So, here comes my first three days in the incredible India!
DAY 1: MUMBAI
I took a Malindo Airlines flight from Jakarta-Mumbai (transit at KLIA). I arrived around 10 PM, had dinner, then went to the airbnb. The next day, me and my friends went to the main tourist attractions. We visited Hotel Mumbai (or known as The Taj Mahal Palace) though. It is located right in front of Gateway of India. The hotel is sophisticated and classy. The best in whole India, where the top people spent their night (from King George to John Lennon). We chose to relax at its Sea Lounge and enjoyed Indian street food….. which was funny. Street food at a hotel.
In Mumbai we spent the whole day to visit Gateway of India – The Taj Mahal Palace – Girgaum (a beach in the middle of the bustling city) – Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (one of UNESCO World Heritage Site, a bus terminal with the blend of Victorian gothic revival architecture and Indian traditional building).
We used Grab as the mode of transportation inside Mumbai. It was convenient and effective. Anyway I have a fun fact: most Grab cars in Mumbai use Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as the fuel instead of regular petrol.
DAY 2: UDAIPUR
The next day we flew a one hour flight to Udaipur. There we were picked up by the driver of 10-seated car we rented (for mobilization across Rajasthan cities).
Udaipur is a city of lakes, and people said it resembles Venice. Around 4 pm we went straight to the City Palace. A very beautiful palace on the banks of Lake Pichola. Minutes before sunset, we hopped on a boat to cruise Lake Pichola and to get to Jagmandir palace, a palace in the middle of the lake. There we watched the sunset and it was superb!
DAY 3: JODHPUR
On the third day, from Udaipur we continue our trip to Jodhpur. In the middle of the road, we stopped by to a white temple with amorous carving called Ranakpur Jain Temple. Jainism is one of Indian religions, believe in reincarnation and do no harm to living creatures. One of the supreme teacher even uses mask when talking because he afraid that when he speaks some living creatures murdered from the particle came out of his mouth.
We arrived at Jodhpur just before sunset. Anyway, we stayed at a nice inn with unique room design inside the old quarter of Jodhpur which was great because we could walk to Toorji’s Stepwell and had dinner at a restaurant called Indique (legit delicious food, we voted as the best in our trip). The view of the restaurant was the Mehrangarh Fort showered in colorful light.
The next day we visited Jaswant Thada, a mini Taj Mahal with a beautiful garden and a view of beautiful Jodhpur city. Then we went to Mehrangarh Fort (fun fact: this fort was used for the shooting of The Dark Knight Rises!).
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That’s all for day one to three! Wait for the next days…
THE ROAD TAKEN 