~shree
30Jan/1216

Upcoming Tour : A Fortnight in Rajasthan

Unlike my other trips, I am posting well in advance this time. This is a good opportunity to show what goes on in the mind of a 'tour'ist!

Rajasthan needs no introduction as a state. Magnificent forts abound the land of the Rajputs. So do culture and craft. And then the great desert. A riot of colour, should I say ?

This trip will start and end in Jaipur. Jaipur was chosen for the convenient direct flight from Bangalore.  My tour runs Feb 15 to Feb 28, inclusive of to and fro travel. I get about 12 days of cycling. This will be a relatively relaxed trip - averaging about 80 kms a day. Rajasthan is a large state. A trip around Rajasthan can exceed 1600 kms easily. To account for my time constraints, I will take a train from Jaisalmer to Jaipur.

This will be a down-to-earth kind of trip. I am doing everything to look ordinary. I will be wearing regular shirts(no jerseys), track pants(torn at the bottom for effect!), chappals(no shoes) and a cap(no helmet) to protect me from the sun. My fancy sunglasses will perhaps be the only thing sticking out. No laptop, no GPS. Ordinary looking water bottles. My smartphone will let me blog. The new Sony NEX5-N will capture the moments of the trip. This is a camera capable of shooting dSLR quality pics, sans the looks to match. The overall aim is for the locals to think 'here comes the college student'. I have been mistaken for an army man; that won't happen this time.With my belly, chances of anyone mistaking me to be from the armed forces are rather slim.

Why all the effort to portray an ordinary look? I will be trying to stay mostly in villages, and with some care in temples. Less gadgets mean less distraction for the local folk. Less worries for me, and more time spent talking about everyday topics!

Avoiding highways will be priority, and to certain extent avoiding lodges too. How would I charge my batteries if I avoid lodges ? Solar charging via a 5 watt panel. The solar panel should be a limited crowd puller; it also gives me a readymade 'cause' for the trip.

Thats it for now. Updates as I find things to write about. If have any questions, just ask!

Comments (16) Trackbacks (0)
  1. “Jaisa des, vaisa ves”. Have a blast of a time at Tour de Raja-sthan. Do keep posting while on the tour. Else you don’t find time later 🙂 What’s the sunscreen SPF number this time? I gather that temperatures are cool this month esp. nights.

  2. @Deepak: Point taken. Expect some more posts before the tour, and during the tour 🙂

    I have settled for SPF 40 for now. I am told that Feb is the best time to tour Rajasthan.

  3. Looking forward to updates, Shree.

  4. The belly will melt. Hopefully 🙂

  5. all the best shree! waiting for next lot of village stories.
    Mallik

  6. I came across some guy’s tweet about a motorbike trip for world peace. They have a fb page, twitter page and some programs with folks on the way to Iran(or was it Turkey?)
    Anyway let the “purpose” be. Keep writing. 🙂

    Keep emergency contact phone numbers handy. Keep hidden emergency money.

  7. Rajasthan truly is a grt choice…not jus coz i’m frm rjsthan. i believe travelling rajasthan should not just be bout the cities..must do the villages…particularly the churu district…gorgeous havelees…colourful people…superb road access…neway…keep us posted…would luv to knw how it is to bike in rjsthn.

  8. Looking forward to the updates, Sree! Good luck for the tour.

  9. All the best for the tour !

  10. Shree,

    Have fun & less chances of getting mugged this time with less gadgets around!! 🙂
    the people of rajasthan are very friendly… if u need any inputs or help i can put u thru to my friend who hails from Udaipur & has some contacts…

  11. @Satish : thanks for that – I will contact you offline.

    @Venky, Mahesh, Divya, Mallik : Thanks

    @frg : Learnt that the hard way – perhaps you have read this story : http://www.shreekumar.in/?p=280 ?

  12. Shree…. as usual, full enjoy maaDi… I’ll be waiting for your trip experiences & pics!

  13. Thanks, Goutham.

    Unfortunately, things are looking shaky now w.r.t. my vacation. Some high priority work at office may postpone or abort this trip. Sigh – updates tomorrow I guess!

  14. Shree, Thats a bummer ! I am against abortions !!! I can go on this trip on your behalf, if u want… just need a power of attorney 😉 Hope it works out in your favour ! Cheers, Bala.

  15. Too bad your trip cancelled!! BTW last but one para caught my eye about solar charging your devices. Do you have any panel with you?? Recently got one from PowerBee & I wanted to compare the performance with the one you have.

  16. @Prashanth: Yes, I have a panel with me. We are still experimenting with the charging part though. We are trying to create a kind of a universal 5-12V charger that can take its input from either solar power or batteries. My friend has made the electronic circuit, but it is not tested at this time. Lets compare notes after we have something usable 🙂


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