Approaching the Railway Station in Dausa, Rajasthan.November 14th 2006
Had breakfast at Arya Niwas (paid Rs 240) - bought some items at a General Store outside the hotel for Rs 161) and left the hotel at 11.03 am to go to Dausa with Neelam and Sunil. As soon as we took a turn outside the hotel, Sunil went past a red light and was stopped by a cop. Sunil managed to pay only Rs 100 as fine. We felt bad and Pavan managed to pay him later by adding this amount for a battery charger he had bought for us.
We stopped on the way at "Sisodia Maharani Ka Bagh" - a beautiful garden, which is going thru major renovations. It had frescos on the outside walls and the mood was to return via this garden again, time permitting.
We drove to Dausa, and the 2 locations it is known for are a temple and a dargah. We first went to the temple, a very tough drive for Sunil, as the lanes were extremely narrow, even difficut for a three wheeler to go, but somehow, Sunil managed to drive his compact car there. We were harrassed by a local called Deepak and since the temple was too high and impossible for us to climb, we just wanted to take pictures from down below and leave. But this character along with another person thought they had their day's income and continued to insist that we have to go up. Once Deepak even threatened that he would not let us leave till we had gone up, at that point, Pavan who was quiet all along, walked up to him and threatened him in his Meerut Lingo and said firmly, "Do not touch" and only then he let go, the other fellow was calm but this "Deepak" was drunk . There were also a lot of monkeys here. Finally, we made our way back to the car, and left with a bad taste about this place. We are Indians and so could get rid of these people, what must the tourists from other countries be experiencing with such scoundrels? The local officials must make a note of this.
Next stop was at the Dargah. Pavan went alone inside, and I took some pictures of the temple again from this site and some portraits of locals sitting by. It is basically a calm place, one thought sprung to mind that mostly the turbans worn here were white, not colorful. Later we found out that the ones we saw must have been older men, who do not wear colored turbans after they loose their fathers.
Pavan returned from the Dargah feeling very good about the place and the people there. They were very curteous, cooperative and pleasant. Had no expectations about any donations, and even allowed Pavan to take their pictures. Pavan took additional pictures after coming out of the dargah.
We left to check out the RTDC Midway hotel in Dausa. It was a one room hotel, that is why it is called the Midway. The rate for the room was Rs 400 and it included a bathroom, very basic furniture, but good for someone who HAD to have a night's accomodation there. We had lunch there, which they prepared for us fresh, it was excellent and the manager and the cook came to see us off after we ate. We paid Rs 224 plus tip for 4 of us for our lunch. Since Dausa is only 55 kms from Jaipur, they do not expect many people to stay, but RTDC still has this facility available for anyone who may need an accomodation.
The last 2 locations (the Dargah and the RTDC hotel) were much better experiences after the visit to the temple.
We drove back to Jaipur around 3.30 pm and stopped again at the "Sisodia Maharani Ka Bagh" and took additional pictures, now in the evening light, and spent about another half hour there before driving back to Jaipur.
Sunil wanted us to go to his house to have tea, which we accepted. His mother and kids were in the living room, his wife made tea for us with biscuits, chivda etc, and before we left his wife came to say hello. We then left his home to visit the 2 RTDC's in Jaipur for comparisons. Both the hotels were pretty decent, but a little more expensive than Arya Niwas and not as cozy. But, in absence of Arya Niwas, we would definetely like to stay in any RTDC accomodation in Rajasthan. They offer clean rooms (as long as there are no carpets) and fresh clean linen etc. They do have basic ammenities like soap, drinking glasses, water cooler etc. They also serve all meals at an additional charge.
Bought a yellow/black print 2 pc dhoti/kurta outfit for Jaidev (our grandson) for Rs 110 (which was later exchanged for a size larger at Rs 20 more).
Returned to the hotel and we had dinner at the hotel (Paid Rs 300.25). We just love the food at Arya Niwas. Nice, clean and very reasonably priced.
Neelam packed her bag as she was leaving early in the morning for Delhi before returning to Bombay. Talked for sometime before we all slept. Neelam's bed was quite a comfortable arrangement. We had this sleeper sofa in our room, which actually opens into a single bed, and the hotel staff prepared the bed with clean sheets, pillows (we asked for many extras) and blankets etc. which were graciously provided.
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