Rajasthan Trip Details

Travelling in Marwar region

Most of the cities in this region - Bikaner, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer etc. have a "core" old city surrounded by the new city. The old city is too narrow for car traffic. Only auto-rickshaws can ply there and in some places (like near the Dargah in Ajmer), only foot traffic is possible. The new city area is fine and you should be able to drive there, as long as you know where you are going. There aren't any directions. The highways between the towns are good in general. They are mostly two-lane roads (one lane for each direction of traffic). So you can only go around 80 kmph there. There are enough livestock on the road to keep you busy. The road between Bikaner and Jodhpur via Nagaur is currently in bad condition because they are four-laning it. Once the work is done (say in two years - it is almost 2015 now), the road should be very good.

Hotel Review

Rajesh Jangid's Tourist Pension, Nawalgarh: This is a very good homestay. Note that this is not a regular hotel. You are staying in somebody's house. So don't land up here in the middle of the night expecting to party. There is no alcohol or meat available here. You need to call in advance if you would like a meal as soon as you arrive. The dinner was excellent. The breakfast spread was also decent. The interior decor is very good. There is a large closed sit-area common to all the rooms. The larger rooms are no-brainer. They are very good. The smaller ones are a bit cramped, especially the bathrooms. Rooms and bathrooms are very clean. Mr. Jangid is very helpful and can arrange all your travel needs. Note that there is no TV in the rooms. The accommodation here is very cheap. There aren't very many options in Nawalgarh.
Paavana Haveli, Mandawa: This is a decent place to stay. The place is right next to the market and you are right in the middle of the shopping area. The food here is very tasty, but is on the oily/fatty side. So you cannot have more than one meal a day here. The rooms were on the smaller side and there is no TV in any of the rooms. The staff was good and helpful. The breakfast was a bit disappointing. Rooms and bathrooms are very clean. Mandawa has lots of options to stay. So you can shop around a bit. Mandawa is very centrally located in Shekhawati. So this can be an excellent base to check out this region.
RTDC Haveli Inn, Fatehpur: This is a very average hotel. The staff is very courteous and very helpful. There aren't very many options in Fatehpur. So you might be stuck here if you are overnighting in Fatehpur. They somehow managed to make the rooms colder than the outside. The rooms are large, but only of average cleanliness. There aren't any creepy-crawlies, but you would not like to walk around bare foot in there. The bathrooms are large and clean. The food was pretty tasteless. The place is very cheap though. Another problem with the place is that it is very far away from the town. So if you want to go to the market, it is a very long walk or a long wait to flag down an auto.
Harasar Haveli, Bikaner: This is a decent place to stay. It is a little bit away from the town centre. But it is very easy to find auto-rickshaws waiting outside. The food is decent, but the menu is a bit limited. The breakfast was not that great. The front desk manager is very helpful. He is very courteous and helps you in every which way possible. The rent is reasonable and rooms and bathrooms are clean and bed is quite comfortable. The restaurant is very noisy though. So please pick a room away far away from the restaurant as possible.
Haveli Inn Pal, Jodhpur: There are two hotels sharing this large haveli - Pal Haveli and this one. Pal is the costlier one. This is an authentic haveli unlike the others on the list. This is a 200 year old historic building with old authentic photographs. That also means every room is a bit different and you need to see a few and see which one you like the best. They rooms are all spacious and very clean. Bathrooms are large and clean as well. This is one of the few places where I could find shower curtains in the bathroom. The rooms on the top floor have great views, but there is no lift in this old building. The view from the rooftop restaurant is one of the best in the town. The food is decent. The place is bang in the middle of the old city. That means it is very noisy. If you are a light sleeper, you will not get any sleep at night. Ask for a room that is away from the noise and hope for the best. The front desk staff was a bit cold. This is the only place where they did not help me with travel arrangements. The lower level staff were very cheerful and helpful. The rent/tariff is a bit high here. But given the location, it is probably justified.
Jasmin Home, Jaisalmer: This is an excellent property. This is very new and the interior decor is one of the best I have seen in India. The rooms and bathrooms are very clean. The food is decent and is available all through the day. The owner (who lives at the property), is very helpful and will help you with all the travel needs. The rent/tariff is reasonable. The view from the top floor restaurant is also good. My only complaint is that the property is bit far from the town. There is hardly any shops nearby and you need to walk a good 15 mins to get to the main road.

Driving Distances

Jaipur to Ajmer/Pushkar: ~130 km. It should take you about 2 hrs to get to the outskirts of Ajmer. The road is excellent four lane road all the way. Ajmer-Pushkar is a winding one-lane (each-way) mountain road. The road is good, but the going is a bit slow and should take you 30 to 45 mins.
Jaipur to Nawalgarh: ~150kms. It is an excellent 4 lane NH to Sikar and a good two-lane road to Nawalgarh. It should take you about 2.5 hrs for the journey (assuming light traffic when getting out of Jaipur).
Fatehpur to Bikaner: 180km. The road is a very good two lane road. You should be able to cover the distance in 3 hrs.
Bikaner to Jodhpur: The straight route is via Nagaur. But that is in a very bad shape due to four-laning. We went via Osiyan. That is close to 300 km. It is a very good 2-lane road all the way and you go right by the Osiyan temples. It will take you 5 hrs for the journey.
Jodhpur to Jaisalmer: 280km 5hrs. Another very good 2-lane road. I hope all these become four lane one day!

Time Required at the Sights

Nasiyan Jain Temple, Ajmer: 30 mins is plenty.
Nawalgarh: There are four main havelis - Poddar, two Murarka, Bhagton, Bala Qila. You can easily cover all of them by foot in one afternoon.
Rest of Shekhawati: Most of the other towns have one or two havelis worth visiting. So it is mostly time spent getting to the towns than at the sites.

Dundlod: The Goenka haveli is pretty good. The chatri (a 10 min walk from the haveli) is worth a look as well.
Mukundgarh: Saw couple of havelis. Both seemed missable.
Mandawa: The Goenka/Murmuria (opposite from each other) are worth a look. The "Golden Room" in Jhunjhunwala haveli is pretty good (but has a steep entrance free or Rs. 100/- per head).
Jhunjhunu: The Modi haveli was decent. The rani sati temple was so-so.
Mahansar: The fort has some good views from the top and is the only place in town for a decent meal. The sone-ki-dukan haveli is excellent. The Tolaram haveli is worth a look.
Fatehpur: The Nadine haveli is probably the best in Shekhawati.

Bikaner: One day should be sufficient to check out all the sites in here.

Junagarh fort: You need to see this via a guided tour. The group will have about 15 people - this is for Indians. The foreigner group is smaller. The tour lasts 2 to 2.5 hrs. The Prachina Museum (5 min walk from the fort entrance) has some good pieces and worth a look. You should be done in 20 to 30 mins.
Lalgarh palace: The museum here is pretty ordinary. The only reason to go here to photograph the palace. It is best in the evenings. The palace is about 10 mins away from the fort by an auto-rickshaw.
Havelis can only be seen from the outside and is about 20 mins auto ride from the fort and it is on the way to the Jain temple. You need about 30 mins at the temple to give it full justice.
The Camel Research Centre is 8kms from the fort and it is better to take a car to get there. An hour is more than enough there. Very close to the centre is the Royal Cenotaphs and is worth a look. 30 mins is plenty at the cenotaphs.

Jodhpur: If you leave out Osiyan, the whole place can be covered in a few hours.

Mehrangarh fort will take about 2 hours. Taking a guide is highly recommended.
The Jaswant Thada is a 5 min auto ride from the fort. You don't need a guide here. You will be done in 15 mins. Don't forget to turn back and look at the fort - the best view of Mehrangarh is from the Thada.
Mandore gardens is 30 min auto ride from Jaswant Thada. You need a couple of hours at the garden. The chatris here are excellent. The last and the biggest ones have good sculptures in them. The museum is pretty ordinary. There is a Hall of Heroes as well.
Umaid Bhavan Palace is about 20 mins from the fort by auto. The museum is so-so. There are some good porcelain, clock and vintage car collection. You will be done in 30 mins or so.
Osiyan is about 1.5 hrs from Jodhpur. The Jain and the Hindu temples are worth a look. It is definitely recommended if you are travelling on this route. If you are just going up and down from Jodhpur, then the Jain temples in Jaisalmer fort is far superior and you can consider skipping the Osiyan one.

Jaisalmer: One day is sufficient to see all the sights. If you are going to the Sam Sand Dunes, then you need an extra afternoon.

The Jain temples at the fort are excellent. They are one of the best in the country and the only ones in the yellow sand-stone. The fort palace is pretty disappointing. But you should go there for the sweeping views of the town. The temples and the fort will take you a couple of hours. A guide is recommended.
The Patwa ki Haveli is 10 min auto-ride from the fort and is a must-see. A guide is recommended and you can be done in about an hour. If you have an additional hour (or two) to spend, then head to Nathmal ki Haveli (you can only see this from the outside) and onto the Mandir Palace. You can cover both of these by foot. If you are not into Havelis, then stop with just the Patwa.
The Ludruva Jain Temple is 30 to 40 min auto-ride from the fort. But it "sort-of" comes on the way to Sam Sand Dunes. The temple is good. But it is all recently built. The Bada Bagh is excellent and can be covered enroute to Sam. Kuldhara is not great. But the package tour might take you here anyway. The way Sam tours work is you leave by 2:00 pm-ish and make your way to the dunes by 4:30pm checking out the sites on the way. You can do this by your own car as well. You then hop on a camel for a hour ride to the sunset point. You can choose to spend the evening here with a traditional dinner or stay overnight or you can choose to head back to town for dinner. If you want to head back soon, consider taking a jeep tour. Jeeps can come and pick you up at the sunset point and you don't have to spend the extra hour back on the camel.

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