That's why Deserts are HOTT...

Prashant in sand, originally uploaded by ankur_gupta10.

do i need to say more !!!

:D


:D


:D

and now time for a detailed trip-o-logue...

Long discussions with a group called Let's Go.. preperations and bookings... and last minute drop outs... this is what happened before the trip happened...

We finally managed to start around 0030 hrs on 26th January for Pushkar... it was just the four of us finally... Me, Ankur Gupta, Aditya, and Shubhika... about 100 kms on CNG and the rest on Petrol, we reached Puskar around 0600 hrs with one break and swapping of people on the front seats...

here are the key highlights of the drive to Pushkar and some statistical infomation...

1) Total Distance covered : Approx 425 kms...

2) Total Time taken : about 6 hours...

3) Top Speed : 160 kmph

4) Cars overtaken with sheer power : Skoda, Endeavour, Tata Safari and numerous others...

5) Best Stretch : A consistent 130 kmph on the Jaipur Ajmer road for about an hour

6) Car we were in : Fiat Rock Solid Petra

7) Number of Breaks : 1

We did not expect ourself to reach Pushkar that early, and were kinda surprised ourself when we reached there... fortunately we found a small Dhaba open in Pushkar and had our second tea of the drive there... we managed to kill about 30-40 odd minutes, before we moved to the Hotel Sunset where we had booked the rooms... this was right there in front of the Lake and the view was beautiful... thinking about not waking up anyone at that hour, we decided to just rest for a while, and then knock the doors... that we finally did and realised that the door keeper was not too keen on entertaining us and we left that place quickly... One local guy assisted us in reaching Hotel Kashyap Palace, which looked like a relatively new small hotel with 8 double rooms... no frills nothing, but clean and nice...

All we wanted to do at that hour was sleep for a while, before hitting the streets again in Pushkar... so we all crashed on the beds and woke up only around 1100 hrs, got fresh and all, and moved on to check out the small town... Our hotel was near the Govt. Sr. Secondry School Pushkar, and not too far away from the main market either... 10 minutes walk and we were at the Only temple in the world of Lord Brahma... did the usual walking around, shooting around and were out quickly... Had loads of nice food at a small restaurant called the Mamta Restaurant near the temple itself...

We tried to hire Camels for Safari, however there were no camels available, thanks to the maddening rush in the small town... which meant that we had to walk our way to the sunset point, which turned out to be a better idea then doing the safari... a walk back from the point took us to another restaurant, where we ate more...

Here is some statistical information about the day again...
1) Woke up around 1100 hrs...

2) Out of the Brahma Temple around 1400 hrs...

3) Things we had at the Mamta Restaurant : Rajasthani Thaali, Daal Bati Choorma, Gatte Ki Sabzi, More Daal Bati Choorma, Chaach... ( Bill : approx : 250 bucks)

4) Total Kms walked : Atleast 6

5) Things we had at the restaurant in the evening ( don't remember the name though) : Mexican Enchilada, Pizza with loads of toppings, a very different Tomato Soup, Pineapple Lassi and Masala Chai... (Bill : Approx. 250 bucks)

We reached our hotel after a tiring day, and were very very happy when the Hotel owner decided to get food for us from his home... Though we were kinda stuffed already, but the great food did not stop us from eating more... And this time we had great Kadi, Chawal, Chapati, and some traditional sweet... lovely food and that too on the house... We were on the terrace of our hotel which has been made very nicely to sit a lot of people and chat.. wonderfully done...

A good night sleep and my regular alarm saw me waking up at 0700 hrs.. and we got out of the hotel after packing our stuff by 1000 hrs...

I did one of the toughest climbs ever this time... we were trying to reach a temple on the hill top through an unconventional way and did not realise that its going to be this challanging... no way to climb up and no way to get back... we literally searched for a space for almost all the steps that we took to reach the top... and a small mistake would have meant that we fall about 50 ft into stones and thorns... phew... but then we made it to the top.. only to find a closed door :) anyway... it was the spirit that WON there... and we could come down just fine using the stairs that were there... and realised that it would have been tougher climbing up if we had taken that path...

Moved out of Pushkar after buying some excellent bers, and having some great Sugercane Juice... Went to Ajmer Sharif... now while I love the fact that I see people from all religions there, i hate the crowd there.... specially the beggers... God know what, but looks like that they have been professionally trained to speak a different line to get some money for a good 30 minutes... Had to get really aggressive to get two of them off my back, or else they would have followed us to Delhi i guess...

Left for Jaipur, got hit by a truck from the back and left with a damaged tail light... which led to spending a good 4 hours in a police station on the highway, with one of the most cooperative staff... the SHO, Mr. Rajvir Singh ensured the the driver was booked and a FIR lodged... it took some time, but we were out of there with the Truck confiscated, and a FIR lodged against the driver...

Took one break to eat on the highway, and then rushed to Jaipur, and went to Chowkhi Dhani, and ran out of there, scared by the crowd... I hope to go there again, sometime when its less crowded... had dinner at a place called Padharo Sa... decent food here... bill amount again approximately 250 bucks...

Left Jaipur around 2300 hrs and I was home around 0300 hrs... drove all the way from Ajmer to Jaipur to Delhi... and the best part was those 20 minutes when everyone else was sleeping, I was singing loudly, and driving at 120... i loved that time... loved it loved it loved it...

Some more statistics...

1) Total Kms Driven : about 850 kms

2) Room Tarriff in Puskhar : 400 bucks per night on twin sharing

3) Total expenditure for the trip : about 1800 bucks per person

4) Fun and feelings : Priceless

oh.. and a few pictures for the record have been posted here.

Some of my picks from the lot that I clicked can be see on my flickr page, or by clicking HERE...