#weekendgateways Archives

Golden City of Rajasthan – Jaisalmer

After our 2 nights stay in Shekhawati Region we headed towards biggest district of Rajasthan, The Golden City – Jaisalmer.

Most of us know it is situated in the heart of Thar Desert. It got its name Golden City due to the yellow color sandstone architecture.

It’s around 9 hrs drive, 522 KM from Mandawa via NH 11.

We stopped @ Motel Haveli Resort for b/f and total bill was Rs 200 for veg sandwich, poha and tea. It’s a big place with stay options as well, washroom were clean and place was also clean. Food was ‘Ok’ took some time to come.

There are very less places to stop on this route so come prepared with snacks. For lunch we could not find any good place on the map then suddenly we came across a place called Hotel Shiv Villas. We asked them to pack some aloo pyaz parathas for lunch as we don’t want to waste time rather eat it while driving.

After this we directly stopped in Jaisalmer. We reached I think late afternoon.

We had planned 3 nights in Jaisalmer, I feel 3 nights are good if you want to see everything and visit Longewala.

On the first day we didn’t do much as we were little tired driving 522 KM, so we checked in into this small beautiful Boutique hotel – Garh Meera.

It’s new property, still work pending due to Covid they couldn’t complete the work. Their kitchen was also closed at that time.

It has a wonderful view of Jaisalmer Fort from the roof, which was obstructed (little bit) by a construction on the building in the front.

On this day after some relaxation we went to visit the nearby local market. We booked this place only for 1 day and rest 2 days @ Jaisalmer Marriot. After b/f we left to check in to Marriot. But our room was not ready, so we went to see original Handicraft place.

For Jaisalmer sightseeing we had booked one very experienced guide Mr. Harish Giri Ji. He is really informative and very good human being.

Mr. Harish helped us in doing all the bookings i.e. city tour, desert safari package, taxi service etc.

So, on our second day of Golden city tour, Harish Ji took us to one genuine place to see some of most beautiful Rajasthani handicraft items.

We can definitely see the price difference as we have visited few shops before coming to this place and this place as huge price difference (it was way cheaper).

Harish ji is working as a volunteer in the co-operative place which provides ways to earn to the women living in desert area and keep the real hand craft art alive in this machine era.

You can check the place on Instagram with name Jaisalmerhandicrafts. This shop has amazing products. This was the first time ever we did shop on our trip/holiday. Usually we buy some fridge magnets only.

After this we had some lunch/snacks at a local shop and then headed towards – Kuldhara.

Kuldhara is a haunted village which is 50 min drive i.e. 27 Km around from the main city. Roads are good, there is a diversion which is a single road but in decent condition which takes you to the village.

This village and some adjacent villages were abandoned over night for unknown reasons. As per local stories some say it was due to the persecution of Salim Singh minister of Jaisalmer state.

Before abandon Kuldhara was inhabited by ‘Paliwal Brahmins’ and it is said that they were very prosperous.

It is very fascinating to visit this village and listen to all the stories, now we can only see few feet walls of all the houses and nothing else.

Converted into a tourist spot and there is an entry fee which is Rs 20 pp and Rs 50 per vehicle.

After spending some time here max 30 min as it was hot and there is not much to see, we left for desert safari.

Ours booking was done by Harish Ji and it’s called – Desert Safari Camp Sam Sand Dunes, you can find it on Instagram as well – @desertsafarisamsanddunes

One thing I would suggest to everyone is either stay in the camp or reach little early to properly enjoy the desert.

We reached just on time to have enough time to enjoy the dune bashing by open Mahindra Thar and enjoy sun set in the desert.

After taking lot of pics we headed back to the camp on camels. It was quite thrilling going up and down on a camel. Few times I thought we will fall ?

Back at the camp we had High tea with some snacks post high tea. There was a live folk music and dance performance. We really liked the performance all the talented artists.

After all the enjoyment and fun filled day. We ended the day with a good dinner at the camp and then drive back to the city.

While driving back had amazing experience, watching clear sky full of stars & cold breeze.

This ends our 2^nd day in Golden City Jaisalmer. Stay tuned for our last day in Jaisalmer.

click here to know full details of this 10 day Rajasthan road trip .

Harish Ji’s contact details –

Company name – Jaisalmer Tour Guide

Website – http://www.jaisalmertourguide.com/#services

Instagram – @jaisalmertourguide

Cell # 9414761153 & 7014396051

Shekhawati Region of Rajasthan – Nawalgarh & Mandawa

After spending amazing time in Jaipur and visiting few of the most popular places of Jaipur. On Day 3 we headed to a less explored region of Rajasthan i.e. Shekhawati region.

As mentioned in my first blog this is region is located in Northern part of Rajasthan. It consists of Jhunjhunu, Sikar & Churu district.

Places we visited came under Jhunjhunu district. As per the guides this region was founded by ‘Rao Shekha’ and named after him.

About the region

This region consists of some of the most beautiful and iconic havelis. Word haveli means big house or as per our guide “Havadaar” ghar. These havelis were build by some of the rich merchants of that time.

This region was a part of ‘Silk route’ so the merchants were quite rich. They built these havelis to show off their wealth. Few of the famous havelis are situated in Nawalgarh, Mandawa & Fatehpur.

We visited Nawalgarh on our way to Mandawa. It’s around 120 Km from Jaipur and it’s a National Highway 52 via Sikar.

The most famous haveli in this place is ‘Podar’ haveli. After restoration it was converted into a museum and now it is maintained by the Podar trust.

This place is really beautiful, with lot of frescoes. Fresco is a technique in which the painting . It is done when the plaster is wet so that the paint penetrates the plaster and becomes fixed upon drying.

There are 2 courtyards with different kind of frescos all around it.

The door that connects these 2 courtyards was(is) amongst the most beautiful gates in the country.

There are around 700+ frescos in this haveli, these frescos depict many scenes from Indian mythology as well as some modern trends like trains and dresses and also European culture. All the colors used in these frescos was obtained naturally.

There is entry ticket which is Rs 75 pp and timings are from 8 AM to 8 PM.

The museum displays the art and culture of Rajasthan,different festivals and way of celebration.

Different types of bridal costumes which brides of different sections of the society wear.

There is a section which displays different turbans which holds specific significance and are wore on different occasions .

In the marble art section, there is this beautiful artifact of a Rajasthani women. Build out of single piece of marble.

There was a school at this place which was converted into a museum. To accommodate the kids, they constructed few rooms on the first floor.

The caretaker/manager of this place showed us the Haveli and informed us each and every detail about the place plus. He helped us in clicking some good pics as well ?.

After completing our tour and taking a lot of pictures, we continued with rest of the Journey towards Mandawa which another 30 Km. We booked the stay a place which was 9-10 km before Mandawa city.

Mandawa is 236 KM from Delhi.

On the way we stopped at a hotel and to our surprise it was one of the most cleaned and hygienic and modern roadside hotel/property. It has auto on lights in bathroom with contact less flush etc.

We had tea here and it was really good. Place name is – Hotel Om, Sikar Road. You can see it on the left side while coming from Jaipur and going towards Mandawa.

We stayed @The Desert Resort which is part of WelcomHeritage hotels. It’s design replicate the rural culture. It has mud houses/huts of different sizes.

The Desert Camp — Desert Camp main entrance

This was the second time we didn’t find the service up to the mark as per 5* standards(First one was with Sofitel BKC Mumbai which is one of the worst service we ever had)

So, there was a film crew who has occupied most of the resort and we were given choice of 2 rooms, one in each category and the rooms were not cleaned at all.

The covers of sitting area was dirty there was dirt on the floor on the table, we called multiple times for all this.

Also not sure if there was shortage of staff but as there was a bottle kept outside of room which was there when we arrived and was still there when we were checking out.

Another thing is there was garbage left by guest in the main garden area right in front of reception and few of the housekeeping members pass by but no one picked it

Overall their attitude was not at all good which is totally opposite of the people of this region. We booked this place for 2 days but moved out after one day to a different property.

And this was one of the best decisions as we got the chance to stay in one of the original heritage property more than 100 year old Haveli – Vivaana Culture Hotel

Day we reached Desert resort we relaxed as we were tired of walking a lot in Jaipur and explored the property itself.

The property is good with some activities as well(which are very costly like Rs 1500-2000 per activity) we didn’t do any activity as most of these activities we were going to do in our next destination.

In Mandawa city there is a lot to see and can be covered in half day or max a day’s time. All the tours are done walking only. The guides here knows multiple languages as before pandemic most of the tourists were foreigners.

Beautiful Frescos of different Havelis in Mandawa

Fun Fact 1 – our guide asked us which language we prefer we said Hindi then he said he is not comfortable in Hindi as their native language is marwadi and after that he can talk in English, German, French etc.

Fun Fact 2 – Bajrangi Bhai Jaan wash shot in Mandawa (Pakistan part)

Frescos inspired from different historical events

There is a fort in Mandawa which is now a hotel and there is entry fee and as per the guide it was not worth.

There was this one golden room and the ticket price of that was 100 pp and that was not worth at all. So, you can avoid that and can save some money. Why not worth as the room was not maintained at all the family living there have stored all the crap and the walls and ceiling was not maintained.

After completing our tour of Mandawa we came back to the Haveli where we were staying and had a tour of that as well.

They also do village walk but not sure if it was due to pandemic or we were Indian tourist the person was not at all interested in taking us for a walk, so we did that by ourselves.

100 room Haveli and a beautiful yellow door of some house with Frescos

You will see a lot of cows and bulls and cute little kids playing in the evening, we went to a vendor who make Bangles but we were little late as they have already turned off the furnace(small one to make bangles).

He didn’t even showed his own property(he works there was customer relationship manager at the property) with any enthusiasm or interest.

The Maze waterway in the middle of the courtyard is a tribute to the amazing human ability to negotiate problems and came out free at the other end.

We gave the same review in their feedback book and to our surprise the owner does check that, and we got a WhatsApp message from the owner Mr. Atul Khanna very next day when we were on rout to our next destination. He apologized for that person’s behavior and informed us that there CRM is very enthusiastic.

There are different category room starting from Deluxe, Luxury and Royal. We got the opportunity to stay in Royal room which was quite amazing and weird as well.

Weird in the sense that the bathroom of this room was on the first floor and it’s an open bathroom.

The room is very beautiful with frescos all over the room. This property has 2 blocks, basically they acquired the haveli adjacent to theirs and combined it.

The Luxury rooms with frescos are there in second block and on low occupancy they close that block to save some money.

Overall with mixed experience we enjoyed our stay in Mandawa and will definitely recommend it to everyone.

Coorg – Scotland Of India

Coorg is also known as Scotland of India due to its vast natural beauty, hills and cold climate. Coorg was on our travel list from long time the time, the time when we came to know about Orange County Coorg, I remember it was in 2013. After we move to Bangalore it was our top … Continue reading “Coorg – Scotland Of India”

Coorg is also known as Scotland of India due to its vast natural beauty, hills and cold climate.

Coorg was on our travel list from long time the time, the time when we came to know about Orange County Coorg, I remember it was in 2013.

After we move to Bangalore it was our top most priority to visit Coorg but again delayed as I was pregnant ?. So, after delivery and baby is big enough to travel long distances & buying our first car it was time to visit Coorg.

Done some research online, trying to find some nice home stays and luckily, we found one in our budget on MMT(MakeMyTrip). It was Silver Brooks Estate; this home stay is run by a couple Revathi & Yogesh. Yogesh was in hospitality business for long, so these guys knows what all things are required and how to manage and maintain a property effectively.

Route we took was – via Mysore highway till a round about from where we need to take exit on KSR Road then Belagola – Yelwala – Mallinathpura – Hunsur – then on Mysure – Medikeri Road till Kushalnagar. Continue on same road via Suntikoppa – Kedakal – Boikeri.

It was around 250 Km from our home and took us 5.30 – 6 hours with 2 stops. Our first stop was at Kamat Lokaruchi – Ramanagara, it’s around 50-55 Km 1 hour drive, nice clean toilets and very good food.

Parking is on the road side. Second stop was Café County which is around 125 km from Kamat Lokaruchi and 70-75 Km from out stay. It’s café cum restaurant here you have snacks coffee or full lunch/dinner as per the time.

Service and cleanliness is not good, less staff and until you call them they won’t bother to come to your table, so better find some other place if you want a second stop.

We had one of the cakes with coffee (don’t remember the name) but it was delicious. Small but clean toilets 2 type of sitting options i.e. inside and outside.Other than these 2 stops we stopped at 2 attractions before Coorg.

1. Namdroling Monastery:

Namdroling Monastery is center of Tibetan Buddhism, it’s very calm and peace full place. There is a parking facility outside the monastery behind the shopping complex. Entry is free, there is large beautiful Buddha temple in the center of the complex. It is surrounded by beautiful gardens.

2. Nisargadhama:

Nisargadhama is an island formed by river Kaveri. This place is situated near Kushalnagar. There is ticket to enter the island, you have to cross an hanging bridge built over Kaveri.

The island has lots of bamboo trees and some activities like zip line, place to sit, small tree house kind of. The place is not maintained very well. There is boating facility as well but when we went the current in Kaveri was strong due to which boating was suspended for some time.

There are lots of shops here, all kind of shops like Gov. Silk shop, food shops, toys etc. The main entrance is little hard to find as it’s a small way b/w the shops which leads to the place to buy ticket.

After all the stops and soaking all the natural beauty on the way we reach out home stay Silver Brooks. Believe me it was amazing, exactly what was shown in the pics and the hospitality was just great. Revathi guided us very well and was available all the time for help.

The house is created from scratch inside their estate, look and feel was of old housed. Revathi informed us that they have used reused the old materials like the pillars, doors, swing, chairs. Means they bought the things from some old home and restored it to give more traditional and old age feeling.

This home stay has 5 rooms I think 2 in the main building 1 on the right side which has its own private entrance and site out area, room is also little big and 2 at the start near the parking which are smaller than the other 3.

Cost of room includes B/F and dinner which is home made by 2 talented cooks. Food was delicious, it was a buffet with authentic flavors. There is an open kitchen which means guests have access and can cook their food or snack.

It’s kids friendly place even for infants, the cooks cooked special food for our daughter, the staff is very friendly and help full.

For more detailed review please check my TripAdvisor.

We stayed for 2N/3D and felt that we could have stayed one more day. Most of the time we have spent in home stay relaxing, interacting with other guests. But we also went for some sightseeing to the places like Abbey falls, Raja’s seat & Madikeri Fort.

Abbey Falls:

Is around 14 km from the home stay and you have to pass the Madikeri city, but don’t worry there is not much of traffic like what we have in Bangalore ?. Route is beautiful as it’s a ghat/mountain road 2 lane.

There is a parking little ahead of the main entrance to the falls. There is toilet facility as well in the parking area. To reach to the main falls you have to decent some steps and slope.

The area in front of falls is quite small and in tourist season when the falls are at there peak it will be difficult to find a spot to click some good pics. Spent less time there as it was over crowded, took few pics and came back.

One main issue there is due to some stupid people which park their cars on the road side which leads to traffic jam, so be prepare for that.

Madikeri Fort:

It is around 8 Km from home stay and it is near to Raja’s seat. So, you can cover both the place in one go. You can either park your car in the parking area in front of Raja’s seat or inside fort and walk to one of the places. Distance b/w these places is around 1 Km.

Fort is old and now kind of Gov. office, there is one small museum inside the fort on the right side just after entering the fort. One can stroll on the fort walls, but there is nothing much to do here.

This place lacks proper sign boar, or any kind of guide like some printed material or some guided tour. Due to these reasons it’s very less time consuming.

Raja’s Seat:

Is a kind of valley view point or sunset point.

Kings of Kodagu use to sit here to relax and watch the mesmerizing sunset with beautiful valley view that’s why it is called as Raja’s seat. It has beautiful garden at the start with fountains. Safety measures are good with railing on stairs and on the edges.

There is bon fire facility available in the home stay but went there in after rainy season, but it still rained so couldn’t do it.

To shop from Coorg is special Coorg wine, which comes in different flavors like ginger, chilly, mixed fruit, dates and many more, price range from Rs 500-1000 also spices. There is one government shop on the road which leads to Raja’s seat.

We really enjoyed our stay in Silver Brooks and Coorg tourist spots and the long drive from Bangalore.

Visit Month – August

Note - All pics are from our trip and clicked by us.

How weekend breaks helps!!

There are a number of ways taking a quick weekend away can benefit your health. Taking leisure time can led to experiencing more positive frame of mind, stress-free attitude, less depression and more satisfaction.

WHEN WE HAVE EACH OTHER WE HAVE EVERYTHING!!

Weekend is the best way to give a pause to your busy life and enjoy your special moments with family..

Mommy and baby enjoying beautiful morning

Sometimes you just want to relax and spend some time with family. Never let your work life affect your family life…so take a break every weekend or at least once in a month and have a long ride?

How weekend getaway helps you!

It helps you both physically and mentally improving your productivity at work and happy relationship…?

Morning track in a national park and then relaxing in a stream of fresh water

Benefits of weekend gateways

Benefits start even before you visit any place or do anything i.e. even with a thought of getaway or holiday boosts your happiness. This is my personal experience as well as results of scientific study.
Screen free time as when you are out for holidays, we enjoy the place and company and most of the time no network really helps?.
Daddy and baby enjoying the view
When you are free from your cellphone and laptop your brain and eyes are also stress free and they are also on relax mode.
Out of home means no kitchen, no cooking ? so you have more couple time, family time and you enjoy food together.

You can have more of outdoor activities with kids as most of the time we are busy with home and office work.
When you are on holidays you do more of physical activity and it’s more of your body exercise ?.

Fun time with Kid & beautiful Colosseum at back

You get free from all tension and get solution to most of your problems as after holidays you are all positive and stress free and you can concentrate proper in your work life.

Tips to plans a nice weekend gateway

Selecting a place according to your mood, whether you want a relaxing holiday or full of adventure or if not outstation then as per your interest.
Depends on ones interest – they can plan to watch a play ( I am talking about live performance ) or visit an exhibition or a movie or if possible go and watch your favourite team’s match.
Or just to relax one can pamper themselves with some nice Spa session and beauty session.

If planning outstation then one of the most important part after deciding where to go is selecting the best accommodation.
Always keep in mind the location should be near to all places you want to visit. Otherwise you would end up most of the time in traveling from hotel to places.
If you are traveling with kids/toddlers having a room with kitchen works best, as you can anytime access kitchen for kids.

Dadu dadi with granddaughter having good time at archaeological site

If you don’t want to spend too much money on lodging then definitely go for home stays through airbnb or any other website.
Recently we have a wonderful stay at Silver Brook Estate, Coorg and Ivorycoast’e, Kannur. These are both home stay’s and have kitchen facilities with helpers, you’ll feel home away from home at such places ( Would share proper detail of places soon ).

Kids enjoying the sun and having some fun

Keeping the luggage light, yes I know with a baby you have lot and lot of stuff to carry but try keeping only the essentials for the trip. Less luggage means less stress before, on and after a holiday as less things to pack – unpack, less things to take care of this means more free time in hand and relaxed mind.

Always carry good sunscreen lotion and mosquito repellent for you and kids (for some really good & natural baby products click here). I have been using Mamaearth natural mosquito repellent and Mamaearth baby sunscreen.
Planning to visit all places before traveling, saves your time and helps you finding the best location as per the places you have planned to visit.
If you have infant or toddler then baby carriers are must have. kids are so relaxed and comfortable in carriers that they allow you to enjoy the place and you also have your hands free to do other stuff like taking some amazing pics.

Daddy enjoying beautiful sea and baby sleeping comfortably in her carrier

Check my other post on baby carriers – Strength and Bonding

If possible try visiting some new places and avoid going to crowded places, in our recent trip we explored some really nice places that was not listed as tourist attraction but was worth visiting.
Always carry some snacks while traveling and keep having something every few hours. It gives you energy to enjoy more on your trip.

There is nothing wrong in a lazy beach vacation but physical activity helps oneself unwind more effectively then lounging does.

Hope these tips helps you plan some more gateways and revive yourself having family bonding time. I am taking my Alexa rank to next level with Blogchatter #MyFriendAlexa

All Pic are from our trips.