Destination: Ranthambore

When: Dec 25th – Dec 27th, 2009

Who: 6 of us (3 couples)

Stayed: Raj Palace Hotel, Ranthambore Sawai Madhopur. Paid Rs 2,100 per night including breakfast. Average hotel. Rooms are quite small, not well-lit or airy! Service is slow. Would not recommend. Read my TripAdvisor Review here

Transport: Went by train from Delhi (500 per person, Tier III AC). Came back by car (Innova – 9,000 one way including all taxes and toll. Rs 8.5/km, took 10 hrs)

Food: For local food, do visit Dholi Maru on the main National Park Road. Else you get everything since its a place frequented by foreign nationals

Do:

1. Ranthambore National Park: Famous for around 40 odd tigers (none of which we were able to see, but that seems to be odd!). Entry is twice a day for around 3.5 hrs each. Reservations for canters and cab is done on current booking basis. Costs around 350 per person on a canter (which seats 15-20 people) and around 600 per person for taxi (which seats 6 people). The park itself is not dense…gives an arid rajasthan feel. But great for shooting animals and birds!

2. Ranthambore Fort: Consider walking from the hotel to the fort, a distance of around 14 kms! We did that and experienced lovely Rajasthan life on the way. The fort by itself is ok…has some funny history to it…as explained by the guide…and then there is this Hanuman temple as well. If in winters, do spend some nice time on top of the Badal Mahal overlooking the entire Ranthambore National Park

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