November 2023
To-date (30/11)
Trip duration: 96 days
Countries visited (exc UK): 8
Locations Visited: 25
Distance Travelled: 14,870KM
Steps Walked: 1,349,572
This month
Countries Visited: 1 (India)
Locations Visited: 5 (Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Pushkar, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Ranthambore)
Distance Travelled: 6,098KM
Days moving: 6
Longest stay: Udaipur, Jaipur (each 7 days)
Steps walked: 290,357
Our Travels in November were mostly in Rajasthan
1st to 5th
Landing in Ahmedabad on the 1st, we stayed for 5 nights in this megacity to try and get our heads in the game. In this instance the game is Cricket with tickets booked for the England-Australia world cup match in the world's largest stadium, the 132,000 seat Narendra Modi cricket ground! Please note we're not talking about that.
Ahmedabad was as crazy and busy as we expected, but did exactly what was needed to help us get used to the pace and intensity of India, while showcasing some incredible sights, both contemporary and historical.
6th to 13th
We'd always planned to arrive in India in time to enjoy the Diwali celebrations - a highlight of the calendar. As we got nearer, we decided that Udaipur - the city of lakes - might be an interesting place to do so, and as such we planned to have a few days here ahead of the celebrations, and then stay for the main event of Diwali on Sunday 12th. We actually had a great time in Udaipur, which is a very beautiful and ancient city, with an increible city museum and some superb restaurants and eateries.Â
Diwali was somethign else, which we'd kind of hoped, and we managed to spend the evening in the excellent Charcoal rooftop restaurant, enjoying good food, a few Kingfishers, and the utter craziness that is Diwali in India!
13th to 17th
Pushkar - a very holy place, home to over 500 temples, the lake where Lord Brahma is alleged to have created the universe from, and the final resting place of Mahatma Gandhi's ashes. It's also home to an annual camel fair, believed to be the worlds largest. Our plans took us here just before the camel fair starts on the 19th, but this is possibly the best time as we get to see the build up, but avoid the craziness of the actual fair.
17th to 22nd
Five nights in beautful Jodhpur, the Blue City, home to the incredible Mehrangarh fort balanced on it's precipice 120M above the city. Did you know the blue paint is actually Mosquito repellant? Jodhpur has no shortage of sights to visit, and rooftop restaurants seem to adorn every building in the old town.
22nd to 29th
The capital city of Rajasthan, Jaipur is also known as the Pink City. We have a full week here, as we're also going to visit an elephant scanctuary, Elefantastic, and spend some time with these wonderful creatures.
29th to 30th
A brief visit to Sawai Madhopur, the small city at the edge of Ranthambore National Park. Staying in the excellent Raj Palace resort, we undertook 3 tiger safaris, seeing a tiger on two of them. Check out the Ranthambore page for our piccies!