Blog Marathon Post 3

Royal Rajasthan

2014- The year whose summer vacations were marked with chilling colds of Kashmir, had its special Diwali celebration planned for us in Mount Abu!

Yes! That was our first destination in a week long planned trip to Rajasthan Mewad! With ofcourse needless to mention: Veena World! The next in line were: Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Pushkar- Ajmer, Jaipur!
Having reached Jaipur airport in the morning pre first day of Diwali, we were warmly welcomed by our tour leaders at the arrival gate and we proceeded with the fellow group members in small jeeps to the very famous hill station situated in the Aravalli ranges in Rajasthan on the Gujrat borders: Mount Abu!

WE!!!

Following the tradition of the tour: First day evening we had an intro session with our tour mates: A mixed group of 52 odd people exhibiting diversity at its best! I almost immediately made few new friends of my age group and from then on there was no looking back: For the next 7 days wherever we went, what ever fun we did, we all were the partners in crime! Well this friendship did not end  with the tour, in fact we still are in touch and am sure would always be!

The picturesque Nakki lake in Mount Abu followed by the semi climb to Guru Shikhar and a visit to beautifully sculptured Diwara temple the next morning was a good kick start to our tour. Meanwhile that morning was not just another morning but as we say it in Marathi: Diwali Pahat (Narak chaturdashi where in we massage our body with scented oil and have a bath before sunrise). I thought that being away from home, this Diwali we won't find a chance to do these things. Nevertheless I was happily proved wrong by our tour guide dadas who took it upon them to wake up very early, draw rangolis and light a diya outside every room! Hearing a soft knock on the door we (mom and I) woke up and were taken aback by those lights and beautiful rangoli. To top it all we had a dada standing at the door with a goodie bag containing the sugandhi oil, soap and faral! What a beautiful start for the day it was! From that moment on I never had a thought that we are going to be away from home for Diwali, because I knew that Diwali 2014 would be made special with this family!

The Udaipur City Palace!!!

Playing games and antakshari all along the way we zoomed in to our next destination Udaipur- The city of lakes! Its no new news that I have a soft corner for places surrounded by water bodies; I almost immediately fell in love with Udaipur too! That afternoon we visited a vintage car museum just on the backside of our hotel and we had the evening for ourselves! Late that evening we all dressed up in traditional wear and celebrated the festival of lights with Laksmipoojan followed by few crackers (very few keeping in mind the environment!)

Sunset: Udaipur City Palace

The next day we visited the Lake palace and I was taken aback by its beauty and immensity! A refreshing lake ride to the palace, a rejuvenating lake facing garam chai ki pyali at the crystal gallery, followed by the very beautiful sound and light show depicting the historical marks of Mewad and the Rajas brought us to the end of our stay in Udaipur!


 The next on cards was Ajmer Darga preceded by Chittorgarh fort on its way! The Fort till date glows in its every corner with the heroic deeds of its Kings and the Queens. Having watched the TV serial: Maharana Pratap during that period made me connect with the history and the place more!


 The visit to Ajmer Sharif Darga was a different and a nice experience in itself! We headed the same night to Pushkar- a small city on the banks of Pushkar lake having a sacred value! The next day was Pushkar sight seeing and a small pooja performed by all at the bank of the river! 

3 Monkeys!

We headed to our last destination: Jaipur: The pink city! The Hawa Mahal- Palace of winds, Amer Fort, City Palace, Birla Mandir, Sanganeri printing showroom, and Jantar Mantar were few amazing places we visited before we came to an end of the amazing week long tour! 

Love you DV!

Good byes like every other time were difficult, but we dispersed to our respective homes with a bag full of amazing memories and experiences and the new bonds to cherish for!

Thank you team Veena World!

Cheers to our RR Group!

Hope to meet you guys again somewhere for yet another marvelous experience!

Love,
Shreya