Rural Rajasthan

Check-in to RAAS JODHPUR (02 nights recommended)

Khamaghani! You will be met on arrival by your chauffeur and guide. After introductions, you will be transferred to The Rohet House in the suburbs or to RAAS Jodhpur in the walled city.

Jodhpur is a bustling town, with the mighty Mehrangarh Fort towering over the walled city. If you are at RAAS, the stunning views will be a part of your experience day in and day out. Jodhpur is also a great shopping hub and textile treasure, including the Dhurrie makers of Salawas, about a 40-minute drive out of the city. Our key experiences in Jodhpur include a meal in a local home, Mehrangarh Fort and Museum, and an early morning walk in the Rao Jodha Desert National Park. If time permits, we can do a walk of the old city and also get an introduction to some of the music and performing arts culture of the region. There are a couple of excursions outside the town, like Salawas for the Dhurries and a Farm-to-Table experience in Mharo Khet.

As this is your first day, we recommend that you take the first half of the day at an easy pace and, post-lunch, head to the Mehrangarh Fort and the Jaswanthada Chhatris (temples dedicated to royal families upon their deaths). Return to your hotel for dinner. Overnight stay.

You can begin the morning with a nature walk at the Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park, a community conservation project under the aegis of Pradip Kishan, famous as the Tree Man of India, who has revived this piece of land close to the Mehrangarh Fort with a vision to bring back the hardy indigenous trees and shrubs of this landscape so that you don’t have to water them. A guided walk with a naturalist also acquaints us with the geology of the region; birding and rock exhibits are interesting add-ons. Time permitting, you can walk back through the walled city residences (coded blue), squares, stepwells, and temples. Breakfast can be back at the hotel, or if you are adventurous, you can try some of the famous street food shops.

For lunch, we recommend a dining experience with the family at a local home in the walled city an insight into the daily life, joys, and challenges of living in modern India—or at a farm about an hour from the city. A leisurely experience, this is a project run with the help of local women that walks you through the farm and the polyhouse and ends at the guava orchard with a multi-course meal inspired by local delicacies. The rest of the day can be used for shopping or just exploring the city by yourself. Back at your hotel for dinner. Overnight stay.

Check-in to CHANOUD GARH (02 nights recommended)

Stay two nights in Chanoud Garh; the light, airy and beautifully decorated rooms, each unique in its layout and style, are inviting and promise a comfortable stay. Jairaj and his family own Chanoud Garh and trace their lineage to the Mertia Rajputs. They have lovingly restored sections of their palatial home to create spacious public areas, courtyard gardens, and quiet nooks for relaxing and reading. With recipes handed down over generations within the family, every meal from the kitchen is delectable, showcasing some of the finest regional produce and delicacies.

Just before sunset on the terrace, a slow exploration of the fort with Jairaj will unfold the story of Chanoudgarh and its restoration and transformation into a charming boutique hotel. Dinner and overnight stay.

Begin your day with a leisurely breakfast at the Moti Mahal, their main indoor dining room. Later, a retired school teacher leads your guided tour of the village. You will see local craftspeople, potters, and herders going about their daily lives. Your guide also explains the local governance and caste system. The school and hospital that are funded by the Chanoud Garh family are worth a visit, provided it is not disruptive to the school schedule. Lunch is usually a carefully prepared meal from the family kitchen, which is still presided over by Jairaj’s mother and introduces you to several family recipes that you will not taste anywhere else. After lunch, you will welcome the siesta before heading out to the salt pans in the late afternoon.

As you head out to the expansive salt pans, you will drive across farms and scrub desert, great spots for bird life. You will reach in time for the sundowners laid out in a very special location to watch the sun slowly slip into the horizon, even as you learn about the relevance of the scrub and the salt pans to the local ecosystem. Outwardly, it may look arid, but the desert supports myriad wild creatures.

Back at the hotel Dinner is usually outdoors, which begins with drinks around a campfire. Overnight stay.

Check-in TO BERA SAFARI LODGE (02 nights recommended)

Leave for Bera this morning after an early breakfast. Stay at Bera Safari Lodge for 2 nights.

Bera is an adventurer’s retreat snuggled in the Aravalli ranges and offers a tranquil and beautiful backdrop to one of the country’s most popular leopard conservation stories, largely powered by the local people—the Raikas, who are herders with small swathes of land where they grow vegetables and grains for local consumption. Bera Safari Lodge is a small boutique lodge that offers seven elegantly decorated cottages. Its big windows with plenty of natural light and private sit-outs overlook the countryside and Liloda Hill, a prime hideout for the leopards who dwell in the caves and crevasses of the boulder-ridden hills.

Shatrunjay Pratap owns Bera Safari Lodge; he is a passionate photographer, a leopard enthusiast, and an ardent conservationist. It was his endeavour that ensured that at least a hundred mining permits were withdrawn to allow Bera and Jawai to continue as leopard habitats. In the afternoon, take a safari into a stunning boulder-like landscape; en route, you may get an opportunity to interact with Rabari herdsmen, a local community of shepherds who have been living in harmony with leopards and hence play a key role in their conservation.

Walking with the Rabaris, talking to them about their daily routine, and herding sheep under the threat of a leopard is a soul-fulfilling activity. While the leopards have increased, there have been no mishaps or conflicts recorded for the past 100 years or more. The heroes of this tourism story are definitely the shepherds and the leopards. Dinner and overnight stay.

Head out on early morning and late afternoon drives in a customised 4x4 accompanied by your tracker guide to see the Jawai and Bera landscapes and spot leopard. Please note that this region is just a protected forest. Conversations with your accompanying expert promise to be interesting as you learn about leopards and their behaviour. About 30 bird species can be spotted easily around the lodge, and about a hundred more at the nearby Jawai Dam, which will be a part of your safari ride.

Lunch will be on your return to the lodge before you head off for an afternoon safari, not before you have a brief rest. Dinner back at the lodge and overnight stay.

Check-in to SHAHPURA BAGH (02 nights recommended)

Leave early today; this longish drive to Shahpura Bagh takes about 6 hours (255 km). On arrival, you will be greeted by a member of the Rathore family, owners of the 50-acre Shahpura estate. Set amidst nature, this beautiful boutique hotel offers nine air-conditioned suites furnished in warm tones with large bathrooms in three restored bungalows, surrounded by woods, a lake, and a gorgeous pool with cabanas and a deck. After lunch, check into your rooms for a two-night stay.

In the afternoon, you can opt to explore the village on foot or by cycle. Opportunities abound, and the vistas of people shopping, huddled together to exchange news, sweets and savoury dishes being prepared on open fires, and open-air shops selling fruits and vegetables of various colours, invitingly displayed in orderly heaps, A drink by the pool is followed by dinner back at the estate. Overnight Stay.

After breakfast, take a jeep safari to Nahar Sagar, the family’s 150-acre farm; this is an excellent opportunity for birdwatching, and en route, you drive through tribal villages, meeting people herding sheep or working on homemade crafts. The tribals here have stunning features like light eyes and are tall and robust, displaying an interesting ancestry. Lunch will be on the farm, after which you will return to the estate for a couple of hours to catch up on sleep or just read a book by the poolside.

Late afternoon, drive out to the Dhikola fort, a stunning 14th-century fort belonging to the family and surrounded by farmland and lakes. This is a perfect place for sundowners, and for those who are interested, especially if you are celebrating a life event, a private dinner can be organised where you will be the only people on the fort along with the service staff. Precooked meals from the estate are served on one of the turrets, with oil lamps and candles lighting every step. Return to the estate for dinner. Overnight stay.

Check-in to DERA AMER (02-03 nights recommended)

Drive to Jaipur, which is an easy four-hour drive. You arrive in Jaipur and drive out to Dera Amer, which is a glam camp edging 180 acres of reserve forest. An elephant rescue centre runs alongside, with currently two elephants, Lakshmi and Rangmala, living an ‘ellie life’ with their mahout. You will arrive in time for lunch.

Jaipur is the state capital of Rajasthan and possibly one of the largest and fastest-developing two-tier towns in India. Cafés, restaurants, and showrooms for textiles, crafts, and jewellery have mushroomed all over town, and with that, hotels, homestays, and large hotel chains are fighting to claim a part of this growth. That said, Jaipur still surprises those who look beyond the main streets. In the older parts of the city, there are still areas to be discovered on foot, museums to be explored, and heritage to be celebrated. Some of the key attractions are the sprawling Amer fort, the Anokhi Museum nearby, the city palace, and Jantar Mantar (literally a magical place for children and adults) where math and geometry have been expressed in various man-made instruments to ‘measure the phenomenon of the heavens’.

Jaipur has plenty to do, including shopping, so a three-night stay is recommended. On this day, take it easy and explore the farm. Make friends with Lakshmi and Rangmala, and walk around.

Breakfast at Dera Amer and head out for sightseeing

This is the day you can check out the historical sites—the fort and palace—and take a photo op outside Hawa Mahal (the palace of the winds). Shopping both off the street at Johari Bazar and as couture in designer stores is amazing and will require at least half a day. Highly recommended are Café Auberge and Anokhi Café for a light meal at lunch.

On your drive out of the city, we recommend Kishan Bagh, a beautifully rewilded landfill on the outskirts of the city, a project once again by Pradip Kishen, the tree man of India. Dinner back at Dera Amer and overnight stay.

If you plan to stay that extra day in Jaipur, we recommend heading out early to Jalana Leopard Safari, an urban conservation project close to the city of Jaipur, to help protect the expanding city’s leopard population. Take the rest of the day off to enjoy Dera Amer with a leisurely lunch and time by the pool, or head back to town for some last-minute shopping. Cottons, Missprint, and smaller shops in the older parts of the city sell beautiful blockprinted textiles in cotton, silk, and mul-mul. Dinner at Dera Amer. Overnight stay.

An early breakfast will help you get an early start on the silken motorway to Delhi, which will get you to the airport in less than four hours.