Experience and tips from my trip to Agra and western rajasthan

ijustwantotravel

Most of this must be known to all the burnt and weathered souls
out there but may be some first timers will find something helpful.

Agra
1. If you are travelling to Agra on Indian Raiways to/from east India - Tundla is a stop you can check out if your train is not directly going to Agra. There are trains running between Tundla and Agra (not many but quite a few to
cover you throughout the day). Check indianrail.gov.in - Train Fare Accommodation - Tundla to Agra Fort and Tundla to Agra Cantt. I generally use indianrail.gov.in first before irctc.co.in as indianrail.gov.in gives me the chance to see all the trains with all classes at one go. I do not know about road communication between Tundla and Agra. The trains between Tundla and Agra however might run lazily so keep 30 minutes to 1 hr extra in hand.

2. Agra Cannt has nice Railway Retiring rooms if you want to stay for a day. 300 Rs per day. Mind the geysers - they do not have Auto Off. So remember to switch them off when the water is hot enough - other wise you may find yourself in a nasty accident. This might be something you would like to check out all throughout India if you are in a low budget hotel with geyser.

3. It is a good idea to take an Auto Rickshaw from the Pre Paid Auto booth (just outside the Cantt station). Me paid 140 Rs for Taj and Agra Fort. Make sure you let them know that you are in no hurry and the driver should be mentally prepared to sleep in his Rickshaw while you see the Taj for hours.! Ours became really grumpy after we spent 3 hours (only!!) in Taj.

4. If you want to take snaps of Taj and plan to do so without those endless distracting beings crawling in your frame, try to be the first inside. Try to get to the ticket office by 9 and be one of the first to go inside. And keep your camera ready. Remember to over expose (1 and half stop) if you are pointing at Taj for your exposure - otherwise you will get gray images of the magnificant white.

5. 750 per head for foriegners and 20 per head for Indians may seem a bit too much, but remember the officer at the ticket office has no commision in this. He is merely doing his job. I saw a lady bearing down on them badly for the in equality.

6. Taj is Taj. More I see it more I want to see it. I tell myself - whats the big deal ? and then when I try to look away, my eyes cannot resist another look. I do not understand what is the deal - there is something un earthly beautiful in Taj. If you can lay on hands on a good book about Tajs making it will engross you more.

7. Keep at least 30 minutes in your hand for the snap you want to take with your loved one(s) sitting on that white marble platform with ONLY Taj as the back drop. It is such a rush there (more so created by the professional photographers charging somewhere between 600 to 800 for 6 photos , they will knock down everybody around while positioning their clients on the marble in 6 different angles and contortions which sometime become so difficult to follow that a poor client might take minutes to understand the position - and mind you there is no chance of this poor guy suggesting his own way of sitting on the rock.)
that you would barely be able to manage a snap or two within that time.
And sadly enough people are so eager to get to the chair that they wouldn't even bother not to lean into your photo just to be closer to the chair even before your cheese smile has left your chin!
Or - was I there on a wrong day!! ???

8. If you do not have a guide in Agra Fort, it will be nice idea to take one. And take the Govt approved ones. Locals who would want to do it at cheaper rates will just run through.

9. The Auto driver would definitely try to take you to a local craft store after the trip.He may become very very demanding on this, even if you tell him NO. He gets good commission just by your visiting the store , whether you buy anything or not. Theres no harm to do a visit
but if you are not interested you might want to tell him up front while hiring him so that there is no argument later.

10. Trains from Agra Cantt to Delhi generally to go up to Nizamuddin terminal. From there New Delhi station will be about half an hour Auto drive. 50 to 60 Rs is a good bargain. There are trains running from Agra to Delhi very frequently from after noon till night. Avoid Chattishgarh Express - it is very very slow. Check out the number of stops between Agra and Nizamuddin on the train you take.
A fast train will have only two or three stops between Agra and Nizamuddin. Again a prior check at indinrail.gov.in will give you the station list. Punjab Mail. Madurai Jammu Mail.
Jhelum express are the better ones. Best bet will be Shatabdi if you can time it right on Friday night.

11. O and one more thing you do get mini dv cassettes for your cam corder in Agra. Tell your Auto driver if you need one in emergency and he will take you to the right studio.You might have to pay about 100 Rs premium. Costs about 200 in Agra and 100 in Kolkata.
The studio I went to was very close to Taj in the surrounding market.

Bikaner

1. The ABADH ASSAM EXP from Delhi (Old Delhi station) to Lalgarh leaving Delhi at round 4:35 in the afternoon is a great one. You can have a comfotable ride in the AC III class or higher if you are not
used to Sleeper. Reaches Lalgrah early morning. Takes about 15minutes by Auto to reach new Bikaner.

There are Delhi Transport Service (http://dtc.nic.in) buses running from ISBT terminus to Bikaner. But as per my information they might not be comfortable. There is no AC sleeper type over night bus.
There are Rajasthan State Transport (http://www.rsrtc.gov.in/time_table.asp)buses plying from Delhi to Bikaner too. Make sure about the time and type of coach first (http://www.rsrtc.gov.in/GeneralEnquiry.asp#) before getting yout ticket booked.

2. Rajasthan Tourisms Hotel Dholamaru in Bikaner (0151-2529621) is a decent place to stay. I staid Non AC for 700 a day. I think AC is around 900. They make good food too. Reason I liked it more is for the nice behavior of the staff. They agreed to delay my check in time from 8 in the morning to 12 in the morning so that I could save on one days tariff. That was even without my requesting for it.

3. If you plan to visit Gajner Wild Life Santuary - it will cost you about 1500 per jeep ( 4 persons), arranged by Gajner Palace Hotel. You can go into the Hotel and enjoy a complimentary Tea on the terrace for 150 per head. If you want to travel to Gajner by local bus from Bikaner you will have to keep one day for the trip. Local buses take about 2 hours to cover the 30-35 odd Kms from Bikaner. They start plying at around 8:30 n the morning and there is no fixed frequency. Generally you would get the next one within a hour. However the last one to return from Gajner to Bikaner leaves gajner around 5:30 in the afternoon. So there is no chance of you enjoying the sun set by the lake and returning by local bus later that night. In that case book your room at http://www.hrhhotels.com/HRH_Propert...ace_hotel.html
and come back next morning. Its costly. You could however take the risk of walking to the Jaisalmer Bikaner Bypass from Gajner after your Sun Set tea and hitch a ride on Buses plying at night.

4. If you plan to visit Kalibagan to find yourself within ruins of Harappa civilization - that is another 1 day trip and this time you will have to rely on private transport. It is 205 kms from Bikaner. And you would definitely need a guide to show you around.

5. The Bhandeshwar Jain Temple at Bikaner is pretty nice with its murals. Notice the paintings which depicts
"what to expect when you reach hell" (for the sinners) . The priest is a enthusiastic photographer and will help you with nice snaps within the temple. He has enough time in his hand - and will gladly show you around if you show the desired level of interest and respect.

5. The other temples are no at all impresive - so unless you have religious interests - you can drop them from your itenary.

6. The Ganga Govt Museum can be dropped too. It is mostly arms and amunition with some old costumes. You will get lots of them in Jaipur and Junagarh fort

7. Lalgrah fort is exquisite and beutifuly maintained - but there is little you can see as a non boarder. Its all hotel now. You are only allowed into a portion of the palace converted into a museum. It is definitely worth a visit to give you an insiders look into the framed life and times of the Maharajas - but 2 hours in your schedule should be more than enough if you donot plan to stay there. http://www.lallgarhpalace.com/
There is a beautiful blue swimming pool which you can use to cool off against some nominal charges - even if you are a non boarder - and you can get some snacks too while the sun takes care of drying your trunks.

8. A trip to the Camel Research Farm is a must. Not so much for the Camels and the research (cause you will definitely not see students and professors running around with notes - neither will the 40 Rs guide make you any doctorate on Camels. It is mostly about breeding them natually artifically cross breed between bacterian arabian jalsalmeri and bikaneri camels who have their own special traits) but for the road. It takes you through villages and a little of desert which I found very pleasant in a Auto rickshaw.Don't forget to get taste some Ice cream or Flavoured Camel milk product. You can ride a decked up
Camel for 100 rs - 15 minutes. I would save it for the real thing.

9. You can do the Debikund Cenotaphs along with the Camel research farm. We bargained an Autorickshaw for Rs 150. Both close around 5:30 in the evening. The Cenotaphs have the memorials of all the Maharajas you read and hear in Bikaner. It is a nice place with some interesting architechture and roof design. You can actually see how the Maharajas lost all their glory through the ages - the older ones (Rao Bikaji) are made of marble and are exquisite in their flora designs, while the newer ones are of concrete and tiles with plain designs. Gives you an eerie sensation when you see plots marked for the next one to die with a empty sign board erected beside.

10. Bikaner Hawelis - After doing Camel Research Farm and Devi Kund Cenotaphs we had asked our Auto driver to drop us where all the Hawelis were(we had lots of expection - specially after reading from this url http://www.realbikaner.com/palace/haveli/index.html). I do not know if we were dropped in the right place but there were only about 4 or 5 such houses in the locality where we were dropped. They were exquisite in their external facade. But you cannot go inside. One of them has been converted into a Hotel (6000 + per night and higer). The others seemed deserted and locked up. Wonder why? . So - we just took a stroll by the lane - walked up to the Hotel - went in to check out the rooms - found it too costly and came out. The interior of the hotel - as much as we could see was beautiful with flowing curtains and glistening tiles but it was just a glance.
Is that all you can see of the Hawelis as a normal tourist ? Q for the gurus.
Bottom line - ended up spending only about 15-20 minutes for the Hawelis and was not satisfied at all. Not to worry - if you drop them totally - the Hawelis in Jaisalmer which are open to tourists - will fulfill your expectations.


10. Junagarh Fort is very beautiful and a must visit. Keep lots of time in hand to explore it properly. Take a guide definitely. The guides know all the languages of the word between them. We bargained one for about 150 (english). If you are a photo enthusiast, walk with your guide from start to end - ask him everything - and then when he is done pay him off - roam back to the start while clicking at your liesure and waiting for the perfect moment and light. The guides would try to finish off the tour in haste for obvious reasons.

11. Karni Mata is another must visit. It is extremely easy to get a local bus to Karni Mata. There are buses running every 15-30 minutes to and from Bikaner. Try to be there early to beat the heat on the bus. Took us about an hour and half to reach. 20 Rs per head was the fare. You will pass a lot of desert on the way. There are lot of food stalls around the temple for a quick snack. If you have Rat Phobea - it is definitely not the place for you. If not - you will have an experience of your life time. I donot want to ruin the surprise. DONOT panic if a rat runs over you - its good luck. And yes you can shoot inside
for as long as you want as long you guy the camera tickets. I think it was 50 per camera 100 per movie camera.

12. If you roam about in the local market, you might get some interesting Camel skin products (shoe, bag, decorative items) for
a deal. (Check out the Leather Items/Shoe selling shops). I got
some pretty camels and a camel pulled cart for 50 a piece and
150 a set respectively.

13. Best thing to eat in Bikaner is Paranthas and Curd. Yummy and keeps you cool. You will get in any restuarant you eat. There are lot of fruit juice stalls in the local market. Try sugarcane - two glasses will give you all the calorie and water you need.

14. You will find Internet Cafes in the local market. Rates are very cheap - 20 rs an hour. But they are mostly VERY slow. So be ware of loosing connectivity while you are doing a internet transaction.

15. Last but not the least Bikaner and the surrounding places can be easily done with local Auto Rickshaw and buses. That way you enjoy the local life at closer proximity. Every place has approx 20-50Rs camera fee and 100-200 video camera fee. (barring the cenotaphs) LP is correct - the Autos take 20-30 rs from point A to B in Bikaner and that would be pretty much the same for B to C as it is a small city.

15. We availed Lalgarh Jaisalmer Express for our Journey to Jaisalmer.It was fun experience. Train leaves Lalgarh around 7 and should reach Jaisalmer around 2. There is only Sleeper class available on this train - but donot be scared - it is a very clean train and very few passengers travel. As soon as the train leaves it enters the desert region. I think the train crosses Gajner Wildlife Sanctuary - we spotted lot of Chinkaras within the first 30 minutes. They were speeding across the desert - one minute - and next minute they are gone. Once in a while the train would slow down on some remote village station. Surrounded by desert. The village may be some miles from the station. You would wonder - what do people do here. You can actually count the travellers getting down or boarding the train. They would be
all local people in their traditional wear. Girls in shocking reds and greens or yellow, with their face behind their ghomta (viel formed by dropping an extended part of their saree) trying to steal a glance when no body is looking at them, feet weighed down by their payels (silver ornament with small bells) and hands almost covered with bangels and shankhas (bracelet made from divine conch shell) from shoulder to wrist. And their men in whites , dhutis and long shirts, with a colorful turban to dignify them and keep their head cool.
You might find after couple of hours that you have the whole compartment to yourself. When we were on that train, it was very very hot - but if you are travelling between October and February - I bet you will have a great experience travelling in a compartment all by yourself. There might be delays in route if a wild camel decides to explore the rails - or the driver might meets up an old buddy on a station - so give 1-2 hours extra on that destination time.Lean out of the door when you start pulling into Jaisalmer station, you will see the "golden" fort greeting you in a distance with all its glory.

To be continued into Jaisalmer Khuri and Jaipur

flyingpig

I'm taking my first trip to India this coming October and your article answered a lof of my questions.

thank you

ijustwantotravel

Glad that someone found it helpful.
Might just write up the second part now

laney6

That was such a brilliant write up!
Come on! im dying to hear about Jaipur now.
Happy travels, Laney

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laney

wonderwomanusa

What a wonderful visit to Rajasthan; I'll look forward to the next installment!

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The map is not the territory. --Alfred Korzybski