Rajasthan is a popular destination India that gets extensive coverage in foreign countries. Palaces, Desert Camping, Festive colors, Safaris, Fairs, Religious circuits; the state packages everything that ‘The Land’ has to offer. Rajasthan has one of the best road and air connectivity in the country and tempts many in to taking road trips across the state. The blog below, authored by my daughter Rashmi, seeks to capture the beauty of Rajasthan through her eyes and words. The trip was organized towards the closing stages of the tourist season in the month of March. The weather is warmer than usual during the day but the evenings are pleasant with the hangover of winter. This road trip across Rajasthan was done over a period of 7 Nights and 8 Days.
This trip to Rajasthan has been a much awaited trip for me. Scheduled to take place after the stressful exams, this trip infused in me a lot of excitement. The day of our departure to our first destination, Udaipur, was a wonderful one. It started of pleasantly, by taking a flight to Udaipur as that is the only way. Udaipur, an extremely lively city that is filled with hotels and resorts having people who are commited to serve. Rajasthan is known for its people who have a charming personality and a willingness to serve their guests with warmth. Maharana Udai Singh of the Sisodia clan of the Rajputs,founded this city in 1553 and moved his capital from Chittorgarh to Udaipur. It remained the capital city till 1818 till it became a British Princely State. We(me,my mom and my grandfather) stayed at the Ramada resort and spa, which is a good four star resort. It has spacious rooms with good amenities and the staff here are very kind and helpful. The resort may be a little far away from the airport but it is the perfect one for a short stay of 2 nights.
The main purpose of this trip was to explore various high quality boutique and luxury resorts, palaces converted to hotels and heritage homestays to help my mother know more about them, their rooms, service and standard, to recommend them to her clients as per their requirement and affordability. Our first day was a cool and relaxing one as we had just arrived into the hotel. We were invited by some old friends to Hotel Inderprakash, just to meet and greet and spend some time together along with snacks. This place is an oyo premium hotel and is excellent for budget travellers.Later, we went to the Garden hotel for dinner which is located within the vintage car collection. It’s a small restaurant that serves delicious Indian Thali’s . You may not be able to find food upto your taste but good Indian Thali’s are easily available in Hotel Garden and Hotel Natraj.
There are a lot of sightseeing spots in Udaipur. This is a city that is super-clean and is ranked as the 20th cleanest city in the Swachh Bharat (Clean India)rankings.The Pichola lake makes this city look the prettiest by the night along with the night lighting. In Udaipur, you can visit the City palace which is a majestic palace standing on the eastern bank of the Pichola lake. This wonder was built by Maharana Udai Singh and it has various towers, domes and arches,which add flavor to this heritage site. It is wholly built on marble and granite and is a must-see site. You can also visit the Jag Mandir, which is an island palace in the middle of lake Pichola. It has some striking carvings including a row of elephants that look as if they are guarding the island. This place can be accessed only by boats. The crystal gallery is another fascinating place which contains a breathtaking collection of crystals, that have been collected from the past from antique pieces and artifacts. Here, you can see crystal dressing tables, chairs, crockery, table fountains and also the regal beds.
Day 2 – I could officially call this day the beginning of our trip because on this day we started visiting all the palace hotels and resorts which was the main purpose of our trip. We started off by having our breakfast in the resort which was included in our package. We then visited the Lalit Laxmi Vilas Palace, which is a high end luxury palace hotel. It is located in a beautiful location that is surrounded by greenery and is set in a former royal palace and a lakeside hilltop. This is a very good place for high end travellers and it is surrounded by a very peaceful environment. It has rooms facing the fort and rooms facing the lake. The suites here provide an amazing amount of luxury.
We then visited the Leela Palace, Udaipur which is a spectacular boutique property with the majestic location of the Lake Pichola and the fabulous view of the Aravalli mountains. It is beautifully designed to reflect the surrounding styles and influences and wonderfully displays the beauty of crafts and décor,for which leela is known. The rooms are large and well designed and is suited for foreign travellers and couples. The environment here is peaceful and charming and the staff are very kind and helpful.
Then, we visited the world famous Oberoi Udai vilas Resort which is a place that cannot be described in words. It is a place that has to be visited. The beautiful cultures, intricate Thikri work(traditional rajasthani glass work) and paintings on the walls, will leave any person awestruck. This place is so famous, that many film shoots and advertisement shoots take place here. The suites here are so comfortable and royal that no person would feel like leaving the place on the day of his/her checkout! The staff and the environment along with the lake make this place the best, for a romantic getaway…. Visiting these places literally took a whole day..Seeing the staff, the property and the rooms takes time and makes a lot of difference.
After visiting the resorts, we took it easy and relaxed in the evening in our room and got some simple dinner from Hotel Natraj.. We parceled some rice, Khicidi and Kadi which is an all time favourite..That indeed was a long and tiring day!
Getting there – If you are starting your journey in Rajasthan from Udaipur, do note that only the Metro cities and international gateways of Mumbai and Delhi offer convenient connections. Jet Airways, Indigo, Air India and Spicejet all offer direct flights in to Udaipur. Udaipur also has a railhead and Indian Railways offers convenient overnight trains from Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.
More to come…..
Journeysmatter 
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