Day 1

July 17, 2012 TUESDAY

Feeling a bit nervous and excited too about the journey. The Udaipur-Jaipur express that departs the Udaipur City Railway station at 0615 Hrs was on time and fortunately I got a place to sit. I was not having any reservation in the train and the distance to be covered was long. You wont find this train over occupied most of the times and the fare is also cost effective. Only 107 INR.

Many stations passed by and finally reached Jaipur at 1325 Hrs. It was a good journey. My friend Mr. Natwar Singh Rajawat was at the railway station to pick me up. Jaipur Traffic Police is very strict. So make sure you follow traffic rules. Helmets is necessary both for driver and passenger if you are driving on a two wheeler.

Natwar has to do the complete shopping so helped him in that. I found Jaipur very costly and the markets are not that good organized. It was hot that day. Then returned back to Natwar's home that was at Sanganer  as the bus from Jaipur to Chandigarh was at 2025 Hrs. We booked a semi delux RSRTC bus and the charge for that was 452 INR per head. Bus stand is near sindhi camp. The public transport system is quite good in Jaipur and you dont have to worry about auto rikshaws or taxi. You can buy dinner from any good hotel near the bus stand. We had dinner in bus only. You will find many traffic jam in the way so it is always better to travel by train.

Lot of travelling made me tired and we both slept. 

The suggestions for the beginning of the tour are:

1. You should have a big and strong back pack bag. 
2. Make sure that you reach Railway or Bus station 90 minutes before your bus or train because generally the ticket counters are too much crowded. So if your seat is not reserved, you may not be able to get the ticket on time.
3. Make sure you have coins of 1,2 and 5 rupees as the ticket counters at railway and bus station mostly have problem of change.
4. Carry enough water and a big hankey with you.
5. Instead of going to Chandigarh by bus, you can book a train. AII CDG Garibrath (Train number 12983) departs Jaipur at 2000 Hrs and reaches Chandigarh at 0645 Hrs. Fare is 469 Rs for Third AC which is very much good as compared to the buses. The journey through train is also very much comfortable. Please note that the train runs only on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday and book tickets a couple of months before the date of journey otherwise you will have to pay 200 Rs in addition to the fare for instant ticket booking and still not sure that you will get a confirm ticket. The train source station is Ajmer and destination station is Chandigarh. AII CDG Garibrath is full AC train and have only 3AC cars. If you are looking for more cost effective travel then you can go for CDG SUP FAST (Train number 22451) which has sleeper cars too that will cost you 277 Rs. Cost for 2AC and 3AC is 723 Rs and 1075 respectively. This train do not go to Jaipur. Also please check train timings on http://www.indianrail.gov.in/between_Imp_Stations.html This train also operates on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday. 

The journey continues..........