Pavan and Rita at Samod Palace, Jaipur, Rajasthan
November 17th 2006
Today is our 34th Proposal Anniversary, we proposed to each other this day :-)
We are starting a 2 night/3 day trip to Shekawati Region, which will include Samod, Sikar, Nawalgarh, Dundlod, Mandawa, Fatehpur, Ramgarh, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Sikar (on return again) and back to Jaipur.
8.30 am After breakfast, left Arya Niwas for Samod.
Responding to our query, today Sarawan Singh told us about the Bansal family who own and manage Arya Niwas Hotel. The father: Shri Krishna Bansal passed away last year and was popularly known as "Bauji". He started his life as a Govt servant and he was also responsible for putting up the Radio Station in Ceylon. His sons Mr Ajit (wife Neelam) and Harsh Bansal (wife Sushma) and daughter Chitra Agarwal and grandson (Ajit's son) Tarun Bansal (wife Kirti) run the business. There is another daughter of "Bauji" Laxmi, who lives far away. The family lives together in a joint family system about 2 and 1/2 kms away from Arya Niwas and they have a couple of summer houses where they go away for hot summer months, as Rajasthan, being a desert, is unbearable in summer.
9.40 am Reached Samod. When we arrived at Samod Palace, we were made to pay Rs 250 per person entry fee which may be used to pay towards a snacks/food bill in the restaurant. This hotel is beautiful, sp the Sheesh Mahal, took a lot of pictures. 2 guys helped show us around, even took our picture through a beautiful Jharokha window (shown above). Pavan gave Rs 20 to each. The restaurant service was poor, maybe because they already had our money. The food was so so. The bill came over Rs 500, so we paid the difference, but left not feeling so good about the poor service and the quality of food. A nice Palace - Heritage Hotel experience spoilt at the last moment.
Comment: We were later told by Mr Harsh Vardhan's wife in Kota that this hotel belongs to her cousins. It was in ruins and after some recommendations from relatives and friends, they joined hands with Heritage Hotels to bring it to its present glory.
1.15 pm - Arrived in Sikar.
There is an old clock Tower, quite interesting but too many electrical wires around it spoil it to shoot any good pictures. There are also some old Havelis, a lot of dentist shops (?) took a lot of pictures but the place has more commercial than artistic value. Took some photos of a flower shop where the shopkeeper had hundreds of marigold (genda) garlands (malaas) - he presented me with a red rose, very sweet smelling! Nice of him.
1.40 pm - Left Sikar for Nawalgarh.
2.25 pm - Reached Nawalgarh. Nicely landscaped entry to Nawalgarh - a circular choraha. Sarawan Singh brought us to DS Bungalow - a paying guest house (called guest house) at 2.41 pm. Outside the guest house, we met with the owner - Pinky - in a Rajasthani dress, a yellow printed ghagra choli, a very sweet and a confident person, a bit overbearing though. She escorted us inside and we saw another table with a local guide with some tourists. Pinky was taking orders, cooked the food herself with the help of a local boy. I went to use a toilet, and even saw a room in case we decided to spend the night there. The bathrooms were leaking and I did not get the comfort level, besides it was still early in the day and we wanted to see more places before we settled down for the night. She quoted me Rs 800 per room, which I believe was twice the price she normally gets. We ate our lunch which took an hour to be served, and when she realized we were not staying, she offered to reduce the price on the room rate. We explained to her that it was not the price but we still had a lot to cover and it was still early in the day for us to settle down. Pinky is trying to do a very good job of putting her home available to guests but needs some help to furnish the place better and take care of the facilities within. While we were eating our lunch, her husband brought her 2 young kids home from school. Maybe, she needs to separate her home quarters from the guests, so one does not feel as though they are intruding.
We took some pictures with her, she looks very pretty and enterprising.
4.00 pm Left DS Bungalows to see some local Havelis. Witnessed two donkeys fighting, attacking each other with a vengeance. A sight never witnessed before, we got some good shots of them.
4.35 pm Left Nawalgarh.
Spent 15 minutes at Dundlod from 4.55 pm to 5.10 pm
5.45 pm - Reached Hotel Mandawa - a huge Palace/Haveli turned into a Heritage Hotel.
This is a Haveli, which has been converted into a Heritage Hotel. The exterior has frescos painted all over on white background. They started by showing us rooms priced at Rs 3000 (with an upper room, complete with a wall to wall mattress to cover the whole room, gaav takias etc from where one could look below into the room). When I flatly refused to pay such a price, not only did they start showing us other rooms but also offered to give us a 40% discount. We finally settled for a room at Rs 1100 (total final price). The room was heavily painted on all 4 walls. There was only a bedcover and blankets to cover the sheets, so we requested for 2 more pillows and 2 single sheets (to use under the blankets) which they graciously provided. Too tired to eat dinner, I went to sleep at 7.15 pm and did not wake up till 9.15 pm. Pavan said there was live Rajasthani music and entertainment. Just had tea and biscuits. After Pavan took a shower, the taps went dry!!!!
The bathroom had a sink with no arrangement to place our toiletries, supplied with 2 towels but no napkins and a tiny little 1" soap. This is a Heritage Hotel but no better equipped than an RTDC hotel which is being offered at Rs 400 in this city. This hotel attempts to look classier than it is. The room was clean, with a marble floor and a clean bathroom, but all night, there was no water in the bathroom. It is a good thing, Pavan had saved some water in the bucket, so we could atleast wash our hands etc at night.
Smart idea that we had our mini electric kettle to make tea, we carried tea bags and creamer- (we do not take sugar) and some cracker packets. That was very helpful.
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