Photo: tehzeta
In fact, India, rather, can be called an anti-lux country. More gouging (or, to put it mildly, “philosophical”) attitude towards the client, more dirty, poor, “crowded” and loud (OK, we will say “spontaneous”) streets and more sloppy (“peculiar”) people, probably, cannot be found in the whole world. However, this is all – in the opinion of an idle European. And if you take an open mind, it becomes obvious that India is a beautiful country. Magnificent nature, dizzyingly beautiful architecture, ancient traditions that underlie, among other things, the way of life of the Hindus, amazing music, miraculous medicine, rooted in ancient Ayurveda, which works, I assure you, I myself experienced its healing effects. In short, you must go here. Especially if you don’t have a shortage of money. Because in this case, all the above problems and difficulties are smoothed out, and sometimes even completely reduced to nothing. In order to achieve this effect, you need to stay only in proven hotels – for example, in those that I recommend to you. The rest is at your own risk. True, risk is a noble cause and can sometimes end very successfully. Suddenly you discover something new and very good? Then tell us about it and together we will make our Indian trips more comfortable and enlightening.
Let’s talk today about Rajasthan, one of the most exotic and wonderful places in India. Even the most experienced and seasoned travelers experience completely new and unexplored feelings in this northwestern Indian state. A riot of colors, world-famous architectural masterpieces (Rajput fortresses, maharaja palaces, temples), dazzling bazaars where you can buy completely unique carpets, fabrics, dishes … And at the same time very inexpensively. But stop. I always have to pull myself together, because if I start talking too much about sights, then I will not have enough time to talk about things that are equally important, but much less discussed. Namely, about hotels (as for restaurants, in India it is better not to experiment with this, eat in those establishments that operate at the hotels recommended here).
At first, you will most likely end up in Delhi. So here is a hotel in Delhi: The Imperial.
The place is authentic and comfortable at the same time. Here you can find authentic Indian flavor. It is very noisy in Delhi, but as soon as you take cover behind the fence of the Imperial, you begin to rest from this noise. The building was built in the 30s of the last century. Colonial style, more than 200 rooms, corridors are decorated with outlandish paintings and sculptures. It is best to stay in Heritage Rooms or Heritage Suites.
* * *
Of course, you will go to Agra. Because the Taj Mahal must be seen with your own eyes at least once in your life, it is truly a masterpiece. You can spend the night in Agra in Amarvilas from Oberoi. Moreover, it is very close to TM.
The building stylized under the Mughal era, water gardens, fountains, pools, everything here is full of oriental luxury. Paths lined with white marble, galleries with virtuoso frescoes, a rotunda with a golden dome and a giant chandelier. And the view… right on the Taj Mahal. From every room. Teak floors, handcrafted furniture, unsurpassed comfort.
* * *
The next stop is the city of Jaipur, one of the most beautiful and popular in Rajasthan. There are two excellent hotels here. The first is Rajvilas, again the brainchild of the Oberoi Hotels chain.
70 rooms, surrounded by a wonderfully beautiful large garden with exotic pavilions and ponds. The hotel building itself resembles an ancient fortress with towers, battlements and loopholes. Inside – floors sparkling with marble mosaics, murals and other masterpieces of interior decoration. There are three villas with private pools, pleasant deluxe rooms, and romantic Luxury Tents. Yes, yes, these rooms, hidden in the most secluded corners of the garden, are called tents. Although in fact, of course, these are not tents at all, but real mini-palaces. The walls look quite thorough, anyway. And inside is very cozy wood trim.
* * *
Rajvilas has only one drawback. These are doves. They nest on the roof of the main building and there is literally no salvation from them. These birds make noise and crap extremely inopportunely. But in Rambagh Palace, another Jaipur hotel, there are no pigeons.
And if Rajvilas is located a little outside the city, then Rambagh is almost in the center. Its building inspires awe – huge domes, arches, marble colonnades. No wonder, because this is the former residence of the Jaipur Maharaja. Around the gardens, which look into the windows of all rooms (there are 90 of them). The best rooms are the Historical Suites.
* * *
To unwind a little after some of Jaipur’s busy tourist days, it’s worth taking a short look at the Amanbagh Hotel, which is located a two-hour drive to the south.
This is a hotel of my very favorite chain Amanresorts, which grew up in the middle of real rural India, which allows you to get a closer look at the traditional Rajasthani way of life. It hasn’t changed at all, or almost at all, since ancient times. Here, in the mountains, were once the hunting grounds of the Maharaja of Alvar. And in their place, this hotel arose, or rather, the palace. The views are absolutely inspiring – forests, meadows and … a huge pool of green marble. True, there are small pools in each room. And there are gazebos, huge jacuzzis and complete silence. In India, you just need to visit a place like this, otherwise you will have a slightly misconception about this country as overly fussy. No, there are such oases of silence here, where you can relax and forget about everything in the world.
On this I will have to interrupt my story about the hotels of Rajasthan, otherwise it already turns out to be too long. However, I promise to return to this topic very, very soon. After all, in addition to the cities already affected, travelers do not leave behind the scenes of their attention either Jodhpur or Uydaipur and its environs. It is worth talking about the Ranthambhor National Park. After all, there is another wonderful hotel of the Aman network. So Rajasthan is by no means exhausted yet. Well, India as a whole – even more so. India is a separate planet. It has many more wonders. CONTINUED ABOUT RAJASTAN HERE.
