| Details |
| Day 01: Arrival – Patan Mahal |
| Arrive at the Delhi Airport this morning, where you’ll be met by our representative.
Drive to Patan Mahal (180 kms / 3.5 hours). Patan Mahal is a Heritage Home, surrounded by its own farm on one side, an 800-year-old fort and another palace halfway up a hill. Patan is the site of one of the last great battles in Indian history. Called the Battle of Patan, it saw the Maratha Confederacy pitted against the Rajputs of Jaipur and their Mughal allies in 1790. |
| Rest of the day is at leisure, to explore the delightful gardens, pool area and the various nooks and crannies scattered all over the palace where you can relax in peace. |
| Patan Mahal (Suite) |
| Meals: Breakfast, Dinner |
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| Day 02: Patan |
| In the cool morning, trek up the hill to the Badal Mahal and further up the 800-year-old ruined fort. The fort is one of the few in India to never have been conquered by an invading army. A combined force of the Marathas and the French were the last to try, and having unsuccessfully laid siege to the city, the French commander General de Boigne compared the fort to the Rock of Gibraltar.
Later in the day, visit the local village, the step well (baori) and the village temple. Watch the Rajasthani men and women making bangles or beautiful pots in the village. You can also walk around the extensive farm within the palace. |
| Patan Mahal (Suite) |
| Meals: Breakfast, Dinner |
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| Day 03: Patan – Mandawa |
| Drive to Mandawa 05-06 hours |
| Rajasthan’s Shekhawati region is renowned for its extraordinary painted havelis (mansions), highlighted with dazzling murals inside and out. The sheer quality of the works and the range of subjects offer interesting vignettes of a bygone era. |
| Visit Mandawa’s painted havelis (mansions) and the fabulous Poddar’s museum. |
| Vivaana Culture Hotel, Mandawa (Deluxe Room) |
| Meals: Breakfast, Dinner |
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| Day 04: Shekhawati |
| Explore Shekhawati’s prominent towns and villages looking at painted havelis. |
| Enjoy evening sundowners at a Baori in the village of Chudi Ajitgarh |
| Vivaana Culture Hotel, Mandawa (Deluxe Room) |
| Meals: Breakfast, Dinner |
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| Day 05: Mandawa – Nagaur |
| Drive to Nagaur (190 kms / 04 hours) |
| Enjoy the Nagaur fort and relax at your restored luxury heritage hotel, Ranvas, located inside the Nagaur fort. |
| Ranvas (Queen’s Room) |
| Meals: Breakfast |
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| Day 06: Nagaur |
| Enjoy a cultural tour by Tuktuk – visit local artisans continuing traditional crafts and making jutis (leather slippers), clay decoration items, durries (rugs) and iron tools. |
| Enjoy a jeep safari in the sand dunes around Nagaur. |
| Ranvas (Queen’s Room) |
| Meals: Breakfast |
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| Day 07: Nagaur – Jodhpur |
| After a relaxed breakfast, drive to Jodhpur (150 kms / 03 hours) |
| Visit the colourful and bustling Clock Tower market. |
| Ratan Vilas (Courtyard Standard Room) |
| Meals: Breakfast |
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| Day 08: Jodhpur |
| Visit the most imposing structure in Jodhpur, the mighty Mehrangarh Fort, which incidentally is the biggest fort in Rajasthan. Built atop a 150-m high hill in 1459 by Rao Jodha, the fort has withstood many a battle, as is evident today from the marks of cannonballs on the fort walls. |
| Visit Jaswant Thada, a beautiful marble cenotaph built by Sardar Singhji in the memory of his father, Maharaja Jaswant Singh II, who ruled over Marwar in the latter part of the 19th century. Jaswant Singh tried to set up a welfare state and was known for his reform measures. |
| Enjoy a jeep safari to the Bishnoi villages around Jodhpur. The Bishnois are a conservative spiritualist sect found mostly in the desert areas who believe in the conservation of all life; The men of the Bishnoi community dress up in cotton waistcoats, turbans and dhotis. Bishnoi women wear elaborate gold nose rings. |
| Enjoy your Thali Dinner at the Roof Top restaurant at Pal Haveli |
| Ratan Vilas (Courtyard Standard Room) |
| Meals: Breakfast, Dinner |
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| Day 09: Jodhpur – Kumbhalgarh |
| Drive to Kumbhalgarh (04 hours) |
| Visit the famous Jain shrines of Ranakpur, located between Jodhpur and Udaipur. In a valley of lush green, the marble temples stand out like a gleaming white jewel. Considered one of India’s largest and most important Jain pilgrimage sites, the gloriously sculptured main temple called the Adinath Temple is a three-storeyed marble edifice perched on an elevated plinth. |
| Visit Kumbhalgarh Fort, a World Heritage Site. Its most notable feature is its massive ramparts that undulate around the rocky plateau. Wide enough for eight horsemen to ride abreast, and 35 km long, it is said to be the second to only the Great Wall of China. The fort, built in 1448 by Rana Kumbha of Mewar (after whom the fort gets his name), served him well against assaults from rulers of Delhi, Malwa and Gujarat. |
| Fateh Safari Resort (Superior Room with Balcony) |
| Meals: Breakfast |
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| Day 10: Kumbhalgarh – Jojawar |
| Drive to Jojawar Village (90 kms / 02 hours) |
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| Enjoy a very special safari excursion to the nearby hills for evening tea in the classic vintage automobiles of Rawla Jojawar. |
| Rawla Jojawar (Superior Room) |
| Meals: Breakfast, Dinner |
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| Day 11: Rural Train ride |
| Take a scenic 1.5-2-hour rural train ride on the ‘Valley Queen’ from Marwar junction to Khamli Ghat. The metre-gauge train chugs through tunnels and past waterfalls, offering fantastic views and an authentic experience. The journey was made famous by Rudyard Kipling’s classic tale ‘The Man Who Would Be King’. It offers a wonderful insight to rural Indian railways, connecting small stations like Phulad, Goram Ghat and Khamli Ghat manned by lone stationmasters. The route travels on the highest track on the Western Railways of India. It passes through the Aravalli scrub jungle, through tunnels and over bridges. Monkeys wait along the track and near the stations to be fed by tourists. |
| Go for a village walk to meet the locals and explore the market, where great photo opportunities await. |
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| Rawla Jojawar (Superior Room) |
| Meals: Breakfast, Dinner |
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| Day 12: Jojawar – Jawai |
| Drive to Jawai Leopard Reserve (150 kms / 04 hours) |
| Jawai’s healthy population of leopards co-existing with the charismatic Rabari tribe. Although the leopards rely on the diet of shepherd livestock and street dogs, remarkably there has not been any conflict between humans and leopards. |
| Enjoy an evening jeep safari in Jawai’s boulder strewn landscape looking for leopards and other small cats |
| Nature Jawai Retreat (Villa with Mountain View) |
| Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner |
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| Day 13: Jawai |
| Enjoy a morning jeep safari in Jawai’s boulder strewn landscape looking for leopards and other small cats |
| Visit the local tribal villages and meet the locals. |
| Nature Jawai Retreat (Villa with Mountain View) |
| Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner at Jawai |
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| Day 14: Jawai – Departure |
| Enjoy a village walk with a Rabari shepherd. The area has been used for grazing livestock and farming by the Rabari Tribe who are shepherds/herdsmen. The Rabari tribesmen take the occasional loss of goat or sheep rather philosophically, as an occupational hazard of sharing their land with leopards. |
| Drive to Udaipur airport (160 Kms / 3.5 hours) |
| Arrive Udaipur airport & connect flight 6E 2149 to Delhi at 1700 hrs. Arrive Delhi at 1820 hrs and connect International flight |
| Meals: Breakfast |
