bjm

We are tossing around the best way to organize our trip to Rajasthan and I've read many of the messages posted on this site. We are debating using the train for some points and car plus driver for other points. Current itinerary is take an overnight train from Delhi to Jaisalmer and a train from Jaisalmer to Jaipur. In Jaipur rent a car for the remaining sites of Jodhpur, Rohetgarh, Udaipur, Deogarh, Pushkar. and back to Jaipur. We plan to do this in 10-11 days. Your thoughts about train vs. car and about recommended lengths of stay in various places are appreciated. I know that this has been discussed many times on this site and I've tried to use that information. Also, one person asked about the safety of Jaisalmer and its nearness to the Pakistani border. I'd appreciate your comments regarding that issue as well. Thanks.

Cicerone

First thought is that this is 7 places in 11 days, 8 if you are planning on seeing anything of Delhi. A bit ambitious, you will spend about 5 hours in each if my calculations are correct. . .seriously, you need to either extend the trip or cut out at least 3 places. Doing 4 in 11 days will be a push. The distances you are driving are pretty great over not great roads. You also need to build in delays if you go by train. What time of year are you going?

Rajhelp50

Easy answer first:

Securitywise, Jaisalmer is not a concern at all - as of today. Apart from 1971, and Jaislamer was not on the tourist map those days, I doubt if there has been a serious security problem about Jaisalmer.

Your itinerary

It's a good idea to take a train or the Volvo bus to Jaipur from Delhi and then hire a car for the Rajasthan trip.

One option is
Jaipur - 2 days
Pushkar - on the way to Deogarh, Deogarh - 1 day
Jodhpur - 1 day
Jaisalmer - 2 days
Rohet - 1 day
Udaipur - 2 days
Train from Udaipur to Delhi

Though rushed, it is an oft taken route and is a good introduction to Rajasthan. If you have time to spare, add a day in the city of your choice.

As Cicerone has correctly pointed out each leg of the journeys will take five hours. This is the primary reason why you have to halt!

Alternative route:

Delhi - Jaisalmer by train
Hire a car and continue to
Jodhpur
Udaipur
Deogarh
Jaipur
Delhi

bjm

I know you are both right about shortening the trip. My in-laws live in Delhi and in Haridwar. I've made that trip about 8 times, sometimes by car, more recently by train. Though the train has always left on time, it always arrives late regardless of whether the destination is Delhi or Haridwar, but I pray a lot when we are driving! We've reserved time before and after the visit in Rajasthan for Delhi.

We are planning Dec. 10 to 21 in Rajasthan.
The alternative routing given by Rajhelp50 is appealing. There appears to be a train that leaves 17:40 from Delhi and arrives in Jaisalmer at 11:55 . So give a few hours and we would be there by mid-afternoon, hopefully.

If you hire a driver in Jaisalmer and the trip ends in Jaipur, is the return trip of the driver and car to Jaisalmer built into the price that is given?

Revised plan: leave Delhi on the 10th to arrive in Jaisalmer 11th afternoon where we'll stay til the morning of the 13th.
Leave Jaisalmer by car in the early morning (6 or 7 a.m.) of the 13th. We'd be in Jodhpur by the afternoon of the 13th and stay till the morning of the 15th. On to Udaipur and stay till morning of the 17th. Drive to Deogarh and stop for the day. Leave the next morning, the 18th, for Jaipur. Leave Jaipur on the 21st by train to Delhi.

Is this reasonable or should I cut some more? If so, outside of Deogarh, which is optional anyway, should something else be dropped? Thanks

Rajhelp50

The revised plan allows you to go at a comfortable pace.If you drop Deogarh, go and have lunch there (and see what you have missed.)

In Rajasthan, you pay for extra kilometres only if the average per day exceeds 250 KM, including the return trip to base garage. If you are hiring the car for ten days, it is highly unlikely that you will exceed the permissible kilometres.

bjm

I've shortened the number of places but still have the question of number of hours to drive from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer. I have seen estimates from 6.5 hours to 4 hours on one website. That same website also said the roads were good and relatively empty. We've driven in India before and know that between some cities the drive can be harrowing. Thanks for the help.

Rajhelp50

I thought Cicerone had already answered this

Five hours, give or take a quarter!

cram

The issue of train vs car travel is rather easy for me, on the basis of experiences. I have a clear preference for car travel. I have found travel by train slow, burdensome, and on top of it, not particularly comfortable. I did not particularly appreciate last January my trip by night train from Chennai (Madras) to Trichy, in a second class 'couchette' with coakrages all over the place. A better spot on the train was booked up since months. So, without me knowing, the travel agent settled for this solution. Better by car. You make only 30 km/h in average, but at least you travel in reasonable comfort, and see lots of land, as you travel by daylight. Village live is interesting, you can stop wherever you want, etc. Much more fun. And no creepy little animals waking you up during your scarce moments you manage to fall asleep in your 'couchette'.

hobbes

I would go with a combination of car and train. Car journeys in India are unpredictable hence the variation you have been given in Jodhpur-Jaisalmer from 4.5-6 hours. Bear in mind that India's national highways are NOT 8 lane expressways. Unexpected delays coould be because of convoys of trucks, neing nehind herds of animals, etc. On the other hand trains can be dealyed but generally give you the option of stretching your legs and sometimes seeing more countryside. If u are renting a driver driven car - which I would strongly reco- you do not need to go back to your original starting point to return. So, let your last point be one where you can get a train back to Delhi. Have you considered including Ranthambore in your itinerary? The train connection into Del is great and could be your last stop.

bjm

Thank you all for your advice. When I think of car travel, I think of what it has been like over the last decade to travel between Delhi and Haridwar (where my mother-in-law lived till her death this summer). Over the years, the road has improved but the driving scares! Burned out trucks and buses along the road don't help either. The train, which has always left on time in the direction we were going, has never arrived on time at our destination. Once we were stopped by a "sit down" on the tracks and a burning rug thrown into the coupling area between cars, but that caused more shouting than any real damage -- other than to our schedule. Trains aren't great, but roads and driving are something else. I hear the roads in Rajasthan are good and not too crowded. Of course, I don't know what "too crowded" means in Rajasthan. Between Haridwar and Delhi it's buffalo carts, scooters, three wheelers, trucks, buses, some very good cars, and lanes mean nothing. So what should I mentally picture about the roads in Rajasthan?

hobbes

Del-Jaipur the highway has become fairly good for the most part. Within Rajasthan stretches are good and some will be more of the same of what you are used to Del-Varansai. One thing is driving in Rajasthan is scenic if you like the dessert - it is really the stuff you see in movies with women in colourful outfits and turbanned men in white against a backdrop of shifting sand.

bjm

In particular, what is the stretch from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer like? And from Haridwar to Jaiper? We need to stop in a small neighborhood outside Haridwar for a couple days and then we currently plan to take a Sunday train to Jaipur. The train will take all day and bound to arrive late in Jaipur. It's suppose to arrive at 19:25 but it'll be okay if we arrive before midnight. Thanks for the info.