Rajasthan

The run into Rajasthan started 70 kilometers south of Agra from a place called Baag. The first stop was Jodhpur, west and north of where I was starting. Keep the map of India in mind when you read this part of my cruise.

Went in from Jaipur, directly west to Jodhpur. Then south to Kumbalgarh. Then North north west to Jaisalmer. From there we went east and north to Phalodi. Then came down south to Mount Abu on the way out of Rajasthan.

The drive took me to the Agra Lucknow Expressway. And, maps led me into the heart of Agra. Why ?? Because the shortest route for it was the old highway that went thru the heart. Not the expressway that went around Agra and landed you on the other side. Which the Thar map wanted me top take. But, the board read - Outer Ring Road. So, I took it !!! Fortunately, at 0630 in the morning, most of the city was asleep. Only the autos in the middle of the streets were up and causing my blood to boil. But that settled down, onec I got past the limits of the city.

Till Jaipur, the traffic was non existent. Past Jaipur, till Ajamer, the traffic was as though I was on a arterial road within a large city. Once past Ajmer, the traffic died down.

The kids were supposed to meet me at Jodhpur. They were to get in to Jodhpur the previous day, head into the Airforce station to see the aircraft. Then meet up. I had supposed that they would also lunch there. 

Got into the Mahindra place by 1330, in time for lunch. Huge property, on the outskirts of the city. The property was clean of trees. There was gravel all around the massive construction. One would have been a wee bit satisfied if there had been some attempt showing of the owners planting green. 

Checked in and headed down for lunch. There was no bar, so no beer. Entered the empty dining area. Was met by a surly waiter whose first utterance had me. He wanted me to scan the QR code at the table to get my order. No welcome, no courtesy, no please sit down. I freaked. The manager in charge of the property was there in a couple of minutes. That brought the chef out. And, there was peace thereafter.

Fortunately I called the kids before I ordered. They were joining me for lunch. Ordered a light lunch, that came as the kids entered. They were accorded royal treatment at the reception, in their words. 

Food is Delhi. If you appreciate that sort of tasteless masala loaded buttery stuff. Not that food outside was any better. Tourism seems to have directed all the chefs away from the basics, to keep outsiders happy. Since we did not know any locals who could point us at decent places to eat local food, we existed.

My days were then taken over. Control was out of my hands. Even though my intention had always been to sit back and follow, was very tough on the nature of the mind.

Post lunch, went into the Airforce station as the kids had some work. Gave me the opportunity to see two front line air craft close up - the Rafale and the Su-30. Had seen the Mig-29 close up ages back. And, the Tejas when it became operational. These were even more lethal.

Relaxed evening. The next day we were to head out to the Mehrangarh fort in Jodhpur.

Will not give you a lesson in history or anything else. Just leave you with the visual treat.

Finished the tour of the fort by lunch. Went to a place that claimed to have authentic Rajasthani food called Raj Ras. Do not go there.

Evening was relaxed.

Next morning were on the road heading south southeast towards Kumbalgarh, one of the more famous forts. And, the fort with the second longest wall in the world. They run half marathons on the walls.

As we left Jodhpur and turned onto the highway, realised that my days of driving at speeds I liked for this part of the trip were now controlled. The self drive taxi that the kids had picked up had a speed governor, that kept them below 80 kmph. In a way, that helped. Increased the fuel efficiency of the Thar.

Breakfast was on the road. Paratthas of different kinds - aloo, paneer and onion. Each was a raw spicy as the other. Fortunately, curds were part of the deal.

Once we hit the narrower windy hill roads as we approached Kumbalgarh, top speeds no longer mattered.

The fort is not visible till you are almost on it. The last time I had been there, December of 2015, the roads had been deserted. This time around, there were resorts and hotels all along the approach to the fort. There were Leopard safaris too. The terrain was definitely Leopard, but, given that we had not seen a single prey, it was a low probability sighting safari.

The Kumbalgarh fort is a treat. It does not project the luxury that Jodhpur does. This is a fighting fort.

The ruins of a 2nd Century Jain temple stand outside the fort.

The fort itself looms over it majestically.

Like I said, a fighting fort.

The next morning, headed west north west towards Jaisalmer.

Went against all map recommendations and decided to head towards Barmer, before we turned north. The road thru the mountains to Kumbalgarh had not been very nice to us. This promised to be a better road, as it would be on  flat terrain. 

Around 0800, stopped at a place called Takathgarh for breakfast. Their strength was in the Idli and Dosai they made. Unfortunately the tawa was not hot, so we had to do with the idlis. Good stuff, not brilliant, good. There was decent sambar, and paruku chutney. Had 5 idlis.

We were to stop at a place called Kiradu, before we went on to Jaisalmer.

Kiradu has little mention in any history book. Read some fiction sometime back that related a Chola king sending military aid to King Sukhdev when he blew Ghazni out of Somnath.

Anyhow, this temple ruin is linked back to the Chalukya kings. As I said, little to research on. The Rajasthan state archeological guys are useless. Place is maintained by them.

By the time we were done, it was hunger time.

Got into Jaisalmer for a late lunch. Were herded out to the fort the same evening for a quick recap of the places visited by the expert guide a decade back. Was very impressed by the strong memories of the narrow roads, and the shops, and the shopkeepers.

Place was so much cleaner than when we had gone winter of 2015.

Made sure we had some of the Ras Malai at the famous mithai shop in the outer fringe shops. My last visit here had been seven years back. Brilliant stuff.

Next morning headed out bright and early for the border.We drove directly west.

On the way, the kids had some sand fun. Running up a sand hillock. They were a bit surprised by the excess effort that took.

 

Also had the pleasure of seeing a herd of Black Buck. This was actually our third sighting. The earlier two sightings had a buck run across the road in front of us. This, you need to peer into the left bottom part of the picture. Believe me, the herd is there.

We first went to a place called Tanot. From there we had to get permission to go to the BSF border post at Bawliyan. Was very exciting for all of us, even more for the youngest set. The post was manned by two young ladies who were absolutely dismissive of the pakistanis across the border. Liked their cheer and confidence. No issues exchanging some jokes and talking to the kids. The kids had a nice conversation with them, before the crowds started coming in. The place where the BSF troopers are located is the yellow and green painted tower. It is obviously full of audio visual sensing equipment. Apart from the ladies carrying very businesslike SLRs.

There was  brief interaction between the troopers and their officer, who came by on an inspection. Also to tell them that there were some pakistani rangers in no man's land. On being asked later, the troopers just laughed. They said that the rangers were under their observation. And, they were collecting fire wood and dried grass.

This first picture if the pakistani outpost.

 

These are of the Indian side.

Spent about an hour there, then headed south to Longewala, the place where 120 Indian soldiers of a Sikh unit  along with the BSF stopped a Pakistani tank Brigade backed by 3000 soldiers for a whole night, giving time for the Airforce to clean the tanks the next morning and the Indian Army to retaliate, routing the pakistani thrust.

The place is beautifully laid out. There are all sorts of army equipment kept around for tourist viewing, including many destroyed tanks and troop carriers. There is also a audio visual treat that describes the battle, for 20 minutes, that enthralls the audience. There is a sand model that describes out the battle ground.

 

On being asked were told that visitors were no longer allowed to the actual location where the battle took place. It was a kilometer into the desert. Reason was that tourists used to climb the burnt hulks of the pakistani tanks and sometimes fall off !!

Learnt of two other battles that were fought in the same vicinity that fetched a Param Veer Chakra for the Kumaon unit and a Maha Veer Chakra for the Grenadiers.

After spending time at Longewala, with the sun seriously shining down on us, decided to go to Sam. This is where all tourists go to enjoy the sand dunes. Sam now has very little of the original dunes left. Now a days, tourists gather in Sam for some food, and are then taken deeper into the desert for a jeep safari and the camel rides.

We got into Sam for a late lunch. Then as the heat had started dissipating, decided to let the kids have their camel ride, the dune type fun being done in the morning on much much larger dunes.

Got back to the resort for some well earned showers and chilled drinks.

The next day was for the fort. Morning and Afternoon. Please see pictures in reverse order. Upload went bonkers.

 

All our stays till now in Rajasthan had been with Mahindra Resort. Must say that their service in all sections sucks, desperately. The chinese virus break seems to have hit them somewhere wrong.

Next morning we headed north to a place called Phalodi. We were to stay at Keechan, at a resort called Khurja Resort.

As we drove out, had a great visual of some battle tanks of the Brigade located there.

 

Stopped for breakfast sometime later. Started talking to a local sitting there. He was a farmer - mustard and peanuts. Over the next 15 minutes, as my aloo paratha was being prepared from scratch, spent time convincing him to go up the value chain - make oil and paste. He wanted my number for further expertise. Told him to call development officer or his local MLA for technical inputs, and his bank for a loan. After getting kids in his area doing research in the internet. That last part he understood, he said "google".

The resort at Keechan is huge.

 

And, we got a horde of what we wanted to see - Siberian Cranes.

 

Kids flew out today, back to Chennai. I am now at Mount Abu. Traffic uphill was horrendous - bad drivers, slow , crawled up on 2nd gear. Fortunately, Sterling resorts has a bar that stocks KF Ultra !!! 

 

Met the chef. Placed my orders for lunch and dinner. Then appreciated the view from my room. Staying in. Too much traffic.

Tomorrow, head south to Ujjain.