Hi there!
It’s been a while since I wrote about a travel specific blog and I thought what better time to do it than now. I started my India trip in Mumbai and I am currently stationed at Jaisalmer. Coming to Jaisalmer is always an amazing experience because of Suryagarh, where the hospitality at this place never fails to impress me. Given the fact, that I got married here it makes it all the more special. Every single person in the staff has been taking adequate precautions for Covid 19 and that makes me very comfortable. When me and my husband were planning this trip to India, we knew it was going to be unlike others in the past. We needed to be at places that we knew were taking very good care during this ongoing pandemic.
These are a few shots from my time in Kuldhara village near Jaisalmer, commonly also referred to as ghost town. Lying 17km west of Jaisalmer, about 300 years ago, Kuldhara used to be a prosperous village of Paliwal Brahmins. According to folklore, Salim Singh was a powerful minister of the state, and wanted to marry the village head’s daughter. He threatened the people of the village by levying extreme taxes. Instead of falling for this, 85 villages around Kuldhara left their homes and vanished in the middle of the night. My experience here was so unique with the area being completely desolate, but at the same time having so much history.
My trip in India is also different than others, as for the most part my husband is riding down with our newest addition to the family: our bike. I have signed up for a few hours of riding, but I am avoiding the 20+ hours on the bike. We also had a chance to visit a beautiful Lodurva Jain temple which has some striking architectural elements. An entrance arch that dates back to a whooping 1200 years old.
Apart from just spending a time at very prestigious hotel properties, we chose to venture out to these isolated places that make us feel comfortable away from the crowds. The advantage with Jaisalmer is the fact that whether or not it is peak season, it always feels like you have the whole place to yourself. As far as Rajasthan is concerned, on the itinerary we have planned to visit Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Udaipur. I am really looking forward to a wonderful stay and exciting places over the next few weeks. This makes it more of a point for us to do this very safely and prioritizing our health above all. For now I am just going to be sharing some snippets of my entire trip so far. You can catch up with getting more of these updates on my Instagram page.
I’m also sharing this quick video of the ruins of Kuldhara village, so you can get to see how magnificent underrated and beautiful it is.
Along with these photos from Suryagarh, I want to take this opportunity to share the special and amazing hospitality from this hotel. The pandemic has surely had it’s negative effects on the hospitality industry as a whole and having hotels run to full capacity is still going to take a while. However, if you are looking to getaway for a few days to a place away from crowds and have a good time consider visiting Suryagarh. Every single person in the property has been taking great precautions and I felt really comfortable here. To conclude, this is a photo is a 1200 year old arch from the Jain Lodurva temple and I will share another exclusive blog about my time in Jodhpur and Udaipur. Stay tuned!
Lots of Love,
Road Dress Travelled x