Rajasthan

Introduction

Curious Children

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Rajasthan is your typical India and is one of the most visited regions of the countries. With Maharadja Palaces, some great wildlife and even a pink and blue city you won't be disappointed when travelling around this fascinating area in the northwest of India.

Cities

• Ajmer
• Bikaner
• Jaisalmer
• Jodhpur
• Udaipur
• Jaipur
• Pushkar

Sights and Activities

Thar Desert

Ship of the desert.

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The Thar desert is arid region in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent. It covers much of Rajasthan, extending from here into the southern Haryana and Punjab states and into northern Gujarat state. Apart from India, it also covers the astern Sindh province and southeastern Punjab province in Pakistan. The Sutlej and Indus Rivers and Aravalli Range and Rann of Kutch form its natural boundaries. It is a hilly desert, with large areas of sand dunes, athough the central part is more of a plain with no dunes at all. Unlike much of India, it hasn't got a monsoon season as wet as other parts of the country, although also here the wetter months are from July to October. It's also a good region to see lots of animals typical for this part of India and there are some interesting cities within its boundaries as well, including Jodhpur and the 'capital' of the desert Jaisalmer, where camel rides into the desert are one of the more popular trips.

Other Sights and Activities

Jaisalmer - safari camel sunset vertical

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• Chittorgarh Fort
• Jaisalmer Fort
• Mehrangarh Fort
• Ranthambore National park

Events and Festivals

Pushkarfestival - one of the biggest camel fairs in the world, held in Pushkar.

Thousands of people during this day go to the banks of the Pushkar Lake where the fair takes place and where livestock livestock, including camels, cows, sheep and goats, is sold. A camel race marks the start off the festival, and music, songs and exhibitions are held throughout the day.
Although the dates of Pushkar Fair depend upon the movement of the moon, traditionally it mostly falls in November.
It falls on the day of Poornima (full moon night) in the month of Karthika. On this day, according to legend, the Hindu god Brahma sprung up the lake, so thousands of Hindu devotees take dip in the Pushkar lake, washing away the sins. The water of the lake is believed to have healing properties.

Weather

The coolest, driest time over most of the country is from December to February, when light northerly winds bring clear skies and little rain, and nights can even be chilly. Rajasthan is extremely hot from March to May, with temperatures sometimes exceeding 50 degrees Celcius, and averages are well into the 40's.
From June to October temperatures drop a bit but it stays hot and humid, with sometimes severe showers, though not the extreme rainfall compared to many other parts of India.

Getting There

By Plane

• Jaipur International Airport (Airport code JAI) is located around 13 kilometres from the city and has a number of flights linking the city to all the major cities of India. Recently the airport has been upgraded to an international airport and to begin with flights are available to Sharjah, Dubai and Muscat. Other destinations include Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Jammu and Srinagar. The airport can be easily reached from the city centre by taxis, autorickshaws and city buses.
• Domestic flights are available from the Jodhpur airport (JDH) which is located around 5 kilometres from the city. Regular service carriers like Indian Airlines, Jet Airways, and Kingfisher Airlines operate flights from the airport to cities like Delhi and Mumbai.
• Udaipur Airport, known as Dabok airport is located around 23 kilometres from the city centre and has a number of flights linking Udaipur to Delhi and Mumbai. Recently the airport has been upgraded to an international airport but is yet to begin international flights. Unfortunately there is no public transport from the airport to the city centre and taxis cost around 200-300 Indian rupees.

Sleep

Health

See also Travel Health

Safety

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Keep Connected

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls