October 11th - Jodhpur to Jaipur

Our hotel in Jodhpur was the vast Umaid Bhawan Palace built in the 1920's.


We had breakfast on the terrace of the the hotel overlooking the lawns where the Hurley wedding took place and in the background we could see the magnificent walled fort of Jodhpur. Our schedule didn't permit a visit to the fort as it didn't open until 10am and we have another 400kms to drive to our next stop at Jaipur.

We drove on fast roads more or less due east, making our first stop at Pushkar which has a lake that the Hindu pilgrims bath in and is surrounded by magnificent temples.

A drive round the lake took about half an hour and then we moved on into much drier countryside. We went past several forts which stand on hilltops looking out over the surrounding countryside.

Below is a scene typical when you drive in rural India. One that has not changed over centuries. The use of camels as a beast of burden is still widely used.

Our drive then took us on empty roads into a very remote part of the region and after another three hours of driving we arrived in Jaipur at the Rambagh Palace Hotel, another palace built by a maharajah in the 19th century as his hunting lodge. It is simply exquisite in all respects. Tomorrow I will post some photos of the hotel and show everyone how tough this type of 4x4 touring is!

Finally, to the readers of this blog who posted a comment that the hotels we have been staying in, are not a patch on a 'hotel' in Sussex, I say 'believe me they are!'.

1 comment:

lesliemoss said...

Hi Tim and Wendy; It occurs to me that if you should have any mechanical problems, you could always finish the tour either by elephant or camel! It might take a few days longer, but apparently the traffic is pretty horrendous anyway. Drive safely! Cheers, Les