After more than a month of solo travel across parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan, these are my takeaways. My constant companion during my travel Learnings I tried to think about the best and worst things that I felt about solo travel. Good 1. Decide anything anytime You want leave town now? You can. You want … Continue reading Good Bad & Ugly – Solo Trip
As I travelled across parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan I could feel the type and taste of food slowly change. I saw a broad pattern and this post is about that. Sweet Gujjus Fafda - Bhuj,Gujarat Khova - Bhuj, Gujarat Most of the items that I got served in Gujarat were sweet in taste. Some … Continue reading Food’s Journey
I was sitting at a hostel room and a girl there showed an earring and said she made it herself. Intrigued, I asked her where she learnt making jewellery and she said there are jewellery making classes in Pushkar. Thrilled, I got the details. The next day, I was in the class. My silversmith table. … Continue reading I learnt to make Silver Jewellery
Did you know that the Jains believe that the earth is flat and not a sphere? I am not making this up. I visited a Jain temple called Soni Ji Ki Nasiya temple in Ajmer and when I saw what was written there I was surprised. A model of the Earth Explanation of the universe … Continue reading Jains are Flat Earthers
Pushkar is a temple town. Apart from Pushkar lake which is considered extremely holy, it houses various ancient temples. One is the oldest is the Brahma temple. It is believed to be have been built by Sage Vishwamitra. Brahma Temple - Pushkar The whole town is just around the lake. The place is surrounded by … Continue reading Temple tour in temple town
While at Pushkar, I understood the details of the place and why there is a Brahma temple only in Pushkar and nowhere else. Vishnu and Shiva temples are in every village may be! The reason was that Brahma the creator was cursed by his own wife, Savitri. Pushkar Lake I have always felt that the … Continue reading Creator cursed
There is a person called Aaloo Baba. He has a small place near Pushkar called the Aaloo Baba ashram. Don’t be worried. He has no major cult following of sorts. He is a simple man living a very simple life. Aaloo Baba - Pushkar I went to visit him. Why is he called Aaloo Baba? … Continue reading Aaloo Baba
I wanted to visit the Khwaja Gharib Nawaz Dargah in Ajmer from a long time. And finally got a chance to go there. The place definitely has something in it that is powerful and has a different vibe. वही अजमेर जाते हैं, जिन्हें ख्वाजा बुलाते हैं! Khwaja Gharib Nawaz Dargah - Ajmer Anyone whom I … Continue reading Khwaja mere Khwaja
After travelling for about a month in Rajasthan I have gotten tired of forts and palaces. I call this Royal fatigue. Various forts and palaces. All the forts and palaces have a pattern to them. 1. Gates There will be a series of gates (Prol or Pol) leading to the fort. One of them will … Continue reading Royal fatigue
In the land of Kings there is a fort everywhere. And I visited a lot of them. This time it was the Mehrangarh fort in Jodhpur. Fort Entrance - Mehrangarh fort The walk up to the fort is EXTREMELY steep. I stayed in a hostel close the fort and the walking distance was hardly 1km. … Continue reading Another Fort visit
There is a temple about 70km from Jodhpur. A Royal Enfield Bullet is the god worshipped there. Yes. And I am not making this up. The place is called Bullet Baba temple. Bullet Baba The story goes that a person named Om Banna met with an accident on the highway and his bike fell into … Continue reading Bullet Baba
Jawai is a beautiful place near Jodhpur. Apart from leopard spotting you can visit the Jawai dam. The dam looks magical. The place is clean and devoid of any pollution. The water is blue with mountains surrounding it. Jawai Dam The hills in the area is where the Leopards usually are. So when someone drives … Continue reading Blue orange magic
Every Jungle Safari I have done in my life was only about seeing Tiger paw marks or Bear shit or wild boars. Never have I seen a tiger or a lion or leopard in a jungle Safari. This was true until I visited Jawai Aravalli mountains - Jawai Jawai is a place near Jodhpur. It’s … Continue reading Spotted cat spotted
What if I told you that you will be a rat in your next life. You will get good food (milk and sweets) and everyone will take care of you well. You can roam around without any fear of predators. More, you will be respected and worshipped and fed well. That would be a Rat … Continue reading Rat Heaven
The Bikaner fort (Junagarh fort) is another fort that I visited in Rajasthan. Yes, I have visited a lot of forts and palaces in Rajasthan. What else do you expect from a state that had around 22 princely states before Independence? Junagarh Fort - Entrance One thing that was different from other forts was that … Continue reading Artist’s Palace
A camel festival is celebrated across Rajasthan and I attended the one which happened in Bikaner. It was SUPER crowded. I would call it as a different experience. Nothing more. Camel hair art The festival had a lot of different types of programs planned with singing performances, dance performances, DJ and many more. It was … Continue reading Camel Festival
I visited my friend Maneesh at his town called Loonkaransar. It’s a typical small town that shuts down by 8:30pm and almost everyone knows everyone. They had built a small park near their house. The place was a barren land and they had planted a bunch of trees around it about 4-5 years ago. Now … Continue reading I am the Chief Guest
I went to visit my friend in a small village/town near Bikaner called Loonkaransar. I got to see some very unique places and also got to taste some amazing food at their home. Farm. It has an European look to it doesn’t it? First question in my head was, how can we have a farm … Continue reading A walk in the farm
There is a beautiful lake called the Gadisar lake in Jaisalmer. It is an artificial lake built almost 900 years ago to provide water to the Jaisalmer city. The lake is popular since it’s the only water body near the city. Also because it has a lot of Chattris and temples it looks photogenic. Gadisar … Continue reading Picture perfect lake
I have been travelling in Gujarat and Rajasthan and many places I have visited are very close to the border. By close I mean 50km or lesser. BSF personnels and BSF checkpoints have been very common in my travel. I then visited the battleground of the Laungewala battle of 1971. This is 15km from the … Continue reading 1971 Battleground
Endless thoughts 