[vaibhav_a_a]

Nice travelogue Arnab and quite a feat driving solo all the way from Kolkata. As someone from Jaipur who has traveled to these places over separate trips, I'd answer a few of your queries
- The pelicans in Jalmahal are migrants. You may also see flamingoes if you are lucky (and in peak winter). Bird conservation has picked up over last couple decades (a predominantly vegetarian population, religious beliefs and awareness have all contributed). For the serious birder there are smaller offbeat spots not far from Jaipur such as Chandlai. Locals in general are used to seeing local and migratory birds.
- The "fort" near Jaisalmer you missed is hotel Jaisalkot
- Udaipur was traditionally referred to as 'city of lakes'. White City seems recent.
- You can visit the backside of hawa Mahal and climb up, there is a ticket for it.
- The part of city palace Jaipur that was inaccessible is retained by the royal family for their personal use.
Cheers.

[sukhbirST]

Hands off to you and your family for enduring such a long trip. Wish you many more such trips . It was wonderful going through the photos and places covered.

[subho10]

Fantastic roadtrip. Hats off to your diving effort though I do not recommend to take such risks.
You went though many large cities on the way, why didn't you get the car fixed from Authorised Service Station. It would have given you more peace of mind for the entire duration of the trip.

[Neversaygbye]

I have bookmarked your thread simply because I plan to direct all my friends and family members who keep cribbing that I plan super hectic trips that are more of endurance tests than travel, to your thread. After reading your TL, all I can say is that "they ain't seen nothin' yet".

Truly, hats off! Just the thought of Calcutta to Jaipur non-stop by itself fatigues me and you not only did that but also dealt with the furious incident of the dog in the night time, to boot! Glad that it all worked out for all of you in the end though I would have gone to the nearest MASC in Jaipur to get everything fixed knowing that I had three nights there. Am curious to know why you didn't do that.

This was quite an adventure, to say the least and thanks a lot for sharing - apart from the incidents big and small, it is amazing how well you have detailed out your trip in terms of places visited, routes, distance, time, food, stay, cost, et al. I have a plan to visit Bikaner and Udaipur one of these days, and your TL will be very handy for planning that. Which app did you use for the trip details? Looked very useful.

Looking forward to reading about your next adventure and also to meeting you in one of our Calcutta meets.

[hothatchaway]

Awesome trip and congratulations to you and your family for being able to complete what you had set out to do despite the setback. I had read about your trip to Lucknow last year on FB and had commented. Realized that you are on BHP too!

It is unfortunate that despite paying through our nose by way of taxes and then separately for highway tolls, we get inconsistent to downright dangerous driving conditions on our highways. I say this after having driven to most states in India with my wife and daughter in tow. I know most would say that it was perhaps foolhardy for you to continue after your brush with the dog at JH at that time of the evening, but turning back at that stage would have been equally tricky. What you took was a calculated gamble and it paid off. If one had to completely eliminate risks of this type, then its better not to venture on our highways at all, given how unpredictable they are. I too prefer driving through the night and despite our instinctive fear of the dark, there is an advantage in this case; headlamps do a better job of announcing oncoming traffic, especially on 2 lane roads. Traffic is also light.

I read your comments about the repair costs here in Kolkata. Over the years, most authorized garages have taken a nosedive while charging a premium. You can try Alok Automobiles in Topsia as they do a good job at a fraction of the cost. There are other places too around that area who give you decent value for your money compared to some of their counterparts in South/Central Kolkata

[arnab.i@gmail.c]

Originally Posted by vaibhav_a_a

The pelicans in Jalmahal are migrants. You may also see flamingoes if you are lucky (and in peak winter). Bird conservation has picked up over last couple decades (a predominantly vegetarian population, religious beliefs and awareness have all contributed). For the serious birder there are smaller offbeat spots not far from Jaipur such as Chandlai. Locals in general are used to seeing local and migratory birds.

Thats good to know, I get your point about how the migrants are preserved here. Wish to see flamigoes sometime here.

Originally Posted by vaibhav_a_a

... The "fort" near Jaisalmer you missed is hotel Jaisalkot
- Udaipur was traditionally referred to as 'city of lakes'. White City seems recent.
- You can visit the backside of hawa Mahal and climb up, there is a ticket for it.
- The part of city palace Jaipur that was inaccessible is retained by the royal family for their personal use.
Cheers.

Thanks for the information, specially about the name of 'Jaisalkot'

Originally Posted by subho10

...You went though many large cities on the way, why didn't you get the car fixed from Authorised Service Station. It would have given you more peace of mind for the entire duration of the trip.

Thanks. I tried connecting with a few Maruti Service Stations, but their process overhead would lead to several days halt and un-surety of finding spares (which none of them assured will be found quickly. Also they can only check availability after opening everything). Perhaps with a larger damage thats what would be recommended but my intention was to be more agile and carry on for as long as possible.

Originally Posted by Neversaygbye

I have bookmarked your thread simply because I plan to direct all my friends and family members who keep cribbing that I plan ... and also to meeting you in one of our Calcutta meets.

Thanks for your kind words of appreciation, about the non-stop to Jaipur I would say if you take a span at a time its doable, I have also heard people who has done this. But definitely hectic, so its recommended to take a stop at Aurangabad or Varanasi if possible. Looking forward to meet you sometime soon.

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

Awesome trip and congratulations to you and your family for being able to complete what you had set out to do despite the setback. I ...counterparts in South/Central Kolkata

Thanks for recommendation of the garage. I think you read my condition well and yes luckily, with god's grace, the gamble paid out well. We all wish such incidents dont happen at all, but the reality of the roads are unique and I believe there are no good or bad decisions, its just what works at that time

[haisaikat]

Excellent narration Arnab da, your attention to the details took me 2 days to go through it completely. This is going to be super helpful for someone planning a trip to Rajasthan. Even I have this on my radar but may be in a couple of years when our little one becomes a bigger one and gains enough maturity to appreciate some of these historical sites.

As for the travel itself, this is a trip solely made possible by your determination and the support of your family members. I do not know whom to give a higher credit considering my experiences in the practicalities involved in executing family trips by road. You have successfully squeezed at least 2 additional days of touring into this plan by saving time through various means like (very) early start, consuming packed food (while repairs) were underway, etc for which I give you and family full credit.

An eventful journey is what I would say, glad you all are safe and surpassed all the hiccups be it the repairs, non stop ~30 hrs drive / staying awake, camera gear's accidental fall, you handled all nicely.

Curious to know how old is your car, were there similar repairs before? Also regarding lower cost of repairs in Lucknow, my observation on 2 occasions have been that even at authorized service centers, Tier 2 (for you Lucknow and I found in Greater Noida and Agra) cities have lower cost than Tier 1 (like in Kolkata).

Will eagerly wait to see the bird photos.

My favorite photo from the trip is not the ones of the desert sunset silhouettes, but the one clicked by your family in Amber Fort of Jaipur where you are aiming to shoot a photo of a local artist playing Ravan Hatta all the time while holding a carry bag. This portrays the Durga (10-hands) in the father who drives for passion, plans for the right places for taking the family, shares load during touring, keeps all stress and tension to self, and also clicks photos to come back and document. This is a greater joy of family, please keep this up and wish you many more trips and also their documentation here for us to cherish them.

[kvamshi04]

Dada !!
What a captivating travelogue! Your adventurous spirit and determination are truly inspiring. Reading this brought back memories of my school days—my father was posted in Jodhpur for sometime, so we’d spend our summer vacations exploring different parts of Rajasthan. And, interestingly, I have a Behala connection too. I'm from Hyderabad and married to a Bengali; my in-laws live in Behala. While you were on a road trip through Rajasthan, I experienced my first-ever Kolkata Durga Puja, pandal-hopping and taking in the larger-than-life celebrations. Hopefully, we’ll cross paths in Behala when I visit next, maybe during Jamai Shashthi!

[arnab.i@gmail.c]

Originally Posted by haisaikat

Excellent narration Arnab da, your attention to the details took me 2 days to go through it co...please keep this up and wish you many more trips and also their documentation here for us to cherish them.

Many Thanks @Saikat for your kind words of appreciation and motivation. Just like any middle-class person, travel is just an expensive proposition for me too. Driving makes it easy on the pocket and adds flexibility to the mix. Neither can I plan for out-of-office 4 months in advance for rail tickets (also not giving in to the touting racket) nor buy air tickets at an effective cost of the whole trip (or more). This is simply the reason to use the car that we have. Its nothing more than that. With god's grace I could navigate peacefully through these challenges, again its a matter of chance and I dont want to have it again.
I am glad if this perfectly doable plan actually helps you (or anyone else). I would repeat it myself if there would be an opportunity again (with some changes of course).

My car is 8 years and 67k km old as of today, the sole reason for buying the Baleno was due to my father (he had edema due to prolonged nephropathy and couldnt lift his leg to get inside the car), my earlier car (the i10) was at that time too small for our family. Baleno allowed him very comfortable on boarding and sitting experience (no other car had offered that much at the price point). Now that he is not with us anymore I am slowly accumulating courage to try something a little more stronger for long trips.

There were no such events and no repairs of this magnitude in the past (not even for the i10). Having said that I had wildly wondered if this incidence is a case of a well planned fraud where a dog would be well trained for jump and the 'thugs' would wait for someone to fall into their tap. Probably a 1% chance but after watching Jamtara (on netflix, I think) anything is possible and the zone of the event is just around Jamtara.

About the bird photos, incidently I am not on facebook or instagram due to a myraid of historial family issues, when I had to go through repeated insults from close family members who read into my life too much from my travel posts. I post everything on ebird.com and the photos (well I dont care much as I am not too good behind the camera in terms of results) are along side the checklists. I would want to take the opportunity to appalaud you on your instagram posts of birds (I use the public access to see some snaps of instagram). About the picture you loved the most isnt me. He is a renouned photographer, birder and a dear brother-cum-friend. I am glad that you thought we look somewhat alike though

I would be delighted to meet you in person, as I think there is chord we have stuck in each other. If it sounds reasonable please feel free to get in touch over email and we can take our plan forward.

Originally Posted by kvamshi04

Dada !!
What a captivating travelogue! Your adventurous spirit and determination are truly inspiring. Reading this brought... celebrations. Hopefully, we’ll cross paths in Behala when I visit next, maybe during Jamai Shashthi!

Hey, thanks a lot for the message and I am glad it brought back fond memories. Since you talk of your Behala connection and we basically swapped our locations at the same time, I would be obliged if you thought it so kind to visit our humble dwelling and let us try our best to host you and your family.

[ABHI_1512]

Excellent account of an eventful journey through the steeped in history places of India. Loved the adventurous streak in you and the courage to complete the trip despite the initial hiccups. I am a great fan of night drives in India and despite what one may think, it’s always a pleasure driving through traffic free highways during the night. Wishing you more travels and will look forward to seeing you in one of the meets, here in Calcutta.

[arnab.i@gmail.c]

Pretty sure the speed limit reported is incorrect. Is there a way to challenge the case with https://echallan.parivahan.gov.in website?

I know we can do it with Kolkata Police by email, but this is different

My first selfie with Rajasthan Police

[Kkumar]

What an epic travelogue! You are truly a master planner and your courage is worth mentioning. Kudos to you for successfully completing the trip surmounting all the obstacles thrown in your way. Also I must appreciate the perseverance of your family. Congratulations to you and your family. Waiting for your next travelogue. Thank you for sharing and keep on munching miles.

[kvamshi04]

Originally Posted by arnab.i@gmail.c

Hey, thanks a lot for the message and I am glad it brought back fond memories. Since you talk of your Behala connection and we basically swapped our locations at the same time, I would be obliged if you thought it so kind to visit our humble dwelling and let us try our best to host you and your family.

Thank you so much Dada for your kind invitation! Your offer to visit is incredibly generous, and we'd love to accept.
We'd be delighted to visit your home and experience your warm hospitality.
Thanks again !! 🙏 🙏