When life gives you weekends, use these to travel as much as possible. After my best friend, Imda asked me to visit Ahmedabad for the zillionth time, I booked my tickets and started to plan the trip. I did not know an epic road trip was waiting for me.
I got a companion from Pune when Apurva, my junior in office, wanted to join me.
On 30th July after a number of incidents we reached Ahmedabad at 10.35pm from Pune. To my astonishment Imda with two of his friends, Rahul and Sanjay came to the airport to receive us from Jamnagar. I did not know that he would be coming by car.
From the front:Sanjay, Me, Rahul, Imda, Apurva
We checked in the hotel around 11.30 pm and the restaurant attached to the hotel was closed. We searched on Google to find out that Law Garden, one of the food streets of Ahmedabad was within 2 kilometres from the hotel. We reached there as soon as possible to witness from Chinese to South Indian, Gujrati food-stalls on both sides of this street. During Dinner the plan started to get modified.
Although we booked the hotel for 2days in Ahmedabad, when we checked out from the hotel the very next morning, we knew we were off to Udaipur. We started our journey at 6.30 am. On the way, we crossed Akshardham Temple. Around 8 am we had our breakfast with Aloo paratha.
The places I have mentioned here are route-wise. You can visit these one after another.
Udaipur
The city of lakes welcomed us with greenery, rocky hills, clouds and drizzle.
Distance between Ahmedabad and Udaipur: 260 kilometres.
Time: Almost 5 hours due to rain.
Places to visit:
City Palace:
This was the main attraction of Udaipur for us.
Ticket: Rs. 300/- per person.
Parking: Rs. 250/- per car.
The spectacular Palace is situated beside lake Pichola. The history behind the Palace is as glorious as its beauty.
History: The making of the palace was initiated by Maharana Udai Singh II, father of Maharana Pratap in the year of 1553 and it took 400 years to complete. He made Udaipur the new capital moving from Chittor because of its location which was surrounded by forests, lakes and Aravalli hills.
The last king, Maharana Bhupal Singh lived here till his death in the year of 1955.
Here are some pictures of the magnificent palace:
Manek Mahal
Gold plated Suryadev
The hall for entertainment
Sheesh Mahal
Design of colored glass mosaic in Mor Chowk
Another design of colored glass mosaic in Mor Chowk
It took us more than 2 hours to visit the Palace. The blue water of lake Pichola and nearby hills increased the beauty of the palace. The palace has a number of palatial chambers which are magnificent structure wise.
Taj Lake Palace is situated just opposite to the palace.
Bagore ki Haveli: The beautiful art and craftsmanship during Mewar Royalty can be seen in this palace which is 500 meters away from City Palace.
Jag Mandir: Before crowned as an Emperor, Shahjahan stayed here along with his family when Maharana Karan Singh welcomed him as a safe refuge from then Emperor Jahangir. This illustrious palace is situated 1.7kilometers away from City Palace.
Jagdish Temple: This is the largest temple in Udaipur. The temple was made of marble.
There are 32 steps to climb.
You can also visit:
Monsoon Palace: Monsoon palace is situated on the hill top which was built by Rana Sajjan Singh in 1884 to watch Monsoon clouds. It is situated 7.5 kilometres away on a hilltop.
Moti Magri: Moti Magri is popular for the memorial of Maharana Pratap near Fateh Sagar Lake. It is 3.1 kilometres away from City Palace.
Saheliyon Ki Bari: This popular garden and museum resides 2.3 kilometres away from Moti Magri.
Shilpgram: Shilpgram is the art and craft fair in Udaipur. The timing is 11 am to 7 pm. It is 3.6 kilometres away from Saheliyon Ki Bari.
After lunch, we started from Udaipur to Mount Abu at 2.50 pm. Rain was visiting us every now and then. We reached Mount Abu around 5 pm.
Mount Abu
Distance between Udaipur and Mount Abu: 165 km.
Time: 3 hours.
The 23 kilometers long twisted, rocky road of Mount Abu was not kind to Sanjay. The closer we were getting towards the sky, the more raindrops were touching us. Sanjay was a great driver to pull off the journey there. Before going there check the driver’s skills.
Places to visit:
We were already late to reach there. We selected certain places and aimed to go there.
Toad Rock
Toad rock: Watch out! A frog is looking at the city. This is a frog shaped rock situated 1 kilometres away from Nakki Lake.
Toad rock is visible on the top of the hill near Nakki Lake
Nakki Lake: Nakki Lake is considered to be a sacred lake. This is situated in the heart of Mount Abu.
Raghunath Temple: This temple was built in 14th Century. Raghunath Temple is 210 meters away from Nakki Lake.
Sunset point: This is the most popular place to visit in Mount Abu. The acclaimed beauty of the mountains is mesmerising. Unfortunately due to heavy rain, sun was not visible but what we saw made it worthwhile. The distance between Nakki Lake and Sunset point is 1.9 kilometres.
You can also visit:
Dilwara Jain Temples: This temples were built with marbles between 11th and 13th centuries AD. This place is 2.9 kilometres away from Nakki Lake.
Achalagarh Fort: The fort which is situated at a distance of 6.8 kilometres from Dilwara Temple, was originally built by Paramara Dynasty rulers and later modified by Maharana Kumbha in 1452 CE.
When we were coming back from sight-seeing, it started to rain so heavily that we could not see anything but lights of the car which we were following. Even the road was not visible. It was getting dark and we did not have booking at any hotel. Everyone was getting tired so we booked whatever seemed suitable for us at that time.
We were dead tired by the time we reached our hotel.
Apart from scenic beauty, Mount Abu is famous for its Rabri. Do not forget to try Rabri there.
We had sound sleep that night.
We left Mount Abu at 9.30 am. On the way we got delayed because of the checking at the border of Gujrat and Rajasthan. They were very strict about it. It is not advisable to carry hard drinks.
When we reached to Ahmedabad by 2 o’clock, my another school friend, Chandan was waiting for us.
Ahmedabad
Sabarmati River
Distance between Mount Abu and Ahmedabad: 235 kilometres.
Time: 5 hours.
First we went to TGB express. We had delectable lunch there.
Ahmedabad is divided into two parts by River Sabarmati. East part is the old city carrying all the history of temples and mosques where the new one at the west is growing with modernised amenities. Which I liked about Ahmedabad the most is the city is very clean.
Places to visit:
Sabarmati Ashram: Sabarmati Ashram is enriched with history of Mahatma Gandhi. He resided there for 12 years with Kasturba Gandhi. There is a museum containing witnesses of different phase of Gandhiji. It is situated in the north of the city.
The following places are situated in the east part of Sabarmati.
Hatheesing Jain Temple: This splendid Jain Temple carrying the finest work of marble is situated 7 kilometres away from Sabarmati Ashram.
The entrance of Hatheesing Jain Temple
Dada Hari Stepwell: The step-well was built by Dhai Harir, the superintendent of the royal harem. The well bears two inscriptions, Sanskrit and Arabic. It is 2.1 kilometres away from Hatheesing Temple.
Sidi Saiyyed Jali Mosque: It is built by Ahmed ShahBilal Jhajar Khan, the general of last Sultan Shams-ud-Din Muzaffar Shah III of Gujrat. The distance between Dada Hari Step-well and Siddi Saiyad Jali Mosques is 3.6 kilometres. Park your car here because the other places are at walking distance.
Lal Darwaja
Lal Darwaja: The North-East Gate of Bhadra Fort is famous for being street shopping destination in the city. It is situated 130 meters away from Sidi Saiyyed Jali Mosque. The timing of Bhadra fort is 9 am to 5 pm.
Teen Darwaza: Teen Darwaza is the gate to go out of Bhadra Fort which was made by Ahmad Shah of Muzzaffarid dynasty in 1411. It is situated at a distance of 500 meters from Lal Darwaza.
Teen Darwaja
Jumma Masjid: As this was my first visit to a mosque, I was excited to get inside the pleasing Jumma Masjid built during the reign of Ahmed Shah I in 1424. The people were nice enough to get us inside though we did not have anything to cover our heads which everyone was supposed to do. It is situated at a distance of 350 meters from teen Darwaza.
Jhulta Minara: The unique construction of the minarates of mosque resulted in naming it “Shaking Minarets” or “Jhulta Minara”. A slight shake in either of the minarets vibrates the other minarets though the connecting passage remains unshaken. It is situated 2 kilometres away from Jumma Masjid.
Kankaria Lake: We entered at Kankaria Lake at 4 o’clock. It was a mini-amusement park. You can have a nice time there. There are many options for entertainment like Zoo, Toy train, Balloon Safari, Joy Rides etc. As we were interested in spending time to see the city, we came out of the park in 45 minutes.
That is our selfie-man Sanjay. There we were: me, Apurva, Chandan, Rahul, Imda at Kankaria lake.
We ended our city tour at 8 pm and went for dinner which was followed a Gujrati Film. Our flight was at 4.30 am in the morning. We bid adieu to Imda, Chandan, Rahul and Sanjay around 2 am at the airport.
It was a great trip. When you start to enjoy the destinations as well the journey, you know your road trip gets awesome.
Details:
Flight: I booked the tickets 21 days prior to the trip.
Pune to Ahmedabad: Spice Jet.
Duration: 9.25 pm-10.35 pm (delayed).
Ahmedabad to Pune: Indigo.
Duration: 4.35 am-5.55 am
Application: PayTM
Charges: Rs. 3735/- (I got a cashback of Rs.333/-).
Hotel (Ahmedabad): Hotel Silver Plaza
Number of days: 2 nights 3 days.
Number of persons: 2
Room type: Standard AC room.
Application: MakeMyTrip
Charges: Rs. 2856/- after getting discount of Rs.985/-.
Hotel (Mount Abu): Hotel Bhagya Laxmi
Number of Days: 1 night
Room Type: Standard Non-AC room
Application: PayTM
Charges: Rs. 1000/- per room.
Transportation charges: Rs. 8/- per kilometre which includes the driver charges. Food and other entertainments are excluded.
Tour Guide: Google Map.
History of the places: Google/Wikipedia.
Charges: Free if you have Internet access, enough battery and Smart Phone.
I tried to mention as many locations as possible. If I have missed any place, please excuse. All the pictures were clicked on phone. I regret not having pictures of all the places.
This is your blogger posing awkwardly.
Anna&Avrish Destination
enjoy reading ur blog!
Every thing is well explained with minute details.
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Thank you so much. Keep reading. 🙂
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