India in November
 

I am starting a new thread for the trip report but details of the help I have received getting ready for the journey are on "Independent Travel in India"..Many thanks to all.

Well to begin..We arrived at Delhi about 10.30 am on our Thai International flight but then waited for our next flight to Udaipur. on Airindia..This was a very good deal at 40aud each but was due to fly out in 5 hours time. As it turned out there was an extra 1.5 hour wait but by then we had taken possession of one of the very comfortable lounges just outside the boarding gate for our flight. The lounges are scattered all along the boarding gate area so it is worth looking further afield if you don't have one nearby. Apart from these lounges we could find nowhere to put our feet up at Delhi airport . The visitors lounge is not open to travellers and officials there couldn't tell us where we could find a lounge.

Well finally , quite well rested we arrived at Udaipur but in the dark of night and without the expected aerial view of Rajasthan. However, good news, as the driver from Jaiwana Haveli was there to pick us up, despite the delay.. We paid a fair price for the pickup.about 600R. It was about a 40 minute trip.

We spent 4 nights in Udaipur. Jaiwana Haveli was booked as were most of our hotels through Booking.com...moderately priced..about 50aud. . It was beautifully located next to Lake Pichola with superb views of the Plalace from the rooftop restaurant...Be ready for the stairs ..quite a few but all in beautifully maintained marble. If you needed to rest and relax this was a perfect spot. Our room was at ground level, was spacious and comfortable with a small window looking out onto a ferry pier and another onto a courtyard..Other corner rooms have fabulous views apparently.

In Udaipur we took a guided tour of the City Palace following the directions of our most gracious Hotel owner and manager., Harsh, .and saw and very much enjoyed the Dharohar dancers at the Bagore Museum...visited the Jagdish temple via the entrance at the rear, avoiding all those steps. Other than that we just enjoyed the intriguing streeets of Udaipur., the leather ware and miniature paintings...We were able to find plenty to see by foot and didn't need any other transport .

Through the hotel we booked a car to drive us to Jodhpur via Ranakpur and Kumbalgarh. This was at a very reasonable.cost.about 60aud ..as we only paid for the one way journey.

So far it sounds lie a steal. Glad it's off to a good start.

Thankyou for a quick response..Should mention the food was fine at Jaiwana Haveli and the restaurant very popular. We tended to eat a very limited diet of varieties of dahl and tried to use reputable brands of milk..sara and amul in particular. The waiter was happy to show us the packet of Sara our milk came from...

You're welcome. More to come? I'm following.

Looking forward to more.

Great start! Waiting for the next installment!

..and on to Jodhpur..We were originally booked on the train from Falna but realised it was not very practical as by the time we saw the Jain temple after 12 and caught the next possible train we would arrive about 8.30 in Jodhpur ...and we would still need a taxi to get to the train.

Cancelling the train freed us up and the trip by car was terrific as we passed through a number of small towns and saw the local people farming as they must have done thousands of years ago... We left at 9 and managed to encounter a long trail of cows travelling up the road ahead of us..This was fine, although it slowed us down considerably, as we were able to take pictures of the local people smiling and waving ..highly entertained by the building bank of traffic.
The road started winding as we headed towards Kumbulgarh. At this stage motion sickness medication would have been handy for those in the back seat..Kumbulgarh was was quite astounding. We counted it as the most spectacular fort, stretching across the mountain range forever..We climbed to the top passing a Muslim parade on the way...On to the Jain temple at Ranakpur via more winding roads. Fortunately we took a break at King's Abode for lunch..A very good choice with luxurious facilities..
The Jain temple with its white marble and intricate carvings was serenely peaceful despite the large number of tourists..R. was shown around by a high priest in gold robes and donated a sum towards the temple. Of course modest dress, no shoes or leather and a security check as you go in..and no charge unless you choose to donate to a guide.

I

We arrived in Jodhpur much later than expected about 6.30 to 7. so were pleased to be greeted by the staff at the Ratan Vilas as our Tata Indigo pulled up....

Next day we went to see the Mehrangarh Fort. We caught a tuk tuk outside the hotel and had a very bright driver who explained the complexities of the caste system to us and offered advice on planning our day. He suggested he could wait while we looked at the fort and he would drive us down to the old city as it was a 50 minute walk from the fort...Of course it's not. I don't know if this is one of the regular tuk tuk scams but there certainly is a lovely short walk of about 10 minutes from the fort to the clock tower which shouldn't be missed..

Scams and wily tuk tuk drivers notwithstanding, the fort lived up to expectations and was a great experience. There were several musical groups playing traditional music as we climbed up.. and officials in Rajput costumes. The admission was 300 rupees and included a really excellent audio guide with supplementary information on the culture and history..terrific.

Oh those clever tuk tuk drivers. :D. They know all the tricks.

A very nice report. I am following. :)

We'll be following in some of your footsteps in just a little over 3 weeks, so I too in reading along with great interest. Sounds like you had a great trip!

The stroll down to the clock tower from the fort along a path with a high stone wall...actually most of the time with no-one else in sight .....

[Were the other travellers all back in the tuktuk with R? Yes with some reservations we did fall for his story at first so not wanting to create an international incident R went back to settle up with the waiting driver and drive to the clock tower to meet me]......

was quite unforgettable...as was the chat we had to the driver expressing our disappointment...He was sorry it seems.

After dealing with all that we browsed happily around the market near the clock tower and picked up a few souvenirs ..leather bag and elephant wall hanging..and loads of tiny hippy beads from a tenacious young salesgirl..If you go down the Fort Road you are sure to meet her.

Looking around for a tuk tuk home...very carefully...we came across Pal Haveli and popped in for a chai...We sat in a peaceful green courtyard surrounded by ancient stone and had a pot of tea brought to us...It was a welcome respite and certainly impressed us with the possibility that we might have stayed here near the fort and avoided the tutktuk trip from Ratan Villas. Of course Ratan Villas was up to expectations but the distance from the sights was frustrating to me.

Enjoying your report.

There are always skillful entrepreneurs out there.

Me too. Looking f/w to the next installment.

Thanks for the responses...encouraging to get some feedback...

We had 3 nights and 2 days in Jodhpur and for the second day had originally thought a trip to Ossian would give us a glimpse of the desert scenery and add some contrast to the trip..However when I started making plans in the afternoon of the first day I realised that I had left it too late to organise mainly because I wasn't feeling too keen about another auto trip so soon after the winding roads of Ranakpur....So we went to the Mandore Gardens..the ancient capital of Marwar...about 7 km out of Jodhpur.


This turned out to be a very pleasant day. I'm pleased to say we had very reliable tuk tuk drivers who happily delivered us safely to our destinations. It was a Sunday and second Dewali..?? can't explain how this holiday works but apparently that is what it is called. The gardens..trees with wide stone pathways and numerous temples were filled with local people enjoying their holiday. We were often approached for photos causing lots of giggles and elaborate posing. Some had their own cameras but often it was just the process of posing with us or being snapped that seemed to be the point. I had learnt to ask the children "How old are you?" in Hindi..I found the young children weren't able to converse much in english... and received surprising answers. In a number of cases 16 or 17 year olds were more the size of 9 or 10 year olds...then.I read in the Times a report that claimed half the children are suffering from malnutrition..all a bit shocking....

....The Mandore gardens were also home to large numbers of langurs ..the grey monkeys...which are generally not too aggressive..I. Apparently it is the red faced monkeys you need to be particularly wary of. It was the first time we had seen monkeys in their natural state so that was fun.

Most of the cenotaphs dated back to the 17th century but there are remnants of the ancient fort that are believed to go back to the 6th century AD or earlier..

Altogether there was lots to see here and a very relaxing atmosphere...far from the traffic and pollution as well.

I remember those monkeys. One of them tore a bag of snacks from my hand and then others seemed to come out of nowhere to scoop up the goods. A goat got in on it to ad the they did get aggressive but the goat was oblivious a d kept eating. :D

Another time one came to me and all I had was a Halls cough drop so I gave it to him and off he went with what had to be his first taste of cool menthol. :).

I agree too much car time is tiring.

Again I am following. Larry. :)

Hey b_b
I'm reading and enjoying too! Takes me back to our trip March 2012, mostly Rajasthan but also Kolkata and Sunderbans tiger reserve. The monkeys there were really scary, more so than the tigers (we only saw paw prints).....
Keep up the good work !

It sounds as if we were lucky the monkeys were so well behaved.
Well the next thing to do was to prepare for our first train trip.

We booked through Cleartrip...2 months before..two first class tickets on the Ranikhet Express which was due to depart from the Bhagat Ki Kothi station at 6.30 and arrive at Jaipur at 14.20. This was a bit too early and earlier than other options but it was the only train offering first class seats.

We arranged to have an early meal on our lst evening..Ratan Villas dining hour is 7.30 but if you ask they will allow you to eat earlier. We had early meals every night. I remember this meal in particular as I had a special Rajasthani dried bean called sangri..really had the texture of muddy straw but seemed very nourishing..apparently quite a treat!

should be last evening sorry....
Our lunch pack was handed over rather ceremoniously ...a banana, orange, 4 slices of bread and 2 eggs, juice and packet of chips. It was very helpful as we weren,t sure what would be available on the train and had planned on only eating packaged foods. Lunch and luggage in hand we were duly delivered to the Bhagat Ki Kothi station by our driver, organised by the hotel, ..in good time for the train. He then gestured to stairs and platforms in the distance to indicate we had a way to go yet. He wasn't ready to stay and help us climb the thousand stairs with our bags unfortunately so that was that...we managed. We weren't approached by porters from memory ..or we may have ignored them without meaning to. However,we were fortunate to find people helpful in guiding us to the right platform and carriage as nothing was very clear to us and when the train came we were searching with a local traveller who was looking for 2AC...I kept asking for "farst klas" and followed the gestures.Finally we found a likely carriage..but our names weren't posted on the outside of the carriage as I expected so we had to check with a conductor to see if we were on the list..Everything was fine and we were in the right place but I couldn't help comparing our experience to that of Djunbugs ..They obviously coped much better and did make it sound so easy ,,but I didn't mind particularly missing all the rats they found in the early morning at Jodhpur...I suspect they were on another station..as we saw nothing like that..

The carriage itself looked very comfortable...The seats seemed to be covered in leather and were very clean and comfortable. We had a 4 berth carriage for just the two of us. This meant we could stretch out and nap when it suited us. The windows were quite grubby but the curtains were quite clean and fresh. The ticket master spoke very good english sat down with us and checked details asking for a 25 rupee extra charge which he showed us on his papers...We had our blankets delivered and were asked if we wanted to have the beds made up..We didn't but needed the pillows and a blanket later as it became quite cool.
In no time we were at Marwar where we stopped for 20 minutes. This was a long journey..hours longer than the other trains we could have taken..but we really enjoyed being lost in time for this 7 odd hours with nothing much to do but relax and look at the rustic scenery..nibbling from our lunch pack.
I should mention that the bathroom facilities were fine and we had no complaints.

When we arrived at the station we looked out for someone from the Umaid Bahwan Heritage Style and in no time he was there. It was only a short trip to the hotel which was a little tucked away from the busy mainstream, thankfully. The hotel is quite modern..a mock haveli... ornate with charming pictures, narrow corridors winding around balconies and in and out of charming lounge areas around a central courtyard. Someone said wandering around the hotel was like being lost in a miniature painting..a perfect description...The room itself was smaller than we had become used to but did have a balcony with table and chairs as well. The staff were polite but there were a few communication problems and we largely felt on our own. There were several middle class indian families staying and it was interesting to see how firm they tended to be with the staff.
A good breakfast was included in the price...cereal, fruit, eggs to order...
We only had 2 nights in Jaipur so needed to get organised with a driver quickly.. This would have been best done in advance in retrospect. As it turned out we had to take the advice of the group of drivers outside the hotel and use the taxi of their "friend". The hotel said there were no taxis left because of the election..In the end we were taken to the Amber Fort and several leather bag shops and parked outside the textile shop of the driver's cousin. We decided to part company at this stage and pay the driver what we had agreed. It was easier to see the old city on our own than to argue with him about how it wasn't possible to see the sights we wanted and go shopping. We then toured the Hawa Mahal ..which was fascinating ..and strolled round to the Palace. I think we got a sense of the grandeur of the old city but the congestion driving back through the city was extraordinary..At one point it felt like we were caught in the vortex of an auto whirlpool..all sorts of carts, 2 wheeled , 4 wheeled, 6 wheeled vehicles following each other,as if caught up in perpetual motion. We found the pollution quite oppressive in the streets of Jaipur and were both wearing face masks by this stage. I ended up taking antibiotics for a sinus infection around this time.

The next stage of our trip was to get to Agra and see the famous stepwell at Abhanieri and the Fatehpur Sikri on the way.
For this leg we booked a driver through asia experience. We had the comfort this time of a Toyota Innova..very spacious. We set off at 9 and arrived in Agra about 6.. We spent some time at the Stepwell which was a much grander construction than I had imagined..and a very busy village...Three busloads were ahead of us..There is also an old temple nearby apparently built in the 9th century. This is one of the amazing things we noticed about India...that there are ruins all over the place...deserted ancient buildings scattered anonymously through the landscape...quite apart from the tourist temptations we all flock to see.
Coming out of Abhanieri we stopped to visit the school. The driver rang them to announce us and then we walked through the archway into the very spartan grounds. For the short time we were there everything stopped. The teachers and then the students came out to greet us and were absolutely charming. It was clear the students took a pride in their work although most of them sat on the ground using rugs and blankets to cover the earth. They were an inspiration. Hopefully we will keep in touch in some way.

The trip took us along the highway and on to Fatehpur Sikri later in the day which was a perfect time to view the buildings glowing in the afternoon sunlight. Fatehpur Sikri is an ancient fortified city in red stone with elaborate carvings, bordered windows, and constructed so that there are frames within frames, views within views, ..wherever you turn you catch your breath. It was built by Akbar in the 16th century with palaces for his favourite Hindu, Christian and Muslim wives. It was to be the Mughal capital but they ran out of water..Here we are only 40 km from Agra.

We arrived in the early evening at the Hotel Taj Resorts in Shilpgram Road near the Eastern Gate of the Taj Mahal. Amazing to be here at last... Sadly farewelled our very lovely driver who had been great company all the way and delivered us safely.
The Taj Resorts was one of our more expensive hotels and was full of promise. There were uniformed doormen in turbans and subdued lighting.,a dancer and musician in the entrance in traditional costume. But things just didn't run so smoothly here although it appeared so chic. We were assured the wifi would be working in our room and when it didn't told someone would be there to check it. Over our whole visit (well only 2 nights) no-one came. We also had a request for a top sheet for our bed. At this stage of the trip we thought this wasn't a big ask. The sheet arrived after several calls but surprisingly it was quite damp and unusable. After another call apologies and a pair of single sheets arrived. The next day someone arrived beaming with a double sheet in hand. But when we asked for the linen to be changed we ended up with single sheets again..Obviously a major sheet shortage...but I was surprised, with the price of the room.at about 85 aud.

Anyway although we had no wifi and missed our sheet we did get our Taj Mahal ticket with a bottle of water and temple socks at the reception desk...actually not immediately but in a short time.. Although we could have bought them nearby it was just a treat to have this done for us...All other inconveniences were forgotten as we set off for a dream come true visit....How good it was not to have to organise a tuktuk driver for this trip and to just hope in the free bus outside the door....This is why we love Taj Resorts....

It seems like most arrangements clicked and it's cool you put the rest of it in perspective. IME such things are par for the course there.

Yes thanks jacketwatch ..the perspective seems to be improving as I write the report..so I will keep going..
AGRA ctd. The Taj Mahal was fantastic despite being fairly busy by mid morning. We didn't continue on to the Red Fort because we didn't want to spoil the impact of the Taj visit...We stayed for ages and soaked up the experience...chatted to lots of young people and took and posed for many photos showing many beautiful views of the Taj...

TUNDLA STATION....Next day we headed off to the Tundla Station bright and early again..after having to call reception at 2am to quieten the indian party which had taken over our floor...
It cost 1,000 rupee for the 40 minute trip..The hotel had said it might take 1.5 hours.All a bit puzzling but we needed a reliable journey so accepted their deal. At the station we booked a porter..50rupee per bag...a tiny man who shocked us by putting both quite big bags on his tiny head.. He was a hero to us and looked after us very professionally, despite a long wait for the train. He checked our bookings and guided us to another platform following one of the announcements. We would have been in trouble without him as we couldn't follow the loudspeaker directions even though they might have been in english. We paid him as he put our bags on the train and were happy to give a good tip...

This was a Shatabhi executive chair class, with airplane type seats and not as roomy as our compartment on the Rhaniket Express. We dutifully did not eat any train food except bottled water and packaged biscuits...Did I mention that we didn't have one day of tummy troubles?

The journey was comfortable enough and lots of exuberant children to entertain us.

LUCKNOW. We arrived in Lucknow LATE... more like 2 than 1 and found it difficult to organise any touring so just walked around to see what we could find. Lots of grand old british buildings and beautiful sari shops...and the uniformed traffic controller at the roundabout. We were on our own as the hotel..the Best Western Plus Levana didn't have any tourist maps or information ..it was more of a businessman's hotel I suppose. It was very luxurious and glamorous but we felt quite discouraged when they charged us 80 rupees for an orange. We were only booked for one night and there was so much we could have seen..top of the list was the British Residency ruins...but there just wasn't time..

AC2 to VARANASI...The next day we travelled AC2..to Varanasi. We had tried to get an AC1 seat and had waitlisted 1 and 2 bookings..but they didn't budge in 2 months so we cancelled a few days before and kept the AC2 booking. The train was to depart at 9 but was more than an hour late..Our porter had a trolley this time and smart coat and turban. While we waited for the delayed train a young sociology graduate from Patna approached us to chat...Soon we were surrounded by a small crowd .nothing else to do but watch this fascinating conversation...We realised we hadn't seen any other westerners all morning.

AC2 had compartments to sleep 6 but we were in different compartments..Someone sat in my seat and wasn't moving because of his back.so I was obliged, happily enough, to sit opposite his family...and R was with a family in the next compartment with a sadly disabled child stretched across the seat. For me it was an enjoyable trip as the ticket inspector organised me to have a whole seat to stretch out with my own window..I had made an exchange with the sore back man apparently and it was fine. I chatted to the young indian girl opposite who was now living in Sydney, Australia.She was very interesting. The scenery was all in sepia and quite beautiful..like a biblical landscape...I loved the trip and took many photos. Meanwhile in the next carriage R had a miserable time and was too tall to see much through the window. He also saw a rat which was headed my direction..but I was too engrossed in conversation to notice...

VARANASI...The station was packed but Bupa from the Alka Hotel found us within a few minutes, even though by now we were two hours late. He put us in a tuk tuk and then escorted us on foot through the old city to the hotel.Of course no tut tuks through the winding alleyways. .We stayed at the Alka for three days and had a wonderful view of the river from our balcony. We were very happy here and couldn't have enjoyed our visit more. The location, service and food were all quite perfect...We took a trip to Saranath on the first day hiring a car from the Ganpati, next door. We were in a good position to walk to the Aarti ceremony and see the burning ghats and to organise a boat to take us on to the river.

BODH GAYA...We booked a car through the Alka Hotel to take us to Bodh Gaya . We had a very enjoyable trip leaving at about 9.30 and arriving at about 3.30. The scenery was scattered with palm trees old stone buildings and neat farms and was quite beautiful. Unfortunately we discovered we had a flat tyre about 2 km from the Root Institute where we were staying but were able to get there with some help from a group of mechanics from a nearby auto shop.

Bodh Gaya was an easy place to visit..smaller and much quieter than any of the places we had been to this trip. We had three nights here. There is a lot to see..with the famous Bodhi Tree and temple and numerous other places of worship. We found the museum which housed the most ancient artifacts very interesting though completely empty of tourists.

The Root Institute was very comfortable with a neat good sized basic room and vegetarian meals available in their dining room. The hot water runs on solar power and is therefore very limited in the morning. They are a retreat so there are guidelines to be followed including silence in the dining room. These rules suited us fine but maybe not everyone.

DELHI ...We caught a plane from Gaya airport, via a taxi through the Root Institute's travel agent. At Delhi we bought a prepaid taxi ticket in a portable booth outside the main airport doors. It was 420 rupee to get to our hotel, the Florence Inn in Karol Bagh. Several drivers refused the ticket then we were pleased to see a young fellow step forward to take us. The traffic was very dense and the trip took seemingly forever..at least an hour. Then we had some trouble with a false arrival at the Hotel Perfect..ours was round the corner. We had a deluxe room in the Florence Inn which was very spacious, with writing desk, as well as a small kitchen bench for tea and coffee. The paper was delivered each morning. We were only a few minutes from the metro and a local market area...oh and the Robinson Centre adjoining the hotel opened during our visit. We had 4 nights here.
On the first day we accepted an offer from a tuk tuk driver to tour the red fort and chandi chowk for only 100 rupee. We ended up at a tourist store between the Monkey Temple and Connnaught Place...When we came out quite quickly our driver said he was leaving as the traffic was now too heavy and Chandi Chowk was closed today..and the Red Fort wasn't open for two hours yet....etc...We turned around and he was gone...so we spent that day walking to and around Connaught Place...which turned out to be best as it would have been closed on the next day, a Sunday. Older and wiser we hired a hotel driver the next day and saw the sights and so learnt a lesson about budget priced tuk tuks.

BANGKOK ......We spent the last few days in Bangkok despite some upheaval there which we managed to avoid completely. We stayed at the Centre Point Silom which was very pleasant and convenient to the BTS and the river boats..As it turned out any trouble with demonstrations was around the Democracy Monument. We saw the Wat Pho, Grand Palace and Khao San Road and Jim Thompson House.and Chinatown on our last day. All worth a look..maybe not Chinatown..
Owing to the instability we decided to book a hotel near the airport ,the Lilac Relax Residence. This helped us with our early start next day and was cosy enough with an efficient shuttle service.


We feel lucky to have kept so well and to see such a range of interesting places...to travel in a variety of ways..by tuk tuk, by car , by train and by plane over India...and to have been able to research so much information on this... and other forums. Thanks to all.

Sorry ..mistake in Delhi section.We stayed 3 nights at Florence Inn.in Delhi.....No Robinson Centre near Florence Inn..note should be next to Centre Point Silom in the Bangkok section of course.

Again it seems you got a lot out of this trip and you certainly made the most of it.

Will you ever go back to India?

Thanks for taking the time to do a report. It's always fun to read about other people's experiences.

Thanks for your response Djunbug..your report was a great help to me, particularly regarding the train travel..

Jacketwatch....Will I go back?....a good question...and a few weeks ago I would have said no...the travel is too tough.. But now nostalgia is setting in....so may be a possibility..