We spent most our time in Rajasthan and decided to visit most of its famous towns including: Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. Before we talk about our top things from visiting the towns we wanted to call out the driving in India as being one of safest we encountered since starting the trip (much to the surprise of us). Since Nick visited India 15 years ago the roads have come along a great way. We did 3-4 hours drives to get from one town to the next and drivers never spent times on their phones compared to other countries we travelled (looking at you, Jordon).
Indian Culture
Udaipur was a great way for us to experience Indian culture. This city is often referred to as the ‘Venice of Asia’ with its three lakes; Fateh Sagar Lake, Lake Pichhola and Swaroop Sagar Lake.
One of our favourite insights into Indian culture was watching the ‘Bagore Ki Haveli’ show with local folk music. There were a variety of performances from dancing, puppet shows and balancing acts. It was a great city and we enjoyed discovering little shops and cafes in the alleys. It would be such a great town to walk round but what made it difficult was the endless cars, tuk tuks, cows and motorbikes down the narrowest alleys. This could be the most romantic city in Asia but the endless congestion and pollution spoils it at times.
Famous Forts in India
No trip to India is complete without seeing some of its famous forts. There are two in particular which caught our eye: Kumbhalgarh Fort and Mehrangath Fort.
Kumbhalgarh Fort
Enroute to Jodhpur is when we planned a stop-over at this fort. The fortified walls are the main feature of this fort. Spanning a total of 36kms over 13 hill peaks. An interesting fact is the Kumbhalgarh fort has been recorded as the second longest wall in the world, after the Great Wall of China. The walls enclose a complete citadel with over 360 temples within it.
What we loved about this fort was that it has been left as is. There were few signposts and we frankly loved that about the fort as we could explore the place properly and discovered a lot by ourselves.
Mehrangath Fort
This is over 500 year old and perched 40 feet above the city on a perpendicular cliff. It’s one of India’s most spectacular forts. There was something surreal about us having a curry on the rooftop cafe with the fort in the background.
Camel riding in Jaisalmer
Our final stop in Rajasthan was Jaisalmer. It’s called the ‘Golden City’ after its yellow sandstone architecture and is very close to the Pakistan border. It once used to be a formal medieval trading centre located in the heart of the Thar Desert. We decided to try out the traditional life with taking a camel tour through the desert and watching the sunset.
This city was beautiful and quiet which was what we needed after the hectic city hopping in Rajasthan .