Trips & Tours: North India Adventure

Upon arrival you will be transferred to the group hotel. The remainder of the day is at leisure. The group briefing will usually be held on the morning of Day 2.
 

This morning there will be a group briefing before heading out for the day’s sightseeing in Old and New Delhi, including the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid.

Later in the afternoon we will transfer to Rewari station, which is 75kms drive from the hotel, for the overnight train to Bikaner. Travelling on the railways is one of the great experiences of India – our sleeping berths are comfortable and we reserve secure four-berth compartments for our groups. However, travelling on Indian trains is by no means luxurious. No bedding is supplied, so we curl up in our sleeping bags to awake in the morning in the heart of Rajasthan.

Note that we are required to vacate our rooms by lunchtime, but rest rooms will be available for your use until the time of departure. Please note, we may bus to Bikaner depending on train schedules.

Upon arrival in Bikaner, we have breakfast before we drive to the village of Chemana to commence our camel ride. If you have never ridden a camel before, don’t worry – few people have! It can seem daunting at first but it is great fun, and camel riding is the only way to experience the Rajasthan desert.

Before setting off you will be given a briefing on how to ride the camel. There will be an attendant in charge of each animal – trust him, relax, and sway with the forward movement of the camel. Our caravan consists of our camel attendants and our crew. We also have Rajasthani musicians to play for us during the day and at night around our modest campfire.

All of our gear, including food, provisions and camping equipment, is carried on the camel carts that accompany our caravan. Our crew and musicians also ride on the camel carts. There are frequent stops for refreshments and a chance to stretch your legs. If you decide to give
the camel riding a miss for an hour or two, you can walk, (the camels do not travel at a galloping pace), or ride on the camel carts for a while.

The first stage of our journey is to the campsite at Khanag Sar. There are a number of small villages on the way as we gradually merge with the pace of the desert. On arrival at camp our crew will unload the camel carts and establish the campsite – tea will be served and washing water made available, and the cooks will prepare the evening meal.

After dinner, we gather around the campfire, while the musicians entertain us with folksongs – it won’t be long before we join in!

We start early to complete the six to seven hours of riding through desert scrubland. En route we visit some of the more isolated desert villages and the camel men will introduce you to their lifestyle: a world away from the huge forts and palaces that characterise other parts of Rajasthan. The scrubland eventually gives way to rolling desert and we arrive at our campsite at Balasar, ideally set on a sand plateau and close to a small village.

Today we travel to the town of Jamba. The desert scenery changes once again – from rolling dunes to more undulating terrain – and if, towards the end of the day, the pace of the camels increases, it is because they sense they are on their way home. Jamba is the home of our camel men and we can be assured of a warm welcome. The villagers will join us until late in the evening as we celebrate our last night in the desert.

There will be a further opportunity to visit Jamba this morning before we board our bus for the short drive to Jaisalmer. The afternoon is free to
wander the bustling bazaar located within the fort. Built in the 12th century, the forts massive entrance gates and narrow, paved stone lanes lead to the outer walls with superb views over the city. We recommend you wander out to the Royal Cenotaphs at Barabagh to enjoy the magnificent sunset.
 

We have a full day to explore the ancient walled city of Jaisalmer. We visit Jaisalmer Fort and the Jain temples, which contain many intricate carvings. We also explore the ‘havelis’, the mansions of the wealthy merchants who made their fortunes at a time when Jaisalmer was on
the old trade route between the Arabian Sea and the markets of Central India.
 

With an early start we can reach Jodhpur by lunchtime to allow a free afternoon to visit Meherangarh Fort. Situated on a 125-m-high hill, the fort is the most impressive in Rajasthan. It includes a complex of palaces and museums that reflect the rich cultural history of the region. From the upper ramparts of the fort, we will have 360 degree views of the entire city.

The famed ‘Pink City’ of Jaipur is the capital of the state of Rajasthan. The city was founded by Maharaja Jai Singh in the early 18th century, when he moved from Amber to this new site on the plains. We reach Jaipur in the afternoon. Giving us the rest of the day to explore the city.

We continue our program of sightseeing in Jaipur, visiting the Hawa Mahal, the City Palace and the Jantar Mantar; the remarkable observatory that reflects Jai Singh’s passion for astronomy. There is also the Old City with its bazaars and the Hawa Mahal (the Palace of the Winds), originally built as part of the City Palace complex to allow the ladies of the royal household to watch everyday life in the city without being observed.

Jaipur and with the Amber Fort as our backdrop, we commence the bike section of the trip. Instruction and bike adjustment will take place at this point of time. We then progress along the Ramgargh road, one of the quieter veins leading out of Jaipur. This twists through small farming settlements, where we provide endless entertainment to the villagers who are intrigued at the notion of westerners riding bikes through India.

By lunch we arrive at Ramgarh Lake and enjoy a lunch respite under a huge banyan tree. After lunch we cycle on to our camp spot; in a true rural setting, with small rudimentary dwellings and endless fields of various crops.

We continue riding through timeless India, with lush flowering mustard plantations flanked by overhanging willow trees, before reaching the
gates to the Sariska Tiger Reserve. After a drink where we will have lunch. This was once home to a significant population of tigers, until a few season ago, when poaching reduced numbers. However there are many other animals in the park, and the atmosphere and natural surrounds make the visit very much worthwhile. Our camp overnight will be in the grounds of the Sariska Tiger Camp.

We ride through a number of small villages to Rajgarh where we stop for lunch. After lunch we continue cycling another 15km before boarding
the bus for the journey to Bharatpur via Mahua arriving at our camp in the premises of the Swaraj Resort.
 

Today we cycle to the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary where we will enjoy a packed lunch. Our bikes provide a wonderful mode of transport to move
around and explore the park, where swamplands provide habitats for hundreds of bird species. We will then travel in our vehicle for about 20km to Fatehpur Sikri, to explore Akbar’s deserted capital, before continuing on to Agra.
 

In the early morning we have a sunrise visit to the Taj Mahal, Shah Jahan’s mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. We continue to Agra Fort, a fitting testimony to the Great Mughals – Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan – during the era when Agra was the capital of the Mughal empire. From the Red Fort we’ll have more views of the Taj Mahal before driving back to Delhi where the tour ends.