The Desert State of Rajasthan - Mandawa

As early as 8 am, our driver, Mr. Gyan picked us up to start the trip around Rajasthan. To be frank, I can never remember the time taken to get to once city to the other within Rajasthan. But the only thing I can remember, it was a long journey and time consuming. But at least not that horrible compared to taking the trains. Hihi...

When arriving Mandawa, we checked in the hotel first. We chose the cheapest room and that meant no air conditioner and the least comfortable room. None of us care about comfort when every single rupee is very important to ensure we return our country home safe and sound. Anway, we checked in at Mandawa Heritage Hotel which was just a walking distance to the town centre. Wifi is available at Rps 100 for 24 hours.

Mandawa is just a small city, really small but it has its own character. The buildings are actually the havelis, but more on paintings rather than carvings. They are old and several are not in used. But there might be people leaving in it. People in Mandawa seemed not to bother about the presence of foreigners but the local young guys (they claim to be the official guide) were a problem. It was a good idea to read about each city to be visited to avoid any sort of tricks and scams that might ruin the traveling trip. Compared to other cities, the young local guys would bug you for 15 to 20 minutes and they kept on following you and tried to convince us that they were not trying to cheat us. Seriously, we did not need any sort of guide since we knew what we were looking for.

While ignoring the guys, we focused on the buildings and started releasing the shutters. It was a great evening and was not that hot.

The haveli with faded painting

Another better haveli

Busy and narrow street with the haveli where all sorts of vehicles pass through

After spending 35 minutes at the town, we headed back to the hotel. We thought of having dinner somewhere but my buddy preferred to dine in the room. Before returning to our room, we were just checking out the hotel which was actually pretty cool. I think this was the best hotel we have stayed for our India trip, in terms of price and identity of the hotel. Might costs a lot more if this was not Mandawa.

The lobby of Mandawa Heritage Hotel

The other angle of the lobby

Looks expensive right?

The most expensive room, around Rps 4500. Nice for honeymooners.

It was a well-spent day today. Tomorrow is another long journey to Bikaner so we need prepare for tomorrow, charge our hand-phones, camera batteries and repack our stuffs.