October this year came up with a fabulous opportunity to take a quick unplanned holiday. In a week, the Wednesday was an off and so was that same Friday, so if you just took a thursday off – you got full 5 days holiday. On seeing this small window of opportunity, the travel junkie in me just couldn’t resist and decided to go somewhere, rather go anywhere. However realty hit me hard, when I saw the extremely expensive air fare for any place that I wanted to visit, so I decided to leave all those places and check my options via an overnight train travel from Mumbai.
Now, I am one of those people who really need to plan for a trip much in advance and research / mull on it for at least a month. But in this case I decided the broad trip details in 2 days and landed up at the place with only the trains and hotels booked. Rest all, I left to be discovered en route; I guess this is as impulsive as I’ll ever get. And I am glad to say that I wasn’t disappointed; in fact, I realised that there is a different experience all together when you travel like this. For starters, you haven’t read a lot about a place so it’s all new and unexpected. Secondly this allows you a lot of flexibility in the paths to take or things to do.
We planned our trip as follows and also added a few old Jain temples to the list of things to see.
Tuesday Evening – Took a train from Mumbai to Kota.
Wednesday – Reached Kota early morning and took a cab to visit Kesariya Patan (a beautiful Jain temple) and then reached Bundi. Spent the day in Bundi. (Otherwise too, Kota is well-connected with numerous cities and from there Bundi is an hour’s drive).
Thursday – Went on a rural drive to Bijoliyaji (another beautiful Jain temple) and then drove from there to Pushkar. (Drive to Bijoliyaji took 2 hours one way, but was very scenic and filled with beautiful villages and numerous birds. From Bundi it is a 4 hour drive to Pushkar).
Friday – Spent in exploring Pushkar. (If you directly want to reach Pushkar, the nearest train station is Ajmer and it is well-connected with numerous cities. From Ajmer, Pushkar is 20 – 30 minutes drive by road).
Saturday – Explored Ajmer, Nareli (another gorgeous Jain temple) and then returned to Pushkar. (We booked a cab from Pushkar and explored everything in a day as there is nothing much in Ajmer. Also my recommendation is that maintain base in Pushkar (and not Ajmer). As Pushkar has a lot of things to enjoy whereas Ajmer is just a city with nothing much to see or do).
Sunday – Spent half a day in Pushkar and then took a train back to Mumbai. (This route is via Abu road, so you can also combine a trip to Mt. Abu, if you have the time).
Monday – Reached Mumbai early morning and went to office. 😦
My trip was for 5 days but if you just want to take a quick weekend break from Mumbai then you can do a weekend trip to either Bundi or Pushkar. It’s very doable. Additionally, if you can book train tickets in advance then this is a complete budget trip / holiday, as hotels and food are very cheap in both these places.
Please follow this blog for more detailed posts on each day spent in these beautiful places and with some awesome people. 🙂
Definitely off beat. Nice destinations.
http://www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.in
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Thanks Niranjan… Have you been to any of these places?
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Hi Snigdha,
Definitely, Rajasthan is a lovely place to visit. Now, looking at all the wonderful pictures, I feel like going there too. 🙂
Keep posting.
Regards
Jay
http://road-to-sanitarium.blogspot.in/
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Hi Jay, its a beautiful place and loads of offfbeat things to do…. Though this was my 7th visit to Rajasthan, I still feel there is still so much more left to see there…
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I have been in Bundi two years ago, also visited Ajmer and Pushkar…amazing places..Interestingly we have many similar places in our travel list as well as on blog..my Bundi travelogue is here:
http://www.solobackpacker.com/2011/05/30/the-beauty-and-charm-of-bundi/
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I agree, somehow we have visited quite a few common places…. I have read the Bundi travelogue and really liked it… Mine is quite different though….
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Rajasthan is my winter target 🙂 Spend nearly 3 days in Chittorgarh (incluing a night stay inside the fort 🙂 ), Pushkar & Ajmer on the weekend preceding Diwali. Next is Alwar, most probably this Monday.
A couchsurfing friend of mine just told me about Bundi & i am planning for a trip. Looking forward to read your post for guidance.
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I am so ennvious… You must have seen pretty much everything around here, na? Do you drive to these places ot take a train? I have done a day visit Chittorgarh along with Udaipur and Mt. Abu but sadly didnt stay there. Where do you plan to go in Alwar?
I will post on Bundi soon 🙂
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nope, i thought i saw everything after few trips, then i spoke to some travellers and they made me feel like i haven’t seen anything in this world 😦
Alwar didn’t happen, plan was to go through Sariska-Alwar fort – Bangarh (the deserted ‘haunted’ village). But i will do it soon.
B/w i am heading to Ahmedabad for kite festival 🙂 #win
Looking forward to see Bundi through ur words.
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That is exactly how I feel whenever I read about other people’s travel tales and I am so envious of people who are traveling full time. But since I can’t be like them, I a trying to make the most of my leaves from work.
Will write my posts on Bundi by this weekend 🙂 Enjoy the kite festival in Ahmedabad.
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thank you for following my blog. i’ve been enjoying reading your posts so far. keep travelling, don’t lose your faith and courage to explore our planet earth. cheers!
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Thanks GalonTrip… And I look forward to reading more of your beautiful posts.
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Rajasthan is such a great place… Was one of my favorite states in India!
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Rajasthan is a fabulous place… I have been there so many times but have still not seen everything… will surely head there again 🙂
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Have you ever been to Thar? I heard that was quite the experience as well! I am enjoying your blog by the way!
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Thanks and I have been to Thar a couple of years back. I completely agree with you… There is nothing like a desert night 🙂
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