street food across the buzzling market area. The ground work of what to eat was helpful to walk directly to Shahi Samosa - the crowded shop for huge samosas and Mirchi bhajis. The Mirchi bhaji was just perfect while the samosa was quite tangy.
I also had some Palak chat at the next shop - Arora chats. It was too good. Next was the very popular Makhaniya Lassi from Shri Mishrilal hotel right on the entrance of Ghanta Ghar.
Day-2
I had booked an Etios for 2 days at per km basis through my friend Prashant with his local connects. It was Mr.Surendar himself riding the cab for me for my trip. After checking out at 8 AM, the cab picked me up and the first destination for the day was Osian.
Osian
The plan was to visit the Osian Mata temple and then do a Desert safari at Osian. Osian is where the Thar desert starts from a landscape point of view with fine sand dunes.
The first stop was Osian Mata temple - Sachiya Mata Temple. The temple was quite crowded as it was a weekend and took little more than 1 hour to have the darshan of Maa.
Desert Safari @ Osian
My driver had already spoke to one of the safari jeeps and said Rs.2500 for 90 min ride, which was nominal. The open jeep was big to enough to accommodate 6 - 7 persons and I was only one enjoying the ride! The ride was initially through some road side sands, then, some barren dry lands and then the desert sands.
The sands are definitely not walkable even; and just the ride by the jeep was a different level. After few minutes of sand ride - fast and bumpy, the driver stopped by the sand dunes for some time to experience the sands and take photos. There are small kids around to offer creative photos on your mobile!
The RIDE!
The most exciting part of the sand bashing came when we did the 45 degree dune ride! Yes, the highest sand dune was 45 degree angle and the jeep went at full throttle. Wow! What a ride to have! It is the true moment of the ride.
Camel rides were on offer but with hot scorching sun, I declined for the ride and moved on with the safari. Camel safaris could be enjoyable at Sunrise or Sunset time, not in mid-day!
The safari continued and the jeep ride went through big shrubs populated forest. There is possibility of sighting Nilgai during sunrise and sunsets. We went through the shrubs trying to spot something, which is a rarity in mid-day.
The jeep then went to one of the highest sand dunes and stopped for me to walk up the sand dunes. It was so difficult to walk on the fine sand, as if we walk 1 step and the feet comes back to the same position. It was absolutely challenging the walk up and was very satisfying once I made to top of the one sand dune :-)
Post the amazing trip of Desert safari, we started from Osian towards Nagaur. It was almost lunch time and we stopped for lunch at Hotel Haryali on the highway. The food was very good, freshly prepared paneer gravy and rotis.
Nagaur was 97 kms from the place we had lunch. It was a good 2 hour drive and reached Nagaur by 4 PM.
Nagaur Fort
Nagaur Fort located in the Nagaur city of Rajasthan. Nagaur Fort is also called as Ahhichatragarh Fort. The fort, built by Shajahan, has a great frontier walls, and is massive in structure and space it fills. It requires 90 minutes to go around and see the big fort place. The fort is at ground level and hosts several structures across. The fort is open for all 7 days of the week across 8:30 am to 1:00 pm and 2:30 pm to 5:00 pm. Entry fees is Rs.15 per person for Indian citizens and Rs.50 per person for foreign citizens.
The fort has multiple lush green gardens, fountains, and multiple mahals - Abha Mahal, Deepak Mahal, Lotus Mahal, Rani Mahal and Sheesh mahal. The fort is rich in architecture from the way water is handled all across the fort area. The water is well inundated from being used in fountains, cooling ways across the forts during summers and even in the Sauna for the king and queen.
The fort is quite well maintained post several restoration attempts. The fort was never attacked or damaged as the king was aligned with mughals. There are guides to walk you through across the fort. I used a guide and he helped understand all the aspects of palace - specifically the water management aspects and the Deepak mahal - which is lit with 100s of oil lamps even during festivals nowadays.
The fort also has a hotel for people to stay and enjoy Rajasthani rich heritage and food.
Deshnoke - Rat Temple
The next stop was to visit Deshnoke - Shri Karni Mata Temple, popularly known as Rat temple. Shri Karni Mata temple is a very popular temple in locality and is a family deity for several people of the region. One can see rats all over temple and it does not hurt anyone. Devotees pray and feed the rats when they visit the temple. Rarely, one gets to see a white rat and it is considered to be an auspicious moment.
We had a very good darshan and had a chance to see the evening Aarti at 7 PM too.
Reaching Bikaner
I reached Bikaner around 8 PM and checked into Hotel Bharat Palace. I got a big room, very spacious and clean. I was so tired and visited the restaurant they had at roof top. The restaurant had big servings and I just managed to order curd, masala papad and Aloo kulcha. It itself was surplus servings and had heavy dinner and hit the bed after a long, exhausting day.
Day-3
The plan was to start the day around 7:30 AM and see places around Bikaner - Rampuria Haveli, Bikaner Fort - Junagarh Fort, and Royal Cenotaphs of Bikaner.
It was almost 8 AM by the time we started and planned to visit Rampuria Haveli first, as it is situated in the narrow streets of Bikaner - really narrow ones! We reached the place with the help of Google maps, though it was quite difficult. Rampuria Haveli was constructed by 1400s by the rich merchants of Bikaner. The richness can be seen by observing the tall buildings and beautiful doors and windows. It is just a set of buildings and one cannot get inside and see it.
Then, we visited a popular Jain temple, but it was partially closed. We had samosas on a road side shop, which was just ok. We then started towards the Junargarh fort. The fort opens by 10 AM while the Prachina museum within the complex opens at 9 AM, luring tourists to see the museum first, though the palace and museum, both displays the same content mostly.
We stopped by a shop enroute the fort, and had dhoklas, kachoris and bought some Bikaneri namkeen, primarily, varieties and flavours of fried dals for home.
Junagarh fort
We reached the palace by 9:30 AM and waited for the palace to be open. The museum entry ticket is Rs.50 while the entry for palace is Rs.100. The counter opened exactly at 10 AM, we bought tickets and every tourist is put into a group of 15-20 and a guide accompanies to explain the whole place - a guided tour.
Junagarh stands for "old fort" as the royal family moved to Lalgarh palace in the recent times. Unlike other popular forts of Rajasthan, this fort stands tall at ground level, meaning, this is not situated on a mountain or a hillock. The Junagarh fort is massive by structure and rich by the things inside, obviously, this is a fort where the kings were mostly allies with the invaders historically in various time periods and provided food, water, shelter for invaders and also got gifts across centuries as recent as WW II - a war plane for successfully supporting the British with food and army. The gifts vary from Italian tiles to various vessels, glasses, paintings, ornaments, weaponry and lattice windows.
The fort had been extended in different periods based on the wealth and willingness of the king to add more and more. The older structures are primarily in red stone where as the later ones on marble. One can differentiate it as you see from outside as well as walk inside the fort and see various compartments of the palace.
The various mahals within the fort are: Karan Mahal, Anup Mahal, Phool Mahal, Badal mahal, Anup mahal, Chandra Mahal and Ganga mahal.
It took almost 2 hours for us to complete the guided tour and exit the palace. Truly the richness can be appreciated and one is left the think about 6 centuries of how the fort is left in tact and always expanded.
Royal Cenotaphs of Bikaner
Royal Cenotaphs of Bikaner is the the place where the kings and celebrated queens of Bikaner were lit on the pyre. This place is by the outskirts of Bikaner towards the East and would take close to 10-15 mins to reach, easy to locate in the maps.
The Cenotaphs are by Devi Kund Sagar. The Cenotaphs are big and well architected for the kings, whose contributions were imminent and purposeful for the local kingdom. Rest all have smaller and less decorated Cenotaphs. The entry fee is Rs.5 and the timings are 9 AM to 5 PM. One has to leave their footwear in the entrance and take a local footwear available with the guards.
Post visiting the Cenotaphs, we had a dum chai at Bikaner and started back towards Jodhpur. We stopped near Nagaur for lunch on the highway at Jai Shri Krishna restaurant and food was so delicious. I also bought Nagaur ka "Kasuri Methi", which is very native and of best quality.
Mandore Garden
Enroute to Jodhpur, understood from my friend TP, about Mandore and visited the Mandore Garden near Jodhpur. It is 9 kms from Jodhpur and it hosts few Cenotaphs of Jodhpur plus a couple of temples.
The Cenotaphs followed Hindu architecture and almost looked like temples. The Cenotaphs were decorated and massive in size in Mandore when compared to those in Bikaner. The Jodhpur kings were more wealthier and celebrated. Almost, all of the Cenotaphs were built of red sandstone and were stylish.
It was sunset time and was quite tricky to take good photos with natural light. There is stupa like architecture as well called Ek Thamba Mahal. People are not allowed close to it.
There is also a local temple where lot of people come in to offer their prayers and offerings.
Reaching Jodhpur
The plan was to try and reach Jodhpur and go to the top of a hillock for Sunset view. But, by the time, I checked in, it was sunset already. I checked in at Hotel Blue Stay - a small room for 1 member stay, clean and simple with all basic amenities. Post check-in, I just ran to the terrace to get a glimpse of the sunset and got a decent enough view - of the Mehrangarh fort.
Post few clicks, I went to meet my friends TP and Swarnali, who were in Jodhpur as part of their Rajasthan trip. We walked around for local street food - visiting places for makhani lassi, mirchi bhaji and samosas - the shops I had visited on Day-1.
We then settled for a dinner with beautiful view - chosen by TP at Gopal Roof Top Restaurant. The view of the lit Mehrangarh fort was beautiful and the relaxed dinner was enjoyable.
Day-4
The plan for Day-4 was to visit the Mehrangarh fort and roam around Blue City. If possible, visit the Umaid Bhawan.
TP and myself were little sick and decided to have a delayed start for the day to visit the Mehrangarh fort. Meanwhile, I felt better around 7 AM and decided to go for a walk of Blue city.
Blue City
With Mehrangarh fort being the centre piece, the old city of Jodhpur spans 2-3 kms of radius around the fort and many houses are painted in the blue colour to give a pinch of the historic city and thus an identity. The streets are absolutely narrow and one can walk around to get a glimpse of beautiful paintings on the blue coloured walls of the old city.
It is said that the blue colour keeps the termites away as historically the houses were built in wood and had problems because of the termites and trend continues even today. There is also a version where caste based colouring was followed and then it became an uniform painting later.
I spent about 90 minutes walking around, and even the early morning Sun was quite hot and dehydrating. But, the stunning paintings on the walls keeps you inspired not to miss any wall as much as possible :-)
I walked all the way to see Ghata Ghar - a famous landmark of Jodhpur, surrounded by market place for some breakfast. I had a kachori and a samosa in a road side shop near Ghanta ghar.
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Ghata Ghar and the Mehrangarh fort in the background |
Toorji Ka Jhalra Bavdi
Another historical place to visit by walk nearby is the Step well - Toorji Ka Jhalra Bavdi. This is a popular tourist destination as a part of the Blue City walk and one can spend few minutes walking across the stepped wall.
I then returned to the room for some rest after the tiring walk in the hot sun by morning. After some time, I decided to do some shopping of clothes and souvenirs and walked on the bazaar road looking for some good shops. Fortunately, I spotted National Handloom Corporation and did you cloth shopping here and also some souvenirs.
Around 12, my friend TP was up and ready for the rest of the day and we had lunch at a restaurant nearby - Jhankar Choti Haveli. The food was very good here.
We then, took an auto to Mehrangarh Fort. The fort is open from 9 AM to 5 PM. The entry fee for Indians is Rs.100 per person Rs.100 for the cameras. Mehrangarh Fort is located over a hill and the fort is expanded to cover all possible areas of the hill and made totally secure. The Fort is approachable by road from the city of Jodhpur, through all possible roadway transportation - autos, cabs and private vehicles. There is ample parking space around the palace. One can even walk from the old Blue city in 15 mins through the winding streets and the pathway to the entrance of the fort.
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Umaid Bhavan from Mehrangarh Fort |
Mehrangarh fort is well fortified and has several gates - 7 of them to reach the main palace. And these gates are well fortified. The palace displays several artefacts across multiple galleries - Elephant howdahs, palanquins, weaponry, paintings, tents and various treasures from various periods of history. The different halls one would get to see are Moti Mahal, Phool Mahal, Sheesh Mahal, Zenana Dude, Takht Vilas and Jhanki Mahal. The richness of the fort is in display through several Gold, Silver artefacts and paintings.
As we reach the open space outside the palace, we get to walk down all the way to the edge of the hillock and visit the Chamundeswari temple - a temple worshipped by the kings and queens of Jodhpur.
The main entrance is actually on the other side of the palace (hillock) and we climbed down by this route when we exited the palace.
The main entrance for the palace is first gate - is well protected. No enough space given to run hard and hit the main door with force, by constructing the a wall in front of the main entrance. Such was the intelligence and strategy while forts were built and saved.
We came out by the old city and walked our way back to our hotel rooms. I had dinner at a road side eatery - dosas and ended my day.
Day-5
This day was my return journey and vacated the hotel by 8 AM. I packed a Aloo paratha with me and reached airport. Enroute to airport by auto, stopped at Janta sweets and bought Kesar peni and Teel patti. Completed checkin, had by breakfast and bought Malai Khewar at the airport outlet.
The trip was very memorable having visited major forts of Rajasthan across Jodhpur, Nagaur and Bikaner. Osian desert ride made it so specials topped up with varieties of food and snacks!
Cab:
For people travelling to Jodhpur and nearby, please reach out to Mr.Surendar for cab. He is so polite and tourist friendly and I am sure he will give you a good time. Mr.Surendar is reachable on +91 79769 81994.
Distances
- Jodhpur – Osian – 60 kms (1 hr 15 mins)
- Osian – Nagaur – 122 kms (2.5 hours)
- Nagaur – Bikaner – 118 kms (2.5 hours)
- Bikaner – Jodhpur – 251 kms (4.5 hours)
