Wonderful Trip to India from North to South
Practical advice: the roads of India are not beautiful and therefore the average speed in the car is around 50 km / h, not much more; some transfers lasted even more than 6 hours, so be very patient and organize your trips well, especially if you do not really love the car. It is, however, necessary to rely on a driver because driving in India for us Europeans is practically impossible. There are no rules, there are cows, goats, pigs and people suddenly crossing the streets, besides the fact that the guide is on the right. Furthermore, traffic is a delirium in the cities!
Weather:
Warm, hot, hot with some strong downpour, but all in all livable. In Tamil Nadu we found good weather while in Kerala we found some rain.
Hotel:
we stayed in mid-high-end hotels, which did not disappoint our expectations, spending an average of 50 euros per room including breakfast.
Food:
Unfortunately too spicy for my palate, little choice for the meat as they only cook chicken and mutton, on the other hand a large quantity of vegetables !! In the south it is definitely better also because they mainly cook fish.
Brief Description of the Various Places Visited
North
Delhi:
No more than a day, seen the traffic. However, do not miss a trip to Old Delhi with the rickshaw, the Red Fort, some photos of the India Gate and a visit to the Raj Ghat, cremation site of the Mahatma Gandhi.
Mandawa:
Small village in Shekawati, with beautiful painted havelis, but in poor state of preservation. Mandatory stop for one night stop. On the other hand, not far away we visited the village of Dondlod with a beautiful Haveli.
Fatehpur:
Always near Mandawa, also this village has beautifully painted havelis, but better preserved.
Deshnok:
The village where stands the famous Karni Mata Temple, the temple of rats. Visit it, it’s absolutely worth it.
Bikaner:
7 km from the center we visited the cenotaphs of Devi Kund. They are the tombs of the royal family of Bikaner, pavilions in white marble and red sandstone, architecturally very beautiful. Also, we visited them at sunset: wonderful!! Bikaner is a big city, we shot it with the tuc-too, I was particularly struck by the haveli Rampur, entirely carved in red sandstone. The other major attraction is the Junagarh Fort, also in red sandstone: it is an imposing fort with a series of courtyards on which various environments open, absolutely the best fort in Rajasthan.
Plan your trip to Rajasthan through the luxury train Palace on Wheels, which is famous for Rajasthan.
Jaisalmer:
This was a very long stage, over 300 km with more than 6 hours drive, but it was worth it. The city is in yellow sandstone, a material that gives it a color similar to honey. It is located at the gateway to the Thar Desert so the heat was quite unbearable, but it is an absolutely unforgettable stop.
The fort stands on a hill overlooking the city and is one of the few in Rajasthan to be inhabited. Inside, in addition to the palace of the Maharaja, there are 7 Jainism temples entirely excavated in the sandstone. We also did an excursion to Sam’s sand dunes, but if you saw the Sahara desert, forget about it, it’s a real disappointment.