Hello guys, this blog is about my visit to India, to be precise to the Land of Maharajas- Rajasthan. I am Kish Kef, a travel freak from the U.K. I go on several international trips every now & then. But this time, when I was going through internet scrolling feeds, I suddenly came across the travel site named Adventure Delight. After spending few hours on this website, I found myself craving to visit India, especially Rajasthan- popularly known as Lands of Maharajas. As I like to visit different places and understand their culture and tradition, I booked a solo trip slot with Adventure delight for Rajasthan without any second thought. I know many of you don’t enjoy such liberty like many people find solo traveling difficult, but trust me, booking with Adventure Delight didn’t make me feel that I came solo on the trip. Time and money are the most significant roadblocks, even if you are a real travel maniac. The organizers of Adventure Delight have all the economical tours; they are not so expensive. Moreover, they provide many facilities at just no higher prices. I am blessed to enjoy and explore the world, so I thought of sharing some of my experiences with you.
It was a beautiful Friday morning, Feb. 10th, when I landed at Delhi’s international airport. Thanks to British Airways for making my journey blissful. So after clearing my customs and immigration, I came out of the airport and breathed my first air on Indian soil. People say that India is much polluted and cleanliness is null at some places, but I didn’t feel anything. It was a winter morning, and there was a great essence of freshness in the air. From there, I started my tour to Rajasthan with Adventure Delight. At the airport, I was greeted and well-received and after that assisted for transfer to the hotel. The Adventure Delight had booked the hotel. Meanwhile, I reached my destination, enjoying and scrutinizing honest urban India.
Delhi- The present capital of India is famous for a phrase known as “Dilli Dilwalo ki,” and that’s true. Delhiites are such down-to-earth people. The capital city is brimming with historical monuments, UNESCO World Heritage sites, cafes, bars, a lit nightlife, and delicious street food. Explore the narrow lanes of Old Delhi, soak in the old-world charm of Qutub Minar, and go on a food trail in the scanty lanes of Chandni Chowk. We spent our entire day roaming in these historical monuments and having street food, and also, a tour to those narrow lanes of old Delhi was too good to be memorized.
On the very next day, we experienced a short route train journey to Agra- the city of Taj. What an alluring beauty the Taj Mahal is. After touring the Taj, I found the perfect reason why it is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Local Guide was there with us, telling us about the Taj, the history of Queen Mumtaj, and Emperor Shahjahan. What a love story, brought cold to my spine. After that, just like the Red fort in Delhi, Agra has its fort named Agra Fort. Three different Mughal Emperors contributed to its construction. The next day tour to Fatehpur Seekri followed by a journey to Jaipur.
Jaipur– commonly known as the Pink City of India, is the masterpiece of Bengali architect Vidyadhar Bhattacharya. There we went to Hawal Mahal and City Palace. There I also interacted with some of the locals. I had a grateful experience while talking to them. No doubt that they were speaking perfect Hindi as it is their mother tongue, but some of them also tried speaking in English. I felt excellent after watching their efforts to communicate with me. The next day we experienced a hot air ballooning activity in the heart of the city Jaipur only. I cannot gather words to describe what I was feeling at that time; I was on top of the town, Looking down to the city’s narrow lanes filled with Bazaars, street food vendors, and people. That was a lifetime memory for me. I thank Adventure Delight many times. After that, we tour another monument, Amer fort- built by Maharaja Man Singh. It is an enchanting complex of beautiful gardens, Halls, Pavilions, and royal mansions. This fort is the best example of Indo-Mughal architecture. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at a spot known as Jal Mahal for a photographic session. I just dropped my heart over there. The day was so memorable but tiring too, but I enjoyed it a lot.
And the following day came with the four-hour journey from Jaipur to our next destination-Naval Garh. Thakur Naval Singh built this. Here we had a visit to Poddar and Roop haveli. Wow, such grand mansions. After this, we went to Mandawa- a quaint town dotted with wealthy merchants’ ornately decorated Havelis (Mansions). We had a stay in one of the best heritage properties of Mandawa.
After that, the next day was for a visit to Bikaner. We were welcomed so warmly over here in an excellent heritage property. I love Indians, and they treat every other person just like their own family member. The food, the culture, the dresses, everything is just so exciting here. In the city of Bikaner, we had a tour to Sheesh Mahal (Mirror Palace), sandalwood inherited the throne, and Anoop Chowk. Karni Mata Mandir (Rat Temple) was the best destination of Bikaner. The local population worships thousands of rats present there. People searched for the white rat to fulfill all their wishes and regarded it as a promising sign. I don’t know whether it’s a myth or seriously happens, but I like how people worship with actual feelings and a pure heart.
Now the tour is getting on my veins as we are going towards the Golden City of Rajasthan, Jaisalmer. The fort and all the mansions are in golden sand stone. Because of this, it is also called The Golden City. The next day, after roaming the entire day exploring Jaisalmer, we took a halt at Kalbelia Village (The desert tribe). I interacted with the local people regarding life in the desert, their traditions, their priorities. The best thing was to have a look at exciting sunset in the desert with naked eyes. And that day I experienced having dinner under the stars in the cold breeze of desert and also we had an overnight stay there. We headed towards Jodhpur the next day.
After completing a journey of 6 hours, we finally reached the Blue City of Rajasthan – Jodhpur. After that reach, we had rest for a couple of hours after that we started to traverse the blue city. Starting our visits with Mehran Garh Fort, Toor Ji ki Jhalra, we took a walking tour of the market at Ghanta Ghar (Local street). Here, I found the best of all was Toor Ji ki Jhalra, a stepwell for rainwater harvesting. I mean, wow, people at that time were so much aware of the importance of rainwater harvesting. This city made me keener to explore Rajasthan. I found my answer to why Rajasthan was known as the Land of Maharajas. Now, after this beautiful city, we went to another town known as Udaipur. While going to Udaipur, we stopped at the Jain temple at Ranakpur.
We had a boat ride for twenty-five minutes that took us to Jag Mandir and around City palace. When our boat ride got over, we headed towards having a walking tour in the streets of Udaipur. We started from the middle of the old city of Udaipur, from the Jagdish temple. This walking tour took us through street bazaars and local temples, which got my heart to beat faster as it was amazing to see this type of authenticated Rajasthani culture. Our walking ended at the most famous destination- Dharohar ki Haveli, Where we came to watch a Rajasthani Folk Dance performance. The following day was waiting to be rise with the next goal to reach, which was Pushkar.
The next day, again by covering some massive kilometers, we reached Pushkar by train. This city is very much different from all other cities of Rajasthan. Vibes here are so spiritual that I can’t resist without exploring them. There are so many temples to visit and gain knowledge about Indian spirituality. We climbed around 1000 stairs to reach the shrine of Savitri Temple, where lots and lots of monkeys did our welcome. The whole city of Pushkar was visible from there. That view was just like the icing on the cake. It was so amazing, I can’t even tell. The idea was so natural, astonishing, and radiant. And the attraction with locals, photography with the street vendors, and I made so many memories. After this, we went to our hotel for rest and spent our night there.
On my way back to Delhi, Wow, this tour was incredible and consisted of everything from having adventures to visiting sacred places. Thank you, Adventure Delight, for making my dream to explore Rajasthan- the land of Kings, brave warriors, camels, bandhani, fascinating forts and palaces, romance, wars, and tragedy! True with such fantastic planning of Adventure Delight, I’m going to book you soon for my next tour to India.