'Whitelight' Tours Jaipur and Bharatpur

[FlyByWire]

Procrastination.... something whose avoidance should have formed a new year's resolution...but ended up being the first thing practiced in 2013. This account should have been written on 28th of December and should have been on air by the turn of the year but.....
Anyway, here it is now. My small trip to Jaipur and Keoladeo Sanctuary, Bharatpur. (But it didn't all go as the heading says! Read on.)

Dates : 24th to 27th Dec 2012.
People : Three families (Six adults and four kids).
Ride : A Honda Civic and my Honda City aka 'Whitelight' (Five people in each)

So, all the planning started in beginning of Dec when we decided to visit Jaipur during the winter break for kids. We were initially planning to route to Jaipur with a small breakfast break at Bharatpur, on the outskirts of the sanctuary. But then, I realised that this was the season for birds and soon, we modified the plan to give a day for visiting Keoladeo sanctuary. Got some help from fellow TAI member Smooth rider (Thanks a ton, pal!) while planning the trip. So, here's how it all went!

24th Dec (Monday) : Yes, Monday. An odd day to start holidays but some of the kids had some exams on Sunday, so the trip had to start on a Monday. Anyway, on 23rd, Delhi saw its first thick fog and the morning was completely fogged out. We had planned to set course in the morning at 0630h. In the night of 23 Dec, when I peeped out of the balcony, I could see the mist rolling in and I was pretty sure that 24th morning was going to be fogged out as well. Incidentally, the two ingredients to precipitate fog were all out there - Clear skies and light winds. So, we decided to keep things flexible with respect to the departure.

The morning of 24th was bitterly cold and as expected, completely fogged out. Sunrise was at 0650h, so I decided to start from my house to my friend's house (which is 5 minutes away) at 0645h. After dilly dallying for about half an hour, I convinced everyone that this blanket of fog is not going to lift off before 10 or 11 am and that we should just hit the road nevertheless. If the going gets too tough, we will get off the road and wait. So, we set course from Dhaula Kuan at about 0730h. Here's how it was, which was not very bad.

We could maintain a speed of 70 to 90 km/h. Crossing Gurgaon was a breeze at that time of the day. But then, soon our luck ran out and short of the place where NH-8 meets the Sohna Bhiwadi road, we ran smack into a huge jam. Actually, it was a not a Jam, just a huge mass of very slowly moving Trucks caused due to some partially constructed bridge/ something, with a path leading off the road through mud track.

We decided to take a break and went off the road. This is where I misjudged the height of the road shoulders and scrapped the cars bottom. It was pretty loud (I guess you hear it louder when the car is new!!) scrape but, as things proved later, no damage. Breakfast was on a vacant plot next to a petrol pump, all ten of us huddled under the sun shade of a yet-to-open shop! In half an hour, the jam seemed to have reduced ever so slightly and the vehicles were moving slightly faster than snails pace. The line of trucks was incessant. How much goods do people of Delhi (like us) consume, which these trucks bring, for God's sake? The fog began easing out after Bawal and by Neemrana, we were gliding along a smooth highway on a bright, sunny winter morning.




We were back to our comfort zone, doing 100 km/h with occasional spurts of 120 km/h on open desolate stretches. Took a lot of restraint, I may add, to keep her at these tame speeds! Saw an accident in which a Honda City (iDSI one), which just overtook us about five minutes back, had hit a cyclist (a vegetable vendor, perhaps, as there was veggies strewn all around). Its windshield had completely shattered. No idea what happened to the cyclist or to the City driver but within 15 to 20 minutes of crossing this, I remember giving way to a wailing ambulance. Hope no fatalities were involved. But the saving grace was that the ambulance had appeared quite quickly at the scene, which was indeed reassuring. Crossed Kotputli by 1100h and decided to take an extravagant coffee break of an hour at 1130h at a resort called Shakunth Resort.


Despite the caution from many sources (including the excellent guides by HVK), still managed to miss taking the Jaipur bypass flyover at Chandwaji. Later, closer to Jaipur, took the road leading in front of Amer....



...... and ended up in the heart of old Jaipur City - not a good place to be in a shiny new Honda City!!!







Took us one and a half hours to reach our place of stay (a friend's place near Hypercity Mall (Fun Cinemas)). Thanked my stars to make it through the melee without a scratch on Whitelight!

The beauty of a plush sedan is that despite relatively long drives (in terms of time), you remain fresh and ready to go. And so, we set course for Bapu Bazaar, much to the delight of the ladies and kids. Honda Civic and City don't gel with the Bapu Bazaar backdrop, so we decided to use the common man's vehicle of choice - the mighty autorickshaw! Precision driving, harsh non-ABS braking and turns with lots of body roll were on display by these drivers. Bapu Bazaar was colourful as can be expected from anything in Rajasthan and the ladies and the kids had a blast while we husbands sulked away in a corner! It was a Bargain hunter's paradise!




Bargained with the autorickshaw chaps! Bargained with every shopkeeper in Bapu Bazaar! Bargained with autorickshaw chaps again on the way back! The science of bargaining was refined to an art-form! God, I hope I never have to be in the shoes of a shopkeeper at the receiving end of a bargaining lady!

Thus ended day 1.
Total distance travelled - 275km.
Start at 6:30am, ended at 10:30pm! Whew!
Stay tuned for day 2 - a lesson in history and ...what else, more bargaining!!

 

[AppU]

@FlybyWire,

I'm sure you had a fantastic experience during the trip.

Waiting for the remaining part without any Bargain and don't forget to include your car Pic.

 

[Akash]

Excellent start buddy. It is indeed true that when you are driving a new car, even a pothole hurts.

Please post some pics of both the cars along the stretch.

 

[smooth rider]

fantastic write up mate. keep it flowing.

 

[FlyByWire]

@FlybyWire,I'm sure you had a fantastic experience during the trip. Waiting for the remaining part without any Bargain and don't forget to include your car Pic.

No more Bargaining jokes...if I can resist the urge, that is!! Car pics.....oh, very few! Let me see if someone in the crowd was putting their phones to good use!

Excellent start buddy. It is indeed true that when you are driving a new car, even a pothole hurts. Please post some pics of both the cars along the stretch.

Thanks a ton, Akash.

fantastic write up mate. keep it flowing.

Thanks buddy!
Let the story of the second day begin...

Day 2 - 25 Dec (Tuesday)
This was the day to tour Jaipur. We hired a Tavera but it turned up on our doorsteps as an 8-seater version. So, packed like sardines, we started. First stop was Amer Fort. Being a holiday, the Fort was packed to capacity. It was evident that we were a billion strong nation!! There was a huge jam on the narrow winding road to the top. Half way up, we decided to abandon the Tavera and started walking.


Kids trudging up to Amer

The Fort itself is reasonably well maintained though the same cannot be said about its congested neighborhood. At Amer, you can buy a composite ticket, which covers five or six major landmarks of Jaipur. Its valid for one day and as you enter each of those places (like Hawa Mahal, Jantar Mantar etc), it gets punched. Worth it even if you buy it just to avoid standing in the queue again and again at each of these places. It costs Rs250 per adult but for Students, it is Rs50 or 100 (don't remember clearly). You do have to show a students ID card to get that, though. A word of advice - there are these pre-recorded audio guides available. They are a "Must Take" even if you decide not to take a human guide. It is a small contraption that you can hang around your neck and is supplied with two headphones. There is a map marked with a route. There are placards at important points. You reach those points and as per the number displayed on the placard there, play the respective tracks and hear the commentary. The best part is that the commentary is accompanied by music and sound effects which really transports you to the past. Perhaps the other advantage of it is that you can explore the place at your own chosen pace. Totally worth it. In any case, such places donot have much value if you don't even hire a guide. We didn't use it at Amer and regretted it. But we did use it at Hawa Mahal and it was totally worth every paisa. Each such machine costs Rs.90 and if you take two such instruments, you get one free (it was some promo offer). Took us about 2 hours to complete Amer.
A few pics of Amer.



A Mughal Style Garden (It was a Rajput Fort but the architectural style at places was adapted from Mughals)





Walked down to the main road which was the rendezvous point with our cab to go on to Jal Mahal next.


Crossed this temple on the way down. Wish I had the time to Photoshop out those hideous cables!!

Jal Mahal itself is closed but you can spend some time on the shores of the lake. Saw a small kid (about 8 or 9 years) performing 'Magic' for a what seemed to be a bunch of NRIs. I really liked it that they treated the child well, paid full attention to his performance and in the end, tipped the child well. We were bystanders but I too was so impressed by his work that I too tipped him handsomely. I really feel sorry for such kids, who are forced to earn a living at this stage of their lives, sacrificing their childhood pleasures and never hesitate to tip them well for whatever little they do.

Then, it was lunch time and we went to a small restaurant very close to Hawa Mahal, in the bazaar on the same lane. It was a "Rajasthani Pavitra Bhojanalaya" which is the Rajasthani version of "Vaishno Dhaba" of Punjab and UP. Had a Rajasthani Thali and the famous "Dal Bhati Churma". Both Ghee (clarified butter) and Spices were in copious amounts and the famished ten polished off the plates in quick time. And then, it was Kulfi time.


We went to this Kulfi shop called Pandit Kulfi and savored some of his choicest Kulfis. Here, I saw an interesting thing. Two foreigners walked in and curiously inquired about what he was selling. He gave each of them a Kulfi. After devouring it, when they asked how much, the shopkeeper replied in broken English,"You guests India, No paisa from you" and didn't take any money. I don't know whether it was a large hearted Indian treating his guests or an opportunistic businessman investing in foreigners (though I like to think it was the former) but I sure was proud to be an Indian that moment!

The next stop was Hawa Mahal.


The place is legendary and needs no intro. Here, we took the Audio Guide and it was the best decision taken! Anyone visiting Hawa Mahal, Audio Guides are well recommended!! I'll let some pics do the talking!





City Palace seen from atop Hawa Mahal


Jantar Mantar seen from atop Hawa Mahal


Even these veggies appeared so colourful!!

Hawa Mahal is located near an intersection called Badi Choupad. At Badi Choupad, Johri Bazaar road gets intersected by Tripolia Bazaar Road and Ramganj Bazaar Road. With so many Bazaars around, there was only one logical thing to do! More shopping for the ladies and more sulking for the gentlemen! Finally, the end to our ordeal was precipitated by the cab driver whose tour of duty of eight hours was drawing to a close. :Thank God for small mercies!

At the end of the day, Jaipur left on us an impression of a friendly, bustling, colourful city with aspirations to grow into a vibrant metropolis, a city at the crossroads of modernity and tradition. It is indeed a shopper's paradise (My wife has already booked her next visit with me!!) My only hope is that the city does not lose its traditional values in its bid to modernise!
The next day's plan was to set course early to Bharatpur (at 07:30am) so as to reach Bharatpur before lunch and then, visit Fatehpur Sikri the same day in the afternoon. But alas, that was not to be. How? Why? Coming soon...
To be continued...

 

[FlyByWire]

Addendum to Day 1
(Wonder how I missed that!!)
24 Dec (Monday)

The shopping wasn't the end of the day. After that, we went on to have dinner at Apno Gaon, on Chomu Road. It is located just off the Sikar Road intersection with Jaipur Bypass. The place was visited by my friends many years back and as per him, had lost its steam now. It was a modest affair now, with the standard Rajasthani music and dance and camel ride for kids. However, the food (authentic Rajasthani fare) was good. Even better was the way Rajasthani "Khatirdari" is extended. The food is served in steel thalis and is had sitting on the floor. It was a good experience. The food was rich and there is no way you can get up without overeating by a large margin!!
Here are a few pics:



26 Dec (Wednesday)

Odo: 2290km

Man proposes and God disposes! But with me, mostly, I propose and the rest dispose! My proposal to set course at 07:30am for Bharatpur was met with only a feeble dissent the previous night so I thought I had it all under control. The morning, however, had a different story to tell, what with an all out revolt against this "Holiday Spoiler" that I was!! Result: We left Jaipur at 1200h!!

The NH11 started off pretty narrow,


became narrower...


and still narrower (This is the NH!!!)...


but eventually became this...


Once out of Jaipur, it was bliss!!


A few pics of our drive. I maintained this distance normally behind the Civic...ABS or no ABS!!



We drove for 1:30 h and covering a mere 65km (took us an hour to exit Jaipur mess, covering a mere 20km), we crossed Dausa and decided to stop for lunch. This place was a small restaurant called Hotel Satkar, just after crossing Dausa. Food was nice and served fast enough. We were up and away in 1:15 h, 2:45pm. During the halt, we heard that there was a place called Sikandra just 20km ahead. Since Fatehpur Sikri, which was planned today was out of question, we though why not stop over at Sikandra for visiting the famous fort. Good that we inquired, this was not the same Sikandra which has the Fort (We later crossed it in Agra!!).
And some more random pics...


Stone Works short of Sikandra


Sarson ke Khet (Fields of Mustard)


Indian Jugaad


No trip to Rajasthan is complete without this...The Ship of the Desert!

As we were about 20 to 25km short of Bharatpur, we saw a hint of haze rolling in. Rajasthan, with its clear blue skies had completely made us forget the "Foggy" reality that lay ahead!!

We had booked at the Kadamb Kunj Resort. It is on the NH-11, after crossing the Keoladeo National Park entrance and a prominent crossing called Saras Chowk (There is an RTDC hotel there, called Hotel Saras, don't know whether the Chowk is named after the Hotel or vice versa!!). Kadamb Kunj resort is about 3.5km from there. We rolled in to the Hotel and parked our cars in the parking of the Hotel at 4:30pm. Incidentally, it's location is incorrectly marked on Google Maps. The resort itself was decent, though it seemed a little understaffed. Occupancy didn't seem a lot, which was surprising considering the time of the year. Perhaps, the bitter cold was to blame (and it surely was bone chillingly cold, distinctly more than what we had seen in Delhi earlier that week). By the time we settled in to our rooms, it was dark. We were down by 7:30pm for a small bonfire, which was accompanied by some Rajasthani music. It was performed by a family of three. The lady was singing, her husband was on the Harmonium and their son (probably) was dancing the typical Rajasthani dance. I felt really sorry for such underprivileged children. As usual, we gave them our full attention and a handsome tip (though the program was arranged by the Hotel as a part of the package). My wife got chatting with them and found out that they live in a huts close to the national park and earn their livelihood through this. This was followed by a very nice puppet show...


...performed by two kids, one of whom was a student of class X and the other had dropped out of school after class VIII. This kid goes to school in the daytime and in the evenings, made some money for the family by this. We encouraged him to study hard and at least finish school by any means. The last thing on the agenda was dinner. The food, though nice, took ages to appear on our tables. As we were returning to our room, we found a thick blanket of fog surrounding us. Since we were planning to visit the sanctuary at sunrise the next day, we went to inquire at the reception. We were told that it was no use going to the sanctuary in fog as nothing much would be visible. Normally, for the past few days, the fog was lifting off by 11:00am or later. So, visiting the sanctuary before that was out of the question. For us, it meant that Keoladeo was out, because we had planned to return to Delhi by 6pm the next day. So, there was a quick meeting and we decided to drop Keoladeo and go to Fatehpur Sikri instead, and then, press on to Delhi via Agra, to connect with expressway.

Summary for the day
Start time: 1200h
Finish time: 1630h
Break time : 1:15
Odo Start 2290km
Odo Finish 2482km
Distance : 192km
Fuel Average - 14.1 (By MID)

And it all comes to an end... story follows!!

 

[FlyByWire]

27 Feb (Thursday)
Odo: 2482km
Thick fog and freezing temperatures greeted us in the morning. We were ready to set course by 1030h. Crossed Rajasthan UP border after 13km and 13 minutes, and reached Fatehpur Sikri turning at 18km and 19 minutes. The first thing that happened was that we were mobbed by a bunch of guides, right there on the NH, the moment we put on the indicator to turn right off NH-11. Without wasting much time, we fixed a guide and parked our cars at a lot (not the official parking). The package deal was to take us to the fort by those 10 seater Vikrams, guide for the whole tour and drop us back and parking charges + entry fees etc. Amount was Rs500. Things went off pretty well from then on. The travel to the fort was without any wait. The guide did a pretty good job. It was bitterly cold and foggy, as can be made out from the pics.



Horseshoes of those returning victorious were nailed to the door. Those killed in battle had their horseshoes nailed upside down.



Dargah of Salim Chishti at Fatehpur Sikri

The tour finished (we cut it short otherwise it could have gone on for another two or three hours) by 1300h and we were on the road to Agra by 1330h. The four lane road lasted us for another 15 km after which we got on to a two lane highway. Our plan was to branch off to the left towards Bichpuri and then hit the four lane bypass which was to lead us to NH2. Our plan was to turn towards Kanpur and proceed on it till Yamuna e-way. BIG MISTAKE...

As soon as we turned off NH11, we confronted a long line of trucks. A few cars broke the queue and went ahead, getting off the road occasionally to allow truck coming from the opposite side (it was a 2-lane road). I think this was the longest line of trucks that I have seen waiting, totalling almost 4.5km. Finally, we reached a place near Bichpuri Railway Station where we realised that all this pile up was due to a railway crossing.


We crossed this and hoped to hit the four laned bypass. And there it was, four laned off roading track. I'll let the pics do the talking.





Finally, we made our way to NH2 and turned towards Agra.


We crossed Sikandra (the one with the fort) at 1500h and stopped at Gurudwara Dukh Nivaran Guru Ka Taal in Agra to pay obeisance and have lunch at the Langar.



Left Gurudwara at 1600h and waded through outskirts of Agra to finally hit the e-way at 1645h (Odo 2561km). A few interesting things seen in the outskirts of Agra, on Kanpur Road...


Indeed, Love is BLEEND


This colourful banner almost hurt our eyes!!

Finally, we reached the entry to e-way...


And then there was bliss...




Pleasantly surprised to see Fog signages active


We were now on a predictable track and Greater Noida exit was made good at 1900h (with a 30 minutes break enroute) at odo of 2733km.

Home was at 2010h due to a huge jam after exiting DND flyover till Ashram. So, there you have it, a small road trip to Jaipur and Bharatpur - the first one for 'Whitelight' with many more to come!

Overall, the Honda City was a pleasure to drive and the comfort levels were great, fatigue was very low, engine was a pleasure to rev and mileage, a decent 13 to 14 km/l.
What more can you ask of a car?

Let me sign off with this pic, during a break on Yamuna Expressway.

 

[AppU]

Detailed travelogue buddy.

Enjoyed each & every experience along with your Pics

 

[FlyByWire]

Detailed travelogue buddy.

Enjoyed each & every experience along with your Pics

Sorry, off the grid for a week. Thanks a lot, AppU!

 

[Rajvel]

Excellent log mate!!!!!!!!!!
Really enjoyed reading it.
BTW Rated 5 Star

 

[FlyByWire]

Excellent log mate!!!!!!!!!!
Really enjoyed reading it.
BTW Rated 5 Star

Thank you so much, Rajvel. Appreciate the 5 Star rating, buddy!!

Had this small lingering thought in my mind...just wanted some opinion. The Fog signage on the expressway (see photo above) that I saw when returning to Delhi from Agra recommended keeping the headlights and Blinkers ON. I kept only the parking lights ON and kept my Fog lamps ON. During low light conditions, this helps in the conventional sense in helping give a broad and low spread of light
and during day light hours, makes the car visible for oncoming traffic ( useful on non-divided roads). Even though I agree that blinkers DO increase your visibility and attract attention, I think it robs an important function - that of indicators.
I remember a near miss that I had a few years ago. I was on my bike early on a heavily fogged out morning in Udhampur. There was a Maruti 800 ahead, with all its lights ablaze and Blinkers ON. As I was overtaking him, he suddenly veered to the right, apparently to turn on to a lane. I dont think I have ever come closer to a moving vehicle than that and closer to doing a stoppie than that!! When I confronted the driver, he was also equally angry and said "Indicator nahin dikhtaa kya?" ("Can't you see the indicator?"). Then I had to explain to him how BLINKERS ON = INDICATORS NOT FUNCTIONAL! So, to cut the long story short, if Blinkers are ON, one has to remember to give manual indications by hand for turning. Frankly, who is going to open his window on a freezing, foggy day to indicate thus??? So, I keep Blinkers OFF.
Whats the Jury's opinion on this?