The best way to learn and discover about a country is by measuring it by feet or by road. Given the love for travel and the amount of learning that it offers, me and my husband usually do a long roadtrip every year squeezing out time over the long weekends and sometime even taking official call in the car parked under tree. :)
This time around we decided to head out of Delhi not knowing which direction to take. Given the good condition of roads in Rajasthan, we headed towards Jaipur starting around mid day. Reached Kishengarh and decided to take a halt overnight in one of the 1859 havelli turned into hotel. The hotel is quite serene and beautiful and one of the few good heritage properties on the stretch. We started our day and headed towards destination Udaipur. The road to Udaipur is well constructed and usually a pleasant drive. There is a short stretch between Kishengarh and Beawar which is under construction and single lane leading to slow drive. The way onwards is quite interesting, specially the way it starts panning out into mountains and city of lakes. The small towns on the way are basic and studded with temples and roadside economy. People are helpful in general and incase you are fond of anything coming off street. You can get all kind of things to try, freshly cut radish, peanuts, roadside chaat, rajastani dahi bade and mewar kulfi. So, don't forget to keep enjoying the real India while on your way.
There is a road stretch of about 50 odd kilometres which is drive up/into the lake city Udaipur. The serene mountains give a feel of wonder and amazement if you were really in the land of sand dunes. Local people are quite friendly and pleasing. You cover the mountain way up to reach a wonder land. We headed straight to the fateh sagar lake to see the wonderful palace right in the middle of lake. The palace is a 5 star hotel, leaving the lake's periphery for general public to enjoy. The walk around the lake takes you to some real lone and beautiful places and gives a complete 360 degree view of the beauty. Having enjoyed the serenity of the lake from a quite corner, we headed to pichola lake, a tip to city palace (from outside) and then a round around the city. We then decided to head further into Gujarat and see how the land of lakes transition kilometre by kilometre into new culture and life.
Ahmedabad touched our heart with simplicity, the city still has value for money. A visit to Sabarmati ashram and how well the river has been kept and developed is must do. It was time to give ourselves the gujarati food treat and we decided on thali buffet at sasu ji.. the food was finger licking. We took a way off to visit the Sabarmati bank and decided to start our journey backward..
A great journey, where nature transitions from sand dunes to lakes to simplicity of plains. By the end of the journey, I could only think that ours is not a nation of one culture, one caste or one king. It is the diversity , co existence and wealth of nature that makes India and on every road that we drove, every city that we passed by and every stranger that we talked to was written a story of survival and optimism. Before you head out of India, do give your own country a chance to mersmerize you, but look at it with your eyes and lens.
This time around we decided to head out of Delhi not knowing which direction to take. Given the good condition of roads in Rajasthan, we headed towards Jaipur starting around mid day. Reached Kishengarh and decided to take a halt overnight in one of the 1859 havelli turned into hotel. The hotel is quite serene and beautiful and one of the few good heritage properties on the stretch. We started our day and headed towards destination Udaipur. The road to Udaipur is well constructed and usually a pleasant drive. There is a short stretch between Kishengarh and Beawar which is under construction and single lane leading to slow drive. The way onwards is quite interesting, specially the way it starts panning out into mountains and city of lakes. The small towns on the way are basic and studded with temples and roadside economy. People are helpful in general and incase you are fond of anything coming off street. You can get all kind of things to try, freshly cut radish, peanuts, roadside chaat, rajastani dahi bade and mewar kulfi. So, don't forget to keep enjoying the real India while on your way.
There is a road stretch of about 50 odd kilometres which is drive up/into the lake city Udaipur. The serene mountains give a feel of wonder and amazement if you were really in the land of sand dunes. Local people are quite friendly and pleasing. You cover the mountain way up to reach a wonder land. We headed straight to the fateh sagar lake to see the wonderful palace right in the middle of lake. The palace is a 5 star hotel, leaving the lake's periphery for general public to enjoy. The walk around the lake takes you to some real lone and beautiful places and gives a complete 360 degree view of the beauty. Having enjoyed the serenity of the lake from a quite corner, we headed to pichola lake, a tip to city palace (from outside) and then a round around the city. We then decided to head further into Gujarat and see how the land of lakes transition kilometre by kilometre into new culture and life.
Ahmedabad touched our heart with simplicity, the city still has value for money. A visit to Sabarmati ashram and how well the river has been kept and developed is must do. It was time to give ourselves the gujarati food treat and we decided on thali buffet at sasu ji.. the food was finger licking. We took a way off to visit the Sabarmati bank and decided to start our journey backward..
A great journey, where nature transitions from sand dunes to lakes to simplicity of plains. By the end of the journey, I could only think that ours is not a nation of one culture, one caste or one king. It is the diversity , co existence and wealth of nature that makes India and on every road that we drove, every city that we passed by and every stranger that we talked to was written a story of survival and optimism. Before you head out of India, do give your own country a chance to mersmerize you, but look at it with your eyes and lens.
