Rajasthan – A place you cannot have enough of– Part 1

Rajasthan – A place you cannot have enough of.

Rajasthan, the land of kings, is truly a perfect blend of colors, heritage, culture, and history. Any amount of time spent here is insufficient as you will have to come back for more. Similarly, you will have to come back for Part 2 of the blog, as one article won’t do justice. After all, Rajasthan is the most popular tourist destination amongst both domestic and international tourists.

We planned a trip Rajasthan as we had never been there before, but had heard a lot about it. We had a tough time choosing the city to visit, as the state has a lot to offer, and everything looks equally appealing. Finally, we decided to travel to Jaipur, the Pink City. 

Jaipur has a lot of beautiful boutique and heritage hotels and it was difficult to choose. After a fair amount of research, we zeroed in on Umaid Mahal.

Day 1

Umaid Mahal- A heritage Castle. 

We arrived at Jaipur Railway Junction on October 25 afternoon and checked into Umaid Mahal, a heritage castle. The entrance of the hotel is enchanting and looks like the one of a haveli. The artistically furnished rooms, royal décor and great hospitality made our stay memorable.

Lunch at Roop Basant 

In some time, we headed out for some authentic lunch. Google maps led us to Roop Basant Pavitra Bhojnalay, located near the station. It is a small local restaurant. The gatte ki sabjiand sev tamatar that we ordered was a treat for our palates. It was full of authentic flavours, soaked in ghee.

E-Autos in Jaipur

We planned a visit to Choki Dhani the same evening. Choki Dhani is a mock Rajasthani village in the outskirts of Jaipur.

          

It gives you a village experience with its ethnic architecture, dancers, acrobats, food stalls and much more. They serve Rajasthani thali, which is a belly buster. There are also local women who serve traditional bakhri roti along with ghee, jaggery, and chutney inside their small village-like homes. You can also indulge in games, shopping, talk to an astrologer, apply mehendi and enjoy the camel, elephant and horse rides. It is a very happening place to spend time with your family and get to know the local culture

Local women serving bakri roti

Grand Thali at Choki Dhani 

Shopping at Chokidhani

Day 2

Jal Mahal 

Our itinerary for Day 2 was to visit the three forts situated in the Aravalli ranges. - Nahargarh, Jaigarh, and Amer. On our way, we came across Jal Mahal, a palace in the middle of Man Sagar Lake. It is one of the most serene sights and was once a shooting lodge for the Kings. Though the actual palace is off limits, it a great photography site.

Nahargarh Fort doesn’t appeal much when you enter, but as you go inside, it keeps getting prettier. The fort has a Sheesh Mahal and a Wax Museum which were recently constructed for tourists. Both of them will leave you in awe and are beyond your expectations. 

View from Nahargarh Fort

Wonderful architecture at Nahargarh

The wax museum is surprisingly accurately made and the Sheesh Mahal is just out of the world. It shows how hand-cut glass of different colors and mirror work were done on walls and ceilings of palaces. It is a MUST MUST visit. 

Stepwell at Nahargarh 

Then we headed off to Jaigarh Fort, which once was a victory fort and used for defending oneself from enemies. Inside the fort resides the Jaivana Canon, the world’s largest cannon on wheels. It weighs 50 tons. 

Jaigarh fort 

The fort is huge. You can drive through in your car too. It gives a great view of the city. The fort is massive, but I feel better maintenance is required. 

Lunch at Khandelwal

After visiting Jaigarh, we stopped for lunch at Khandelwal Pavitra Bhojnalay. Many restaurants have “Pavitra” in their names, which simply means `pure vegetarian`. We again had a lip-smacking traditional meal and headed to the majestic Amer Fort.
 

Amer Fort - this place has all my heart. Words cannot describe the beauty of this palace. Also known as Amber Fort, it is popular as the fort of Princess Jodha, who later married the Mughal ruler Akbar. Their love story is still very popular.  

Amer fort entrance

This magnificent fort, built of pink and pale yellow sandstone and white marble, is home to the original Sheesh Mahal(mirror palace), beautiful courtyards and some stunning photogenic spots. The fort is also a popular shooting location. Certain portions of the movie Jodha Akbar were shot here. Post-Sunset, the fort gets beautifully lit. One can also experience the sound and light show in the evening. 

         

View from Amer fort

Amer Fort still has settlement around it. People here are into traditional handicrafts, block printings, gem cutting, etc. It has several government emporiums for shopping. 

Sheesh Mahal, Amer

Amer at Night 

Our day was well spent getting to know few chapters of Jaipur history and visiting these amazing places. 

To be continued… 

Choki Dhani- 5pm-11pm 

Find rates at : http://www.chokhidhani.com/village/

Nahargarh Fort timings: 10:00am-5:30pm

INR 200 for foreign tourist and INR 50 for Indians. 

Jaigarh Fort: 9:00 am-4:30pm

INR 85 (Foreign tourists) and INR 35 (Indians)

Amer Fort: 10am- 5pm

INR 200 (Foreign tourists) and INR 25 

Sarafa Bazar – A Place You Cannot Miss While You Are Still Alive

Sarafa Bazar – A Place You Cannot Miss While You Are Still Alive

Sarafa Bazar looks like a street which has been created to regale people with a permanent feast. You just need two things to be a hogger at Sarafa Bazaar – an insatiable appetite and a guilt-free approach. Sarafa is an eating expedition of sorts.

By Hariharan Iyer

“If you take me to Sarafa Bazar, I will come in a day earlier,” I told my friend Amber when he called to invite me for a talk to Indore. “Sure,” he said. The decision was made. I had passed by Indore a few times recently, but couldn't get a chance to visit one of India's most iconic food streets.

Amber, his wife Rishabha and me got into his car as he drove us through the streets of Indore. As he deftly turned into one of the older streets of Indore to park his car, I knew we were very near Sarafa Bazar. After just a few minutes of walking, Lo!, we entered a crowded street where all kinds of food items were being sold and people were gobbling them up with relish. 

Malpua

From the street where the car was parked to the one we had just entered, it seemed like two different worlds. Entire Indore seemed to have descended on this place made up of bylanes. Amber told me that this street by day is a jewellery market and transforms itself into a food paradise from 8 pm to 3 am.

I quickly realized the `khaoo gallis` of Mumbai faded in comparison. Sarafa Bazar looks like a street which has been created to regale people with a permanent feast. My friend set the mood when he asked me to be prepared to eat like an avaricious foodie. “The best way to enjoy there is to go with a no-holds-barred attitude,” he said. His description of the jalebi was mouth-watering, yet intimidating. “It is dipped in pure ghee – nothing but pure ghee,” he had kind of `warned`.

We began by having some tikkis and moved on to some paani puris. I was not exactly being `safe` as I kept posting pictures on whatsapp to my wife and daughter. But I had to give them a feel, if not the taste. Every stall was crowded, with not an inch of space. We kept moving through the crowd to try out different things. I noticed the name plates of the jewellers, outside which the food stalls were set up.  

Aloo Tikis

The most fascinating aspect of the visit was the jalebi stall. These jalebis are not like the ones we are used to seeing in Mumbai. They are large, thick and soaked in ghee. Alongside was malpua, to add to the culinary indiscipline. As my teeth tore into the jalebi, I realised consuming the whole thing was out of question.

Jalebis

You just need two things to be a hogger at Sarafa Bazaar – an insatiable appetite and a guilt-free approach. While my conscience was under check, I, though a foodie, have a relatively limited appetite. So I ate up only as much as I felt comfortable eating.

One of the legends of the Indore food story is the Shikanji. I kept asking for it, but Amber kept saying it was heavy, and so should be consumed in the end. He finally bought me a glass of Shikanji – and heavy it was, with a mix of various ingredients. I thought I was going to drink something, but ended up `eating` it.

The Shikanji was the last straw as far as I was concerned in this extraordinary eating expedition of sorts. We headed back home, satisfied that I had visited one of India's most iconic food streets. The immediate feeling I had after visiting Sarafa was it is a place you cannot miss while you are still alive.

Oh! Ooty

Oh! Ooty

Tiring project submissions and approaching end-semester exams notwithstanding, we took off to the cool environs of Ooty in February this year. The idea was fueled by a wedding invitation to Coimbatore. Besides, a pre-exam break seemed like a great idea to me.  

Adiyogi Statue

We left for Coimbatore by an early morning flight on a Sunday. We spent the day catching up with some sleep, delving into some delicious lunch at Coimbatore's landmark restaurant chain `Annapoorna` and visiting Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev's Isha Foundation. 

Isha foundation 

For us, the Isha Foundation was a forty five minutes drive from the city. We visited Adiyogi, which is a 112 feet statue of Shiva- a newly added attraction to `Incredible India`. The sight was mesmerising. There are bullock carts which take you till the statue to give you a more authentic experience. Later, we meditated at the `Dhyanalingam`, which is an experience in itself.

Next day, after attending a typical South Indian wedding, we left for Ooty. Ooty, also known as Udhagamandalam, is a three-hour drive from Coimbatore. The route has several uncomfortable hair-pin belts, but the scenic beauty compensates for it. 

South Indian Breakfast at the Wedding

We reached Club Mahindra's Derby Green by late afternnon. The resort has residential units from the colonial era, giving it a British touch. It also offers a splendid view of Ooty city, clothed by the majestic mountains and a stunningly clear sky.

That very evening we left for the iconic Ooty lake, a popular spot for several Bollywood movie shootings. My father and me took a paddle boat ride in the lake. It was a bit cumbersome in the beginning, but then we settled into a nice rhythm. You can choose from four- or two-seater paddle boats / row boats, or take a motorboat ride. The setting sun and the cool breeze gave a serene experience. The temperature was only 8 degrees, which was a blessing for us Mumbaikars.

Paddle boat ride at the lake

Next day, we decided to skip the long day Ooty excursions and instead took a train ride to Coonoor. Coonoor has become more popular after it was showcased in the Bollywood films Kapoor and Sons and Golmaal Again. It is less commercialized than Ooty and seems to be more beautiful too.

Coonoor toy train station

 

Hold that DDLJ pose!

We took the hour-long Niligiri toy train ride from Ooty to Coonoor  - by road, it takes half an hour (Find the train timings at http://www.ootytourism.co.in/ooty-to-coonoor-train )The train ride was one of the best experiences of the trip. The route was extremely pretty and hangs like a picture. 

  

View from the toy train

From Coonoor, our cab driver who drove from Ooty, took us to the popular Coonoor tea estate. The experience of being at the tea estate cannot be described in words. The green tea estates shone brightly in the sun with the beautiful sky serving as a perfect backdrop. The moments in the tea estate simply stood still.

Coonoor Tea Estates 

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There are several other attractions in Coonoor - Sims Park, Tea Factory, Dolphin’s Nose and Lamb’s Rock. We skipped the clichéd points and headed for the Ooty Botanical Garden. The garden was surprisingly a disappointment as there were hardly any flowers and had become commercialised with the construction of a road inside. Maybe, it wasn’t the right season for the flowers to bloom. Nevertheless, we spent our evening there and went on to explore the Ooty markets. 

It is astonishing to find so many Chinese restaurants in Ooty. Momos and Gobi Manchurian are two things that one will find in every corner of this hill station. We had a delicious South Indian dinner at Adyar Anand Bhavan and returned to the warmth of our resort as it was quite cold.

On our last day in Ooty, we spent more time at the resort. We indulged in the simple but potentially nostalgic experience of sipping tea while watching the captivating view of Ooty. We visited the beautiful St. Stephens Cathedral - one of the oldest churches in South India. Soon, it was time for us to head back to Coimbatore to board our flight to Mumbai. We bid adieu to the pretty place.

St.Stephen's Cathedral

Other Places To See In Ooty 

Some other popular destinations in Ooty are: Rose Garden, Avalanche Lake, Pykara, Mudumalai National Park, Wenlock Downs. There are also several trekking, horse riding, hand gliding and mountain biking trails for the adventure buffs.

Top Recommendations:

1.           Do not miss the boating at Ooty lake.

2.           Experience of the Nilgiri heritage toy train.

3.           Get yourself captured amidst the stunning Coonor Tea estates.

4.           Walk at the Upper Bazaar road for some local feel and shopping.

5.           Get home famous Ooty chocolates (Kingstar Confectionery) and Eucalyptus Oil.

6.           Try out the popular Gobi Manchurian at any restaurant or street vendor.

7.           For fine dining, Ascot Multi cuisine restaurant has various options for buffet and A la Carte.