Rajasthan, the journey begins ✈️..

Ghani Khamma.Ahh! the scorching sun, majestic forts, breath taking lakes, delectable dishes and witheringly cold nights, do not do justice to an  experience that is "Rajasthan". My trip was a welcome getaway from  routine after a long time..💆🏻‍♀️ 

Sleeping past midnight and getting up at 5:00 AM to get ready for 9:00 AM flight is what I did.  Waking up four hours before flight was necessary with four persons sharing two bathrooms and I needing half an hour of extensive beauty time. What, a girl needs to live!  Once everyone was done, we booked a cab. I might have made a rookie mistake of booking one hatchback for four travelers with heavy luggage! And let me tell you, it's no fun being cramped with three other family members on the backseat with mom glaring at me all the way to airport.😩😩

We reached  the airport early and had to wait nearly one hour for the  flight after the security check. and now it was my turn to glare at mom for waking up so early. She as usual, took no notice. (Parental Privilege!)  The flight was one hour duration with peace and tranquility marred by incessant wailing of two little Satans. I have nothing against babies but the fact that I always step out half deafened after I am on a plane with babies does leave me with a bit of distaste against them.👼🏼👼🏼

My aunts's flight was to land few hours after ours and my dad's flight subsequent to that. We had booked 3 adjoining rooms in the hotel. Post checking in the hotel, Mom went off to the spa, grand parents napped and me being the couch potato I am, crashed on the bed and watched TV.  After about an hour or so, my cousin brother, crashed in my room and kicked me off my own bed, taking me by surprise. That was the signal that  Aunt's flight  has landed and they have reached hotel. And here was my dearest big brother who I missed so much when he was in college. Not really, I distinctly remember distributing sweets the day he left. Ah! the good ol' times. 

Later on,  aunt, uncle, the devil reincarnate (cousin) and I went for lunch at JHANKAR, a famous eatery overlooking Mehrangarh Fort. A scrumptious Rajasthani lunch later, we went window shopping at the famous Sardar Market. The local hand paintings and silver jewelrey were so stunningly elegant that I wanted to buy them all at once. After that, we all decided to converge at fort. Of course, due to an outstanding idea by my aunt (note the sarcasm) we all had to walk up the hill. So, our next 20 minutes were spent huffing and puffing all the way to Mehrangarh Fort located at the top of mountain..(seriously reconsidering life choices).😹

The fort was imposingly beautiful. I spent at least 5 minutes gawking like a fool before straightening myself up.  The entire group met at the fort  and I am proud to say that I learnt some basic info about the fort like it's name and who built it. Don't judge, the others don't even know that. They were all busy clicking pictures to show them off to who knows whom! I might be guilty of doing the same except in a lesser quantity. Hehehe…(insert hair flip). After touring, we were so hungry and partook  the famous Mirchi Wada and jalebis which we got packed earlier in the day.  It was around 7:00 PM that we started back to the hotel and my mom, aunt and uncle went  separate ways for shopping.

I had the whole room to myself. The first thing I did was to jump into the bathtub. I remember being in there for 40 minutes. Those were also the best 40 minutes of my life!! Ok, so maybe I am a tad bit over dramatic but after that day’s exertion, I was dead beat. With a humongous effort I got up and changed into my Diwali dress.  The Hotel rooftop displayed Diyas and fireworks. That night was such a sweet night. Literally, sweet. The hotel buffet served at least 7 different desserts.  Outside the restaurant was a magician performed fascinating tricks and a separate counter of puppet show.  That night was so much fun!!  We all were in the hotel lobby thereafter taking photographs till midnight and keeping the hotel staff busy in arranging and rearranging furniture for photoshoot. After looking at their antics, I just wanted the earth to open up and swallow me, it was so embarrassing 😳.I don’t know how I managed to haul myself to my room with legs throbbing with pain. I must have fallen asleep immediately on hitting the bed. 

Coming back to where we started in the blog... Besides the forts, lakes and cold nights...Jodhpur offers exquisitely designed silver jewelry, beautiful hand paintings and Bandhani sarees... and a good shopping experience in bargaining the prices for all these...  One should try to explore the city on foot, if time permits, keeping oneself energized with famous Mirchi Vadas & Jalebis!  🍲🍛🍱

I am going to upload about the trip in parts and here was the first day. Do stick around for the other parts and write about your favourite visits in the comment section below. Good day, mate!👋