Travel Tips

All right - 8 pics to sum up all Rajasthan? Are you kidding me?!?

Ok, I must admit your point is correct. That is impossible! But as a little teaser I choose just some pics of the main places to go. Each of these places and many more are described in detail on seperate pages of mine. But take a look here first - what is Rajasthan about?

Chittaurgarh is a huge fort on the top of a mountain. It is full of ruins, history and dramatic legends. Forget Romeo and Julia or Helen of Troy, no, PADMINI is the story of the next b(h)ollywood blockbuster. The beauty of a woman was the reason for a war which ended with the suicide (jauhar) of 13.000 women......

Imagine you travel through a dry and waste land like the Thar desert during summertime and a temperature of 46 degrees Celsius and more......and suddenly a true oasis arises on the horizont with a huge fortress on a mountain! It is like a mirracle!
That was my first impression of Jaisalmer.

Jaisalmer is a sleepy place in the middle of nowhere, close to the Pakistani border right in the desert. Maybe this isolation is the reason why this magnificent place kept preserved like back in its hey-days. Yes, the fort on the hill is completely intact like back in the days. There only exist the old sandstone buildings, temples and the palace, protected by huge walls and strong gates. It is like going back with a time machine!
There are plenty of possibilities to stay right inside the fort, with beautiful balconies and a great view over the desert. Stroll around through the narrow alleys with its beautifully decorated sandstone buildings! It is pure history!

But also the city outside the walls of the fort offers some amazing palaces or havelis with rich decoration. Take a look at my page and enjoy this great place!

Udaipur is a lovely place to relax! Situated on a great lakeside makes you want to stay for some time.

BUT dont miss the Jain temples at Ranakpur! The marvelous marble stonecarvings are fascinating!

Another great sight around Udaipur, absolutely worth a daytrip, would be Kumbalgarh, a huge fort with many ruins.

The Highlights of Bikaner are undoubtedly the magnificent Janagarh Fort - a well preserved Palace just like in fairytales.

The second wonder is the Karni Mata Rat Temple in Deshnok. Yes, it is a beautiful marble temple with silver doors.......just for rats!!!!!
Well, people in this region believe that their ancestors have a rebirth as rats. So to do something good for your ancestors they get a great place to stay (even the open air areas are protected with nets against hawks or other enemies looking for a snack) including a huge kitchen with pots of a diameter of three meters and more where all this delicious sweet meals are cooked for aproximately millions of rats!!!!

By the way, you are not allowed to enter with shoes of course. Watch your steps! You dont want to kill a reincarnation! If you are lucky, a rat will walk over your foot - that will bring you good luck in the future :-)
And if you are really lucky, you will see a white rat. That would be the jackpot!

Bundi is a rather uncommercialized place, not so overrun by tourists. But it offers an amazing Palace! The City Palace is left to the bats falling into ruins - it is a pitty, but at the same time it gives this special charme to the place. On top of the Palace is a beautiful, well-kept garden, where you can relax a little bit and enjoy the view over the small town.
Further up the mountain there are some more ruins with an even better view over the place.

Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan. The nickname "Pink City" refers to the red sandstone used for most buildings.

Jaipur deserves to be one of the main tourist highlights because it offers plenty of magnificent sights. Especially Amber Fort and the City Palace are main tourist attractionas. But the best thing to me were the friendly and hospitable people I met, who gave me the possibility to participate in their life and get a deeper understanding of their culture.

One of the most amazing experiences on my India trip was getting invited to a colourful, traditional Indian marriage. I will never forget the great time I had in Jaipur!

Pushkar is a small laid back place of 15.000 people circled around a lake. But this place is full of Hindu temples and during Camel fair it is supposed to get really busy with more then 200.000 people and some 50.000 camels.

We missed that and relaxed a little bit :-)

Jodhpur is a great place, offering a lovely old town surrounding the magnificent mighty Meherangarh Fort. This is one of the most amazing castles Ive ever seen with invincible walls dominating the city on a mountain.
In the past, the blue painted houses were a symbol only for the highest cast - the Brahman. Today everybody is allowed to paint their houses in blue, giving this city an unique charme.

I love that place - leaving it makes you feel blue ;-)