Valencian sun

Last year in the summer, we spent 5 days in the coastal Spanish city of Valencia. It was a city break kind of trip, which I rarely do nowadays. During those five days, we mostly walked around the city centre, enjoying the art, the food and the slow pace of Spanish life. It was fun, especially the opportunity to spend such leisure time with friends. My favourite day of course was when I took a local bus to one of the nearby coastal village, and loved it.


Getting there

The flight to Valencia took us over the Pyrenees, and I could spot some blue lakes down below which sparkled over the mountains. Close to landing, there were many olive and orange plantations everywhere. And all the houses had blue pools in their backyard - it looked like the good life.

Streets of Valencia

It was quite easy to get to the city centre. I took the local metro and then walked 20 mins to get to our airbnb in Carmen. It was a nice walk through the narrow streets of Valencia. You could see that it was an old part of town, with its narrow colourful streets, metal balconies decorated with loads of plants and many squares and churches on the way. The graffiti on the streets was very prominent, and I enjoyed noticing and appreciating it over the weekend. I did not know then, but learnt later, that Carmen is actually famous for all its colourful street art.

The first day, we just walked near our airbnb. The second day we walked around town though without a plan. The next day we visited the local city beach. The fourth day was out of town, to the beach town of Perello. And the last day I did another tour of the city, based on some walks suggested online. And finally saw a lot more of the town. I think the first two days we were walking around in circles to the same areas, and it was nice that I did the more planned walk on the last day. At least I felt I had experienced quite a bit of the town.


The city centre

Streets of Valencia

In Valencia, we were staying in an airbnb in Carmen, which was the old part of town. For the first two days, we would mostly just walk around the city centre, checking out the colourful streets, the parks, the squares, the churches and local art. Given my friend was a foodie, we explored many restaurants too, some good and many not so good.

Valencia at night

There were loads of shopping options and eating places in the centre. It was always very active everywhere, full of tourists. The shops were full of people checking out local stuff, the squares were full of people gathered there to eat and drink. And in the evenings, all these places would be bustling (even more) with people. After 9 pm though - this was Spain 😂. And even at 11 pm, there would be music and a lot of noise outside. As our airbnb was in the city centre, we could hear the noise till very late. And very loud noise ☹️.

Cultural centre

While exploring Carmen, on our second day, we visited a cultural centre, the Centre del Carme Cultura Contermporánia (CCCC), which was a convent now converted into an art gallery. The paintings were nice, but the convent and its central garden was stunning. After the cultural centre, we walked all the way to the Turia Jardin (gardens) and spent some time there - it was huge. (The park is built on the former riverbed of the Turia river). We then walked back into town, walking past grand colourful buildings, old gates, churches and squares everywhere.

The third morning, we explored the university side of town (while on our way to the local beach). It was green all the way and we walked through many parks, most of them full of trees laden with purple jacarandas in full bloom. As we walked from Carmen to the university, the scene suddenly changed from old colourful buildings in the city centre to the modern glass and steel buildings in the university.

Valencia Cathedral

The university felt grand and open. The area was quite empty though, as it was afternoon and quite hot - so all the streets had emptied out. We were planning to take a bus to the beach and were trying to buy tickets - it took us an hour to find a shop which would sell us that as everything was closed for siesta 😂. Finally we were able to buy a bus ticket pack - 10 journeys cost just 6 euros with that card. We then took the bus to the beach. While coming back, we stopped at the Valencia Cathedral and were impressed by the grand square. It was full of activity, with some local markets and loads of tourists there taking pictures.

Turia gardens

The fourth morning we started with a run in the Turia gardens. It used to be a riverbed which was later converted into a park circling the old town. We went running there and loved it. It was quite hot and humid, but still fun to be out and active. There were loads of people running and many activities going on in the park. It was also fun to observe all that it had, small waterbodies, old bridges, and loads of flowers everywhere. Every bridge over the Turia has its own history too.

Plaza de la Virgen

While coming back from the beach that day, I explored the eastern part of old town and realised that it was quite grand. The streets had metal lamps all along its sides. And everything was cleaner and better maintained. Also much richer than the poorer and rundown part of town we were living in 😂. My favourite was Plaza de la Virgen, with its churches and towers all lit up. It looked so grand, so charming, with loads of activity going on there. So I decided to return the next day for sure.

The last day, I finally decided to explore Valencia properly. So I found a walking tour online and then walked around town, going farther than where we had been till then. I realised we had barely scratched the surface of the place 😂. I saw a newer, grander side of town and loved the walk.

I walked past the La Lonja de la Seda, a grand building housing an old silk exchange. The square there was quite grand. And right next to it, was the Central market, a covered indoors market selling loads of touristy stuff. It also felt so much cooler inside than outside.

Colon Market

I walked along the Calle de la Paz, a street with many more modern buildings. I walked on Colon Street, a quiet tree lined street with charming buildings and architecture around. I stopped for a while at the Mercado de Colón, a covered market built in Art Nouveau style with some art and eating shops inside. It was so relaxing to take a break there under the shade, and enjoy the art exhibitions on display.

Plaza Redonda

I walked through many other Plazas (or Placas as they are know) and each one had its own character. Placa del Tossal was where we had gone for drinks one of the days. It was so active even during the day, though looked completely different from the night look. Plaza Redonda was a round square with a fountain in between. In fact, we had our first day's dinner there. And it looked so different during the day.

Valencia Cathedral

Plaza de la Companya had a church and was surrounded by charming old buildings. Plaza del Ayuntamiento was a majestic square with the city hall on one side and other elegant buildings all around, with a green park in between. Plaza de la Almoina had a huge pink stone palace on one side and many charming buildings around.

Behind Valencia Cathedral

The walk from Plaza de la Almoina till the Valencia Cathedral was lined with historic gates and churches and doors and many other lovely views. It was quite nice to walk here, you felt like you had turned up in a different era. I also walked past the Museo del Patriarca, and it was impressive. There was a stunning church next to it, and I attended mass inside.

On this walk, we walked past so many lovely churches on every street. And picturesque churches. The colourful houses, though old all looked lovely, with their facades and their balconies with so many flowers. The whole historic area was huge, and apparently Valencia has one of the largest historic centres in Europe. And it was fun to explore. And then all the art!

Street art

Everywhere in the city centre, there were so many gorgeous paintings on the walls. Everywhere. Some many storey high, some small ones on the corner of the building. Some in modern designs, some commercial marketing on a shop’s shutter. Some with social messages, some just funny. Some colourful and some in monochrome, It was a real pleasure to see them all. And wonder what would have been going on in the artist’s mind when they made it. Here are a few of those graffiti art that I photographed.

Street art

Street art

Street art

Street art

The street art was everywhere, notable though were Carrer de Baix, Calle Alta and Caballeros, these streets were full of art everywhere (and quite near our airbnb).

Placa de la Virgen

Overall, I enjoyed this last day's walk through town. I think I did repeat many streets, but at least I knew what those buildings were. And after this city walk, I had lunch at Placa de la Virgen, with a view of the goings on in the square. And got a feel for what Valencia is all about.


The beach

On the third day, we took a bus to the local beach - Patacona. The bus was very crowded, so clearly it was popular 😂. The whole beachfront was lined with restaurants. And the food, especially the seafood here was better than what we had in the city centre. I swam for a bit too. The water was clean and shallow, though a bit choppy. But given the heat, the swim was very welcome.


The countryside

One of those days, I decided to take public transport and explore the countryside. So I walked to a bus stop, from where I could get a bus to Albufera Park. I saw so much of the city on that walk too, as I had time to kill before the bus arrived. On the bus, I decided not to get off at the park but go all the way to Perello beach. And just enjoyed the ride out of town.

It felt amazing to be out of the city. There was much more greenery everywhere. We passed by the Albufera Park with its marshy lakes. And then rural Spain appeared, with one village after another. All seemed welcoming. Though when I got off at Perello, I wasn't sure I had made the right choice or not. The village seemed empty, probably because it was quite hot

Perello Beach

But once I reached the beach, it was sheer joy. There were restaurants all along the waterfront. I ate at one which was still open at that hour, the Tapas King, a non-descript looking restaurant on the promenade. I had the best lunch of the trip. And the atmosphere was also so warm and relaxing there. By the time I finished my lunch, the sun had dipped behind the buildings, and the weather became more pleasant.

So I started walking along the beach, enjoying the views. The beachfront was lined with holiday homes, and the beach with people surfing or windsurfing. It was so chilled and relaxed there, I ended up walking for almost 2 hours, enjoying the warm breeze. 

Sunset over Albufera Park

Coming back to Valencia took 2 hours though as the bus I was to get on didn’t come, and the next one came after one hour. (I also realised that like in India, buses here don’t always run on time 😂). Plus we got stuck in the evening traffic. But the scenes outside were stunning. I saw the sunset behind the Albufera lagoon and paddy fields, it was just so serene. It made the entire day so joyful.


Eating out

As my friends were foodies, we spent some time trying to find good places to eat, based on their Google ratings. I would say though that the experiment wasn’t always very successful. Overall, I was not impressed with the food we found, though Valencia had come highly recommended.

The first day, we stuck to the Carmen district for our meals. I had my first lunch at a local tapas place, close to our airbnb - Tasco el Botijo. I sat outside in the shade and enjoyed the food, it tasted average though. Our dinner was at a well rated restaurant with apparently the best paella in town, the El Leon in Plaza Redonda. There were live local musicians playing in the square, which provided a lively background for the meal. The paella didn’t, though.

Streets of Valencia

The second day again in Carmen, we found a vegan place for lunch, the Lo de Ponxe. It had quite a unique menu which was quite tasty. That evening we again researched and went to a well rated fancy place called JamonJamon. It was quite upmarket but the food was a disaster and I had to use my emergency chilli pack to spice up the dishes and make them edible. Somehow we were not having good luck with food in Valencia.

We did find good ice cream at La Romano though - it always had long queues outside. We had drinks in the Placa del Tossal that day and enjoyed the vibe. I did enjoy the whole experience of sitting outdoors at the restaurants in all the squares. Everyone would be outside after 8 pm, talking loudly and having fun, with music playing in the background. And everyone would be out way past 2 am! Every day!

The third day we got out of Carmen and found better food - I think that was the trick. We had seafood lunch at one of the waterfront restaurants on the Patacona beach, the La Murciana. We walked in without checking the reviews, and loved the food. In the evening, we tried two places for cocktails in Carmen again. The Cafe Madrid at the Madrid Hotel, a fancy rooftop bar, was quite bad. But a cocktail bar called Santo Remedio was just awesome.

Continuing with my eating-outside-of-Carmen theme, the next day, I had lunch at a non-descript restaurant on the Perello beach promenade called the Tapas King and the food there was one of the best I had in Valencia. The ambience, the food taste - everything was perfect.

Carmen delivered on the last day though. I had my last lunch in Plaza de La Virgen at the Petit Bistro. Its location was its best selling point. It was on this grand square, where you can eat while observing the goings-on in the grand square, with the huge churches, the fountains and all the tourists. It was just so relaxing to sit there, with a cool breeze blowing. I also started talking to an American lady there who was staying in Valencia for a month, evaluating whether she would like to move to Spain or not. The food was ok, but the experience was still fun.


Weather

As it was June, the weather in Valencia was hot, especially in the afternoons. It was still breezy and the temperature would be manageable in the shade. (Interestingly it didn't feel as hot as it showed on the app). Only under direct sun would the temperature be unbearable. So we mostly got out in the mornings, then came back home in the afternoons for a siesta as it was just too tough to be outside (unless you spent time indoors in a shop or restaurant). And then we would go out again in the evenings, when it was pleasant, and sometimes even a little bit chilly.

I loved the weather, especially the heat as it made it easier to relax and slip into the chill zone, not trying to do too much. And the city felt like that too - the squares would just empty out in the afternoon, and the only people outside would be sitting around lazily in shaded restaurants, waiting for the evenings when they could get back to activity again.


Overall, I enjoyed Valencia, but also realised I don’t enjoy city breaks much now. I prefer being away from the crowds, anywhere in the mountains or by a beach works.

Dubai, the city of lights

Hatta Lake

In October this year, I spent a few days in Dubai, a layover while returning from London. I was working remotely, so I did not have a lot of time to explore the city, but I did get out in the evenings and the weekend, and what I saw, I liked!

On weekdays after work, I explored some nearby local places, and on the weekend I ventured out to explore the countryside. I enjoyed all the experiences, especially how convenient everything was.


Dubai shopping

It’s tough to be in Dubai and not shop 😂. Two of the weekday evenings, after it had cooled down a bit, we visited outdoor places nearby, which had a cultural aspect to it, but of course they included shopping too. One evening, we explored the Al Fahidi and Al Seef areas around Dubai Creek. It is a long stretch of old historic huts along the creek, some made of stone and some of wood, preserved in their original form. Now it has been converted into a waterfront walkway, a tourist hangout place, with the huts turned into handicraft shops, restaurants and museums.

Dubai Creek

We walked all along the water, enjoying the evening breeze, while also checking out the shops around. It was nice to be there, especially as everything was all lit up including on the other side of the creek. And regular boat taxis were plying along the Creek, transporting workers between different stops. The whole place had a very festive feel to it, though it was just a normal day.

We also saw the Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise boat which has been converted into a stationary hotel, and the sheikh's yachts next to it, all along the waterfront. Dubai really is another name for luxury. After that, we walked through Meena Bazaar and all the Indian shops in that neighbourhood. I was amazed by how crowded and active that place was, even at night. And with the number of shops selling jewellery, clothes and so on!

Another evening, we visited Global Village, which is a huge entertainment and cultural park in the open desert, about an hour's drive away. We drove by so many new developments and then the open desert. And then Global Village suddenly appeared, all lighted up in the middle of the endless desert.

Lake and Dragon boat

It is a massive outdoor park with pavilions from around 30 countries across the world, designed as a place to spend a full day exploring. The pavilions showcase the country’s culture, as well as sell products from there. Plus there are foods from different countries, shows going on on the central stage, and loads of restaurants. And in the centre, there is a lake with a dragon boat in between. People can boat there too. And all around are grand pavilions, all lit up. I think this is when I decided to give Dubai the epithet of ‘City of Lights’.

The pavilions

There is just so much to see, it's not possible to explore the place in one go. So we shortlisted a few countries we wanted to see. Though I must say, some pavilions were definitely better to visit than the others. We first walked into Turkey and that was amazing - they were selling a lot of local handicrafts, pottery etc.. Then Thailand was selling a lot of textiles. Plus the mangoes from there were very tasty. I was excited to see Japan and the Americas, but they were definitely not representative of all that the country had to offer. In fact, they weren't even selling authentic products! The Americas were selling branded shoes 😂.

Afghan jewellery

One of my favourite pavilions was Afghanistan, they were selling so many products which aren't generally available in markets - jackets and caps made of fur, juices from local fruits, tribal jewellery and so on. I also liked the Iran one, it was quite well set up and quite grand. We initially didn't visit the Indian pavilion as we thought it was home only. But when we went in, it was impressive. It had a lot more space than the others, and was selling a lot of good stuff. We walked into a lot more countries like Egypt, Sri Lanka, China and Korea but we weren’t impressed by them either. In China, they were selling anything and everything, as everything nowadays is Made in China 😁.

Latin American dance

Each of the country pavilions also had small stages inside where dancers were showcasing local dance and music. I liked the Turkish and Latin American performances, while the Japanese one felt quite slow. We also saw one performance on the main stage called “All aboard”, where they showed a bus of students visiting different parts of the world, represented by their dances. When the bus stopped in India, the dance was Bollywood but the background showed a poor part of some town with just doors painted in different colours. I was not happy to see that, is that all they could find to represent India? What about the forts and temples and handicrafts and himalayas and nature and so on India has to offer?

Anyways, there was just so much to see, we spent about 4-5 hours there and even then it was not enough. By the end we were exhausted, though still wanted to check out the other stalls. Overall we enjoyed our time there, and could go back too. I would love to check out the dances in all the pavilions. One of the other days I also visited an outlet mall, and found some good deals. So I guess Dubai being a shopper’s paradise is definitely true.


New Dubai

The Palm

I also spent some time visiting friends staying in New Dubai, and that felt so different than Old Dubai. Wide roads, lots of greenery and loads of new developments everywhere. I spent some time on The Palm, which has definitely become more full. As when I had visited in 2016, it was still being developed. Now it's fully developed and occupied. Also apparently it had been decided initially, that there will be no skyscrapers on the Palm, but now they have changed their policy and built one, with another on the way.

I walked into a mall there and was blinded by all the shopping and lights. The central pathway lined with the palms was nice though. Then I walked around the waterfront with a friend who lives there, and realised that as a tourist, you cannot access most of the sea front here. I was very impressed with the living there, all the restaurants on the beach, the many malls, and water activities available nearby. It also felt so relaxed, and green. And I liked the lights there too, especially Atlantis the Palm. It all looks magnificent at night.

The same day I also visited a friend’s villa, and was impressed with the luxurious life one can have in Dubai. With independent houses, greenery all around and even a private pool with each house. And they also had a lake nearby. Also sitting outside in the evenings is a luxury not that easy to come by in Europe, that sounded appealing too. I was slowly warming up to Dubai.


Hatta Lake

On the weekend, we decided to get out of the city and explore the Dubai countryside 😀, to Hatta Lake. It is about 1.5-2 hour drive from Dubai. We left in the afternoon, so that by the time we reached, around 3 pm, the temperature would have started to cool down.

Entry to Hatta

We spent the whole afternoon there, and it was amazing. The drive to Hatta was mostly through the desert. It was mostly empty, though the initial part had a lot of greenery. There were also some villages on the way, which looked very different from the city we had left behind. We also crossed Sharjah during the drive. Then we drove through dry desert mountains, where everything was dry and rocky. But the roads and services all the way were great.

Hatta lake

Hatta Lake is an artificial lake created by Hatta Dam and is surrounded by rocky desert mountains all around. It wasn’t very crowded when we reached as the tourists hadn't reached yet - they all turn up in buses after 4 pm when the weather has cooled down a lot. We were surprised with all the tourist infrastructure there. There was a parking space with all amenities. And shuttle buses to get from the parking lot to the dam and lake. At the lake, there was a centre for water activities like boating, kayaking, etc..

Kayaking in Hatta

We parked on the dam itself and walked across to the viewpoint, getting some panoramic views of the lake around. The water was a beautiful green. And the sun made it even brighter. I kayaked around in the lake and was amazed by the scenery around. Brown rocky mountains all around, with some birds flying around. And the water so green. It was so peaceful. And so surreal, a lake in the desert.

Sunset at Hatta

After kayaking, we had a hearty meal of Indian snacks like bhelpuri and vada pav, right on the dam. They were welcome after the strenuous activity of the afternoon. We saw the sunset on the lake, and it was stunning. With all the yellows and oranges around. I really liked this location.

After the lake, we went to Hatta Heritage Village but it seems like that is still being developed. We did see some old ruins there - an old watchtower, old irrigation canals and a fort being renovated - but the shops were all closed and there wasn't much to do there. While driving back, we saw the Sharjah Mosque on the road, all lit up too, it looked quite grand.

On this drive is when I realised that the UAE is quite huge, in fact much larger than the Netherlands. Other than the cities, the rest is an endless desert. Dubai is such a surreal place, luxury in the middle of harsh desert conditions. I felt a lot of respect for the Sheikhs then, it isn’t easy to have such a vision for building a global city out of the desert lands they inherited. Hats off!


Everyday life

I also noticed a few small things during my stay which I found interesting. 

• Dubai airport was so bright even at midnight when I landed - it was blinding 
• I was staying in Old Dubai, in the Al Mankhool area. It was full of apartments but not skyscrapers. And so many of the houses were lighted up with Diwali lights. Plus they were still lighting fireworks for Diwali. That was quite a surprise. Old Dubai is full of Indians, a lot more than I had expected.
• It felt like Hindi was the second language of the city. So many people speak Hindi, even some of the Arabic people, especially the ones in shops and other services 
• Apparently traffic has grown a lot in Dubai over the last few years, and pollution is also rising which was not the case when I visited the last time. It was quite surprising as Dubai generally manages to keep living quite convenient and under control. 

Overall, I was impressed with Dubai and thought that it could be a nice place to live. Easy and convenient. And what it lacks in weather and nature, it tries to make up for in other ways.

Experiencing the countryside (wild) life in Ranthambore

In the winter of 2022, during my India break, we went for a short 5-day stay at Ranthambore. It was a very convenient trip to plan for, as we were driving there. So, I booked a nice hotel, and we were ready to go. By the way, it was interesting to see the number of luxury hotels that have sprung up in Ranthambore. And of course, their crazy prices! I went for a reasonable option, and thankfully the experiment worked fine.

Inside the park

Booking the safaris was a much longer process though. With some initial research, I found multiple websites offering safaris in the park. After some more research I realised these were all third-party websites and not the direct government safari website. And there was a simple reason for it - the government website was too complicated to use to make the bookings. Somehow, I was able to create a login, register and actually book the safaris directly. But it was confusing and time consuming. (After going through the process, I do realise why the third parties are flourishing).


Getting there

The drive from Gurgaon to Ranthambore is supposed to go down to 4-4.5 hours once the Delhi-Mumbai highway is inaugurated, but for us it was still the longer route we had to take. It took us about 6-7 hours to get there. We drove on the Delhi Jaipur highway for a bit, taking smaller roads for the rest of the drive. Overall, it was a pleasure to drive there and is testament to the fact how much infrastructure in India has improved over the last few years.

The highway till Manoharpur is a road we have travelled on many times. The surprising experience though was a short patch on the highway when the speed limit dropped to 80 kmph and we got an overspeeding ticket there! Anyways from Manoharpur, we turned towards Dausa and Laklot, and drove on smaller roads which were also 4-laned and good quality! In fact, we were still able to drive quite fast through the second non highway part of the route too.

The drive was quite a pleasure – it was through green pastureland, with small hills and some small forts on top of mountains. There were so many guava orchards on the way there. We also saw a lot of colour all around, as Rajasthani women wear much brighter clothes. The yellows and reds and oranges are quite enlivening. We stopped at a random bus stop on the way to have chai, it felt so idyllic. This part of the drive was so much better than the main highway till here.

The last drive stretch

The last stretch was not a good road though. It was greener, and surrounded by fields all around including sarson khet which were yellow at that time of the year. And soon wheat would have been planted. There was a river also running along us through part of the way. But the quality of the road was sub-par.

Very close to our hotel, our GPS showed a shortcut where we took a turn away from the main road and had to drive through villages to go to our hotel. The road was so small, it was definitely not the right way to go. It actually felt tough to drive through. We also had a flat tyre, just before we were to reach our hotel. 4-5 village boys on bikes came and helped us change the tyres. Just like that. It felt amazing, and something I haven’t experienced for a while – strangers helping out like this.


The Ranthambore Heritage Haveli

The haveli

We were staying at the Ranthambore Heritage Haveli and I must say – what an absolute delight it was. It’s a huge hotel built in the style of an old Rajasthani haveli, with courtyards, flowers in the courtyards, painted walls and roofs and the typical chatri architecture of the area, all in a bright yellow. It was open air, with lot of covered spaces to walk around. 

The haveli khats

It had an outdoor pool, and green gardens where they had khat (village beds). Those were our favourites, we sat there every day all afternoon when the sun was out, playing cards or just sleeping. Half our days were spent like that, in the winter sun, enjoying its warmth (the winter sun is sometimes missing from Delhi winters). And there were many sitting spaces on the first floor too, to just sit and chat, from where we could enjoy the sunsets, as the sun cast its last deep yellow shadows on the haveli. It was my favourite place in the hotel, we enjoyed many sunsets from the first floor. It was just so idyllic and blissful over the next three days to be there.

Sunsets at the haveli

The best part of the stay though was the food. We had breakfast and lunch at the haveli, and the spread was just outstanding. Plus the taste of the food was something to die for. The cooks made typical homecooked food every day, with local sabzis, hot naans, ghee, and what not. And the personalised and warm service was just the icing on the cake. We relished each and every meal we had at the hotel, it was just such a pleasure to be there.

The haveli was near Khilchipur village, in a stunning rural setting, with khet all around it. Apparently, most of the hotels and resorts in the area are located nearby, near this Khilchipur village. From the roof we could see 4 other similar havelis nearby, all with the same chatri architecture. And they all had the same broken road to get to. We later did find a shorter route to get to the main road though, which was actually worse, but as it was shorter, it made the whole ordeal of driving out a lot easier.


How the safaris work

Booking the safaris directly is one complicated procedure. There are 10 zones in Ranthambore park for which you can get safari permits for either jeeps or canters. The jeeps can take 10 people at a time, and the canter about 30. There are limited number of jeeps and canters allowed in any zone in any day. And you need to book a jeep or a canter for a specific time and zone beforehand. (These are just the official rules though!)

These safaris can be booked on the Government of Rajasthan’s website. But it is such a mess to book – with registrations first required on two separate websites, logging in is allowed only through gmail (you cannot just create a new login), setting up a profile using buttons you can’t find (!!), and many other hoops you need to jump before you can actually get to booking through the site! I did actually manage to do it after a few days of trying, but it did feel sometimes that it may actually be better to book through all the agents who resell these tours for double the price. The agents book the safaris for you beforehand as well as get the tickets for you on the day, saving a lot of time and hassle.

We booked directly though, and found out the whole procedure only after turning up at the haveli. If you book directly, then on the day of the safari, you need to go to the forest office (which is located near a shilpgram) with your booking and wait for your driver and guide to be assigned. Once assigned, you need to wait for them to arrive and find you. And of course, they all come when they want to, over a 1 hour window. When they do find you, you need to give them your papers. Then you have to go back to your hotel and wait, as the guide and the driver come with the canter or jeep and pick you up from your hotel, about 30 mins later.

The chaos

The process is a mess, and it feels like a macchi market there at that time, total chaos. With the drivers and guides arriving at different times and shouting out for their passengers as there is no way of finding them other than shouting for them! Getting to the forest office wasn’t easy either as the roads are not even pucca and there is no marking. And you end up waiting there for a long time. Thankfully all around were sarson and wheat fields, which was a good time pass in such a rural setting.

But really, in this day and age, this way of arranging safaris is just ridiculous. As I said, if you book through agents, you can get away from all this mess, and you will directly be picked up from your hotel. For double the price, of course. (On the official website, costs for safari are Rs. 1305 (jeep) and Rs. 791 (canter) while agents offer for Rs 2375 and Rs. 1860 respectively. And finding the actual cost of the safari online was tough too).

Also I figured out that even though online there is a limit on the number of vehicles allowed in a zone, once at the forest office, there is no limit on the number of vehicles going into any zone. When a zone has had a sighting (and the probability of another sighting is higher), a lot more vehicles are allowed into that zone! It was quite sad to hear this is how things work on the ground. Also there is apparently a mafia between the guides and the drivers, the more influential guides get the more coveted zones (to get higher tips from customers for having seen the tiger!). It was all so messed up, somehow the whole experience did not feel fun.


Safaris at the Ranthambore National Park

Lakes in the park

Over the next three days, we went on two safaris in the park. One was in a canter in zone 3, the second in a jeep in zone 5. Apparently, there are 80+ tigers in the park. But we had only one tiger sighting, on our second safari only.

Zone 3 is supposed to be the most beautiful zone as it has the Ranthambore fort within the zone as well as a few small lakes. We passed by the fort with its majestic presence, chatri architecture and canons to protect it. It was so interesting to see that a fort has just been abandoned and now resides inside the National Park.

Dried vegetation

We drove in the forest for a few hours, enjoying the wild ambience. The vegetation was mostly dry forests, though the trees looked very old. The forest was not too dense, and the terrain was a bit uneven, with a lot of driving up and down. And the soil had a reddish tinge to it.

Sambhars

There were a few lakes inside and all had some birds and crocodiles next to it. There were also some old structures around the lakes where the kings used to come and rest. During our safari, we saw lots of chital, some sambhar deer, some nilgai, crocodiles and turtles near the lake, a wild boar, some langur and lot of birds. But the tiger eluded us even though we heard a few calls.

Sunset in the park

We did enjoy a nice sunset in the forest though, with the trees suddenly turning orange with the sunset light. Even though it was December, the day had been warm and sunny, but as evening came, temperatures dropped suddenly. And we got cold while coming back from the park. The driver also drove extremely fast while coming back, making us jump on all the potholes of the village roads! It was quite a bumpy ride back. Though the surroundings were nice, the khet and slow village life around.

Fort, inside the park

The second safari was in zone 5. It was a cloudy day that day. We passed by the fort and a stepwell during the safari. There were loads of mango trees around. And the forest was also lovely here, greener, with some waterbodies too. But we didn’t get to enjoy these beautiful forest views. The guide got a call about the tiger being spotted, and we just rushed our jeep to the spot. There were already 15-20 canters and jeeps there, all waiting for the tiger. It was a long crowded queue, of loads of people waiting and making a ruckus. The noise was too much and obviously did not add to the ambience of a wildlife sighting.

Old structures in the park

Apparently, 3 cubs of the famous tigress Noorie were sitting in the shrubs by the river. We could sometimes spot them moving, but not too well as they were quite far off. So everyone just sat there, waiting for some movement. We were there for 2 hours, just waiting for the cubs to move and come into view. Sometimes they did yawn, and walk around. And we tried to catch a glimpse through the binoculars, somehow.

Noorie's cub

After some time, we started hearing some animal calls, and Noorie came to pick up her cubs. Then they all started walking and went into the bushes up the hill. One of the cubs stayed behind though and walked along the river for a bit. He then sat at a spot for 5-10 mins. And then finally we were able to spot it well. We observed it, sitting and getting bored for a while before it went up the hill too.

To be honest, I did not really enjoy the experience, as it felt too staged. As sad as not spotting an animal feels, what feels worse is finding one in a fake manner 😂. The real joy of safaris is spotting an animal just like that. There is no joy going somewhere where there are 100s of people already. There were very few wildlife lovers there, most were there just to photograph the tiger and leave. It was so loud and crowded there, it did not even feel like we were in the jungle. And the whole time, the guide also kept telling us about how things actually worked in the park – how you can give money and get any number of viewings you want. And how more than the allowed number of vehicles can easily get in.

The whole park felt such a commercial enterprise, it was not fun for me. It felt like such a beautiful experience had been spoilt by commercialism. Anyways, in the end we did see a tiger, so that was that.


Ranthambore town

There are many other experiences also nearby, like Ranthambore fort, Surwal lake, Kachida valley safari and going up in a hot air balloon. We did spend one day around town though tried neither of these experiences. We just drove around a bit doing random things. We first stopped at the RTDC centre to buy some Rajasthani handicrafts. Then we went to a few more craft shops to shop for local stuff. We bought lot of things there – suits, rajais and dresses with Rajasthani prints

After that, we drove into town, to the main market near the railway station. The station was quite pretty. We tried exploring the market also but there wasn’t anything interesting there to do. Coming back, we stopped at a local multi-cuisine food court called Chopati, and had food from some of the local stalls – oh my god, the food there was so yum. We ate and over-ate that day. While coming back, we visited the Ranthambore museum on nature. It was quite simple but lovely to see it. And at the end of the day, we again enjoyed another stunning sunset from the top of the haveli. Even though we didn’t have a plan, the day around town had turned out to be interesting.


Overall, we loved our short trip to Ranthambore – the drive there, the haveli, the food, the excursions to the jungle, the village ambience and the slow easy life. I can see us travelling there often, especially with the new highway opening up now. And just like that, the weekend was over. The drive back was gorgeous again. We stopped at a sarson ke khet for a break, the rest was a comfortable drive as there wasn’t much traffic either. Looking forward to the next trip there.

Exploring Rhine Valley and Ardennes

Walk along Moselle

During the summer of 2024, we made a last-minute plan to visit the Rhine Valley in Germany and the Ardennes region in Belgium. We didn't have much of a plan to start with but ended up having a nice time, exploring places on the go. We first drove to Alken, stopping on the way along the Rhine, in Bonn. We stayed there for 2 days exploring the area around. Then we drove to Nexhelet in Belgium and spent 2 days there, exploring the towns of Crupet and Namur. And while coming back to Amsterdam, we stopped in Brussels. It was a short trip but typical of a driving Euro trip where you can experience interesting things on the way, making it a memorable trip, always.


Day 1 - Drive to Alken, with stop at Bonn

The drive through Germany was very different than the Netherlands. It was greener and (of course) had more mountains. I also touched 225 kmph while driving on the autobahn, my record speed till date! It's an exhilarating experience but also dangerous I must say. It takes so long to slow down your car after reaching those speeds, that if you don’t have a lot of space to do that, its extremely dangerous.

Tesla stop in Bonn

On the way, we stopped at a Tesla supercharger in Bonn, next to the Rhine. And what a spot that was. We ate lunch at the Rohmuhle restaurant overlooking the river while waiting for the car to charge. And there was a nice riverside promenade all along the Rhine where people were walking and cycling. It was such a nice location, we spent a lot longer there than planned.

Thereafter, the drive in Rhine valley all the way to Alken was fabulous – in the valley, with green mountains on both sides, the river alongside, castles on the hilltops, tons of vineyards on the mountainside and small picturesque villages every few minutes. The whole drive felt right out of a painting, an absolutely delightful experience.

Castle view from airbnb

Once we reached our airbnb, we realised it was right on the Moselle river with a view of the river in front and the Alken castle behind. It was a very comfortable apartment and quite a relief given we had booked it just a couple of days before.

Alken

In the evening, we got out to explore our village and walk outside a bit. Alken was so cosy; so old and well lighted and full of people. The main village had a row of restaurants and hotels, the lighted castle behind, the boats in the river and the twinkling of the villages across the river, it was just so dreamy along the walk.

Flowers up the mountainside

We climbed a mountain which was lined with blue flowers, to get a better view of the sunset and the river. And then we kept walking to the next village, Oberfell. It was just so picturesque, so idyllic everywhere.



Day 2: Exploring around Alken

Morning run to Lof

We spent the whole day lazily around the neighbourhood only. I first went for a run along the river. It was foggy when I left but cleared up and got hot and sunny soon. It actually felt difficult to run fast. I ran through some vineyards, crossed the bridge and reached the neighbouring village of Lof. It was quite charming. And then on the way back I just walked into one of the vineyards up the hill. It was quite an interesting walk. I saw so many people either cycling along the river or in the water swimming and kayaking. There were also many river cruises on the river, stopping at places on the way. During the day, it felt like a place for an active holiday.

Walking in Alken

In the afternoon, we walked into town and went to the nearest winery, Hammes Anton. They had a nice open air restaurant and a very friendly staff. We had lunch sitting in the sun, while chatting with their owners. They mostly grew white wine, Riesling being the most common in the area. Their family had owned the vineyards for the last 300 years. But as enviable as their life looked to us, it turned out their children had chosen a different life, they chose to work and live in the city. So the old owners were looking to sell their vineyard once they retired as their children were unwilling to look after it 😔. It felt a bit sad to hear about that. Anyways, after an amazing lunch there, we explored the town a bit but then went back to our airbnb to sleep as it had got too hot.

Evening walk

In the evening we again went out for a long walk along the river. We passed Oberfell, and past yachts parked along the river. Then there was a long wild green patch. There were wildflowers all along. We saw a gorgeous sunset and the night sky was stunning too. After sunset, we decided to turn back. A huge cruise ship which had been parked all day outside our Airbnb had also left by then. It had been such a nice day and I totally fell in love with this area- the Rhine valley. With mountains, hiking, biking, a river, river cruises, small villages, vineyards and wine tasting. It has everything.


Day 3: Drive to Nexhelet in Belgium, visit to Verviers, Huy

Riverside walk

I wanted to spend more time in the Rhine Valley but we were not able to extend our accommodation. So, we left for Ardennes in Belgium while looking for places to stay on the way there. We first drove along the Moselle to the village of Brodenbach to check out a viewpoint. Then we just walked in the village along the river, it was so serene. Wildflowers in the sun, still but flowing water, boats idling away and some tourists walking along enjoying the sun. I feel warm just thinking of that scene

Yellow fields

We kept driving along the river for some more time - it was just stunning. Beautiful small villages on the way, green fields along the hillsides. As we left the Rhine valley, we stopped twice at sarson khets near the village of Landkern (actually we later realised they were rapeseed fields). And of course we stopped there, for DDLJ sake 😁 .

As we kept driving, slowly the landscape changed to Belgian - softer rounder hills with lot of greenery and small colourful towns with orange roofed buildings. The trees all had different shades of green, from the bright green to dark. And there was a lot of maroon too. We drove through valleys. And bridges crossing them. And villages all around. And we kept driving…

We first stopped at a small village looking for lunch but turned out no restaurants were open at 2:30pm in the countryside 😁. So we stopped at the Verviers Tesla supercharger. We ate there, bought chocolates and shopped at the local supermarket. Verviers looked like a gorgeous city too when we later drove through. We reached our Nexhelet hotel in the afternoon. It turned out to be a fancy golf resort, surrounded by rolling green hills and some villages far off. But somehow, we weren't impressed by the hotel.

So we drove to a nearby village, Huy for dinner. It was a biggish town, with a river and lovely bridges. There was an old church we walked past. As it was already dark, we didn’t explore much and stopped for dinner at the Brasserie. As it was a tiring day, we came back and crashed soon. And it turned out that night, as a rare event, the northern lights had been visible in Belgium! I am sure we could have seen it where we were, given the sky was so clear, with no night pollution but alas we were sleeping and missed it 😔.


Day 4: Exploring around Nexhelet, visits to Crupet and Namur

We searched for a few places to explore nearby and made a plan for the day, but in the end ended up having an outstanding experience with an unplanned stop. And that's just what Euro trips are about.

First, I went for a run in the morning around the hotel and its surroundings. There were loads of farms and small villages around. It was green and grand all around. This place is so idyllic. As I kept running up and down the hills, I landed at some residential school which shoo-ed me away when I reached there.

The hotel turned out to be quite a fancy hotel. When I came back from my run, there were some 10 Lamborghinis parked outside. And some car washers had driven there to wash all of them. I once thought of asking them to wash my humble Tesla but could not muster enough courage to ask 😁. There were so many groups of people playing golf. And everyone and everything felt so proper and boring! It’s interesting how we feel sometimes that we want a particular kind of life but when we come closer, it doesn’t feel as appealing, this was one of those moments. 

Airfield

Anyways after this idyllic morning, we left looking for some restaurants. There were beautiful villages on the hills but around somehow no restaurants nearby. After turning up at a few closed or non existent restaurants, we randomly landed up at a flying school where people were coming to spend the day to take out their planes and practice flying them. Some were flying their microlites and some were hand gliding. And they had a small cafe there, La Piste Maillen, offering limited but tasty food options for visitors all through the day. We had such a lovely afternoon just sitting outside and enjoying the planes going for their spins, while also finding food to eat after 2:30pm 😁.

Crupet castle

We next drove to the village of Crupet, in Wallonia. It was a small village with a cute little castle surrounded by water, some old hotels and beautiful houses everywhere. We walked around a bit along the stream up the hill and the city centre. I also went into the grotto for a bit. It was to be honest quite average, but a good change from the typical very touristy places we usually visit.

Our next visit was to the town of Namur where there were some festivals going on. We walked a bit around the old town and citadel, which is on a small island surrounded by rivers on both sides. It was a good stop, but nothing major to write about. Back at the hotel, we spent some time outside at night, waiting for northern lights to appear, but they did not humour us tonight.


Day 5 - Back to Amsterdam, with stop in Brussels

On the drive back, we stopped at Brussels as my friend hadn't been there before. She saw the Banksy museum, apparently it was quite good. Then we just walked around the old city centre. It was actually quite lively. We spent some time there and then after this short stop, we drove back to Amsterdam, with the drive back being as boring as always.

Brussels

Overall, I enjoyed my time in the Rhine valley, and would love to visit again. Its a definite recommend.