My Visual Travel Experience: Sariska National Park

In December 2021, we had planned on visiting Goa during the Christmas and New Year's break, but with Omicron cases on the rise, we cancelled our Goa plan, and decided to do a relatively safer road trip instead. Having thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Ranthambore National Park just a couple of months earlier, we decided to visit Sariska National Park.

Sambar Deer Stag, Sariska National Park

The 165 km drive from our Gurgaon home to Sariska took a little less than 4 hours. I drove, and I had my wife, Kamalini, and our 7 year old son, Rehaan, for company. We took the Jaipur highway till Bhiwadi, then turned off towards Alwar, and finally made our way to Sariska. The road was good, and in stretches, I was able to drive at speeds of 90 kmph. Through the journey, we listened to music on my iPod, we ate at regular intervals (our super-efficient maid had packed "aalu bhaja" rolls, cheese and jam sandwiches, tea, and several other goodies for us), and we were entertained by Rehaan's non-stop jabber, and his renditions of Imagine Dragon's "Believer" and Bruno Mars' "Count On Me".

Herd of Spotted Deer,
Sariska National Park

In Sariska, we stayed at Sariska Palace, a huge property just outside the entrance to the park. We paid Rs 8,000 for a night's stay at the property - that wasn't bad, considering it included all three meals, plus evening high-tea for the three of us! The 19th century Sariska Palace was the hunting lodge of the Maharaja of Alwar. It was later converted into a heritage hotel. The property is set in the midst of huge lawns. The exterior is nothing short of being grand. The potential that the place has is unimaginable. However, it's unfortunately a little run down and not particularly well maintained. The staff was friendly, the food was good, but the management could certainly convert this into one of India's finest properties by putting in the required budgets, doing up the interiors and furnishings, renovating the guest rooms / the bathrooms / the dining area, and beautifying the lawns. It was charming to see monkeys, langoors, peacocks, hares, and even nilgai roaming about in the lawn of Sariska Palace!

Sariska Palace

Lawns, Sariska Palace

We went for an hour's drive outside the hotel, and we managed to spot a fair bit of wildlife on that drive. We saw sambar deer, wild boars, peacocks, and langoors! And all this was without entering the gates of the national park.

Monkey, Lawns of Sariska Palace

The next morning, we went on an early morning safari. We went in an open Gypsy, which had a driver, and a knowledgeable guide called Puran. The safari cost us Rs 7,500, but it was well worth it for the 3 hour adventure, which began at 7 a.m., and went on till 10 a.m., 3 hours that went by in the blink of an eye! Puran told us a lot of things, including the difference between deer and antelopes (the former have antlers with branches, and these antlers fall every year, with new ones growing; the latter have horns, and these come out only once in the animal's lifetime).

Open Gypsy, Sariska National Park

Sariska National Park covers an area of 881 sq km. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1958, a tiger reserve in 1978, and a national park in 1982. Puran told us that the park currently has 23 tigers. In the early part of this century, the tiger population had become nil, thanks to illegal poaching. Tigers were, however, brought in from Ranthambore National Park, and over the years, the numbers had grown.

The path, Sariska National Park

For the first half hour, we saw no wildlife. The thick fog didn't help our case one bit. The dew on the seats of the Gypsy made our clothes a little moist. But as the morning progressed, the blanket of fog gradually lifted, and life started looking brighter! Though we didn't get to see any tigers, we had fantastic spottings of sambar deer, spotted deer, nilgai, wild boars, langoors, peacocks, storks, green pigeons, babblers, and even crocodiles. What was particularly impressive was that we saw most of these animals from very close. It was a fascinating experience! On one occasion, our driver sped the Gypsy like a Formula 1 driver would have along the bumpy dirt tracks, because he heard the alarm sound of a herd of deer. It could have meant the presence of a tiger nearby, but that alas was not meant to be!

Nilgai, Sariska National Park

Sambar Deer, Sariska National Park

Spotted Deer, Sariska National Park

Wild Boar, Sariska National Park

Langoor, Sariska National Park

Peacock, Sariska National Park

Green Pigeons, Sariska National Park

Stork, Sariska National Park

On our way back to Gurgaon, we decided to briefly stop in Alwar, barely 40 km away from Sariska. We visited the City Palace complex. Though the erstwhile palace is now occupied by government offices, it has the City Palace Museum, which has a fine collection of royal costumes, sculptures, weapons, thrones, and miniature paintings. I particularly liked the swords of Emperor Akbar, Emperor Jahangir, and the rules of Alwar. Right next to the City Palace, there's the magnificent Cenotaph of Maharaja Bakhtawar Singh, made of white marble and red sandstone, and topped by an ornate dome. There's an artificial lake adjoining the complex, and what adds to its beauty is the series of Rajasthani turrets around it. In he distance, one can spot Alwar Fort, perched up on a hill rising above the town.

Cenotaph of Maharaja Bakhtawar Singh, Alwar

Interior of Dome, Cenotaph of
Maharaja Bakhtawar Singh, Alwar

Talab, City Palace Complex, Alwar

City Palace, Alwar

Interior, City Palace Museum, Alwar

We got badly stuck in the congested lanes of Alwar as we tried to head out of the town. It wasn't a pleasant experience, but once we got out of town, it was smooth sailing, and we had a comfortable drive back to our home. We were back home before it became dark. Overall, an enjoyable outing for the three of us!

My Visual Travel Experience: The Westin Sohna

Our 10th wedding anniversary was coming up, and I wanted to do something memorable. I decided to make a booking at The Westin Sohna for myself, my wife Kamalini, and our 7 year old son Rehaan. I had been to the property more than 10 years ago when I worked with Nokia and we had a marketing team outbound there. I had fond memories from back then, and I knew the family would really like it!

"The Living Room", The Westin Sohna

So we went to The Westin Sohna on 8th November, 2021, for an overnight stay. I didn't tell Kamalini where I was taking her and Rehaan. I just told her to pack her bags for an overnight stay. The 35 km drive took a little over 1.5 hours from our place in Gurgaon. GPS got us quite flustered because it took us on mud tracks through unending farms! We back-tracked, got onto Sohna Road, and then made our way quite comfortably.

Buddha Statue, The Westin Sohna

At the lobby, we were met by someone called Oindrilla. She helped us with our check-in formalities. She greeted us with "Happy 10th anniversary!" We were surprised, because I had done the booking on booking.com, and nowhere had I mentioned anything about it being our anniversary. The mystery ended when we discovered that my wife's sister, Trinayani, had called the property all the way from Macau, and had told them about the occasion, and had asked them to see what they could do to make it special for us!

Buggies, The Westin Sohna

The property obliged in every way possible. They upgraded us from a room to a villa, they had a "Happy 10th Anniversary" cake waiting for us in our villa, and they allowed us to do a late check-out the next day!

Swimming Pool and Bridge, The Westin Sohna

Swing, The Westin Sohna

It turned out to be a very memorable and special stay. What we loved about the stay was the sheer expanse of the place, the greenery all around, the beautiful red-brick architecture, the amazingly friendly and helpful nature of the staff, the incredibly large buffet spread at "The Living Room" (we availed of the dinner buffet and the breakfast buffet), the large outdoor pool (Rehaan enjoyed taking a dip in the pool despite the cool weather!), the plethora of activities for kids (Rehaan went on the bouncy castle; there was also a train ride, a pony ride, and various other rides, at an additional cost), the buggies on call (that made life easier, because the property is vast, spread over an amazing 47 acres!), and the charming mini zoo (with emus, geese, guinea fowls, turkeys, rabbits, and guinea pigs - Rehaan enjoyed petting and feeding the emus and the rabbits, and he also fed the geese and the turkeys; the staff member at the mini zoo answered all our queries very patiently and knowledgably, and gave Rehaan food to offer to the animals). We also spotting peacocks in the property. My wife went to the spa for an early morning yoga session. We stayed awake till late at night watching a movie on the large screen TV in our villa (the hotel was kind enough to arrange for an Amazon Firestick to enable us to watch Netflix).

Emu, The Westin Sohna

Geese, The Westin Sohna

Pony, The Westin Sohna

Oindrilla was of course extremely courteous and helpful, but we were also impressed by the help rendered by Wasim (who kept checking whether we were comfortable in our room), Mayank (the chef at "The Living Room"), and Dalvir (a very warm and helpful staff member at "The Living Room", who took our special meal requests to supplement the buffet). After our return, we also received a warm email from the General Manager, Mr Tusch Daroga, thanking us for our visit and asking for our feedback.

The Westin Sohna is certainly not inexpensive, but the value that we got out of our stay made it worth it. We also had a slight issue of our bathroom floor getting wet each time one of us had a shower, because one of the four sides of the shower cubicle wasn't closed (we had to keep calling housekeeping as a result), but that was a minor irritant in an otherwise great stay!

Cheese Platter, "The Living Room", The Westin Sohna

Bakery Items, "The Living Room", The Westin Sohna

All in all, a delightful experience! A real lesson in hospitality and the art of making guests feel special!

My Visual Travel Experience: Ranthambore National Park

For avid travelers like us, Covid put a big halt on our travels! 

In October 2021, after not stepping out of Delhi NCR for almost 2 years, we finally planned a trip and set out for Ranthambore for 3 days. Given the Covid factor, we took our set of precautions - we didn't go by public transport, and did a road trip with me driving; we stayed in a high-end property in the middle of the week when the occupancy levels were low; and we booked a full Gypsy to ourselves for our jungle safari, instead of sharing one and unnecessarily increasing our exposure levels.

Tiger, Ranthambore National Park

My wife, Kamalini, our 7 year old son, Rehaan, and I set out on our journey, and it took us 7 hours to drive the distance of about 360 km from Gurgaon to Ranthambore. The road was by and large good, though there were stretches when we passed through towns, and other stretches when we got stuck behind slow-moving trucks. The route was Gurgaon - Manesar - Neemrana - Kotputli - Lalsot - Dausa - Sawai Madhopur. Kamalini takes food very seriously, and she packed enough food to feed a wedding party for a week! She carried sandwiches, rolls, chips, soft drinks, and tea. This meant we didn't have to stop at all on the way. I did get a little agitated about Rehaan dropping food inside the car, but overall he didn't do too badly! Between the iPod blaring music, and our Rehaan's non-stop chatter and constant nudges to get me to drive faster, we got our share of entertainment during the drive!

Ranthambore National Park is situated right next to the town of Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan. It covers an area of 1,334 square km, and is named after Ranthambore Fort, which lies within the park. It was established in 1955 as Sawai Madhopur Game Sanctuary, and initially covered an area of 282 square km. In 1973, it was declared one of the reserves for Project Tiger, and it became a national park in 1980. Over the years, the area of Ranthambore National Park was increased, by including nearby forests. The park has a lot of wildlife, including tigers (there were 62 as per the 2014 census), leopards, many species of deer, hyenas, jackals, foxes, monkeys, sloth bears, and crocodiles, to name a few.

We stayed at Anuraga Palace, a beautiful, palatial property. The rates were reasonable, and it was great value for money because our deal included breakfast, high tea, and one meal. Kamalini also got the hotel to upgrade us to a suite, given that it was the middle of the week and their occupancy levels were low. The property has a beautiful, domed lobby, with pretty Rajasthani paintings adorning the ceiling of the dome. The rooms are spread over three floors, and overlook  a central lawn. There is a swimming pool, table tennis, and a restaurant. We got to experience a complimentary Rajasthani folk music performance, a magic show (which Rehaan loved, especially when the magician made three pigeons appear out of thin air!), and a 1 hour screening of a beautifully made documentary film about tigers. The hotel staff was most helpful, and very accommodating of all our requests.

Anuraga Palace

Central Lawn, Anuraga Palace

Lobby, Anuraga Palace

We went for an early morning safari to Ranthambore National Park in an open Gypsy. We had a driver, Ganpath, and a very knowledgeable guide, Subhash Gautam. I had been to Ranthambore once before, and I had also gone to Corbett National Park twice, but I had never been lucky in spotting tigers in the past. This time, we got very fortunate. Our guide pointed out a tiger (we were told her name was Sultana), who was behind the bushes, eating her recently killed prey. We could barely see the tiger's silhouette, given how thick the bushes were. Before we knew it, about 20 vehicles arrived to see the tiger. After some time, the tiger came out from behind the bushes, and we had the wonderful experience of having it walk on and just to the side of the road for the next half hour. It was least bothered about the group of noisy tourists following it in their canters and jeeps. What a spectacular sighting from close quarters! In the course of the safari, we also saw a family of sambar deer, numerous langoors, a crocodile, peacocks, babblers, and Rufous treepies. The babblers and Rufous treepies came and sat on our stationary jeep, demanding food, and they went back quite satisfied, because Kamalini was well stocked with refreshments!  

Tiger, Ranthambore National Park 

Sambar, Ranthambore National Park

Langoor, Ranthambore National Park

Peacocks, Ranthambore National Park

We went and checked out Nahargarh, a palatial property with an impressive regal building, beautifully manicured lawns, charming water channels, pretty courtyards, and coaches that took us back to another era! Towards the end of our visit, we were politely told by the guard that unless we were hotel guests, we weren't allowed to walk around. I got a bit embarrassed, but by that time we had got a good flavour of the impressive property!

Facade, Nahargarh

Water Channel, Nahargarh

Coach, Nahargarh

Kamalini's brother in law, Soumya Goswami, worked with the Oberoi Group for over 2 decades. He lived in Ranthambore for close to 2 years from 2000 to 2002, and was involved with the setting up of Vanya Vilas, the incredible Oberoi property there. Kamalini used to visit her sister Trinayani quite regularly back then. With Soumya's help, we got permission to have a look-around at Vanya Vilas. The General Manager, Ratna Malhotra, was very hospitable and most helpful, as was the F&B Manager, Praveen. We got to walk around the grand property, and Aditi from the front office took out a significant amount of time to take us around. We saw the lobby (with its grand chandelier), the restaurant (with it paintings of wildlife), the bar (with its chandelier, its leather bound limited edition books, and its many works of art), the outdoor pool, the lilly pond, the luxury tents where visitors stay, and the observation tower (from where one gets a great view of the property). We were served complimentary tea, cake and cookies in the bar. What a delightful experience, and what a wonderful gesture from the hotel's management!

Front Facade, Vanya Vilas

Lobby Chandelier, Vanya Vilas

Restaurant, Vanya Vilas

Courtyard, Vanya Vilas

Luxury Tent, Vanya Vilas

We made a second trip to Vanya Vilas because we were told that Laxmi the elephant comes to the hotel entrance at 9:30 every morning for an hour so that the hotel guests can mingle with her. Now 2 decades ago, Soumya and Trinayani's then 2 year old daughter, Rhea, used to go to her nearby school (Fateh Public School) sitting on the backs of Laxmi and her mate, Mala. Mala is no longer there, as she died 5 years ago. But Laxmi is still there, friendly and grand as ever, and an elegant 34 year old! Rehaan was ecstatic seeing Laxmi. Kamalini was also thrilled to bits, and was hit by nostalgia from all those years ago! They both patted Laxmi, and fed her with the fruits that Laxmi's keeper kept cutting for her. Many hotel guests also came to pet and feed Laxmi. What joy to mingle with this gentle giant!

Laxmi the elephant, Vanya Vilas

We also made it a point to visit Sawai Madhopur Lodge, now a Taj Vivanta property. The hotel is situated within a large complex with sprawling lawns. It has villa-type rooms for its guests. It doesn't have the regal look of some of Ranthambore's other hotels, and it doesn't have the luxury of Vanya Vilas, but it still has its colonial splendour! The interior is full of stuffed animal heads adorning the walls of the restaurant, the bar, and other areas. We sat in the bar and ate lunch. I remembered the property from my stay 20 years ago. I had come for a Sales and Marketing out-bound with my company, Britannia Industries Ltd, and we had a very memorable time (though I wasn't lucky with tiger spotting that time).

Sawai Madhopur Lodge

Tiger Head, Sawai Madhopur Lodge

Safari Gypsies, Sawai Madhopur Lodge

We couldn't leave Ranthambore without visiting Ranthambore Fort, a 10th century fort that lies perched up on a hill inside the park premises. It is one of the largest forts in Rajasthan. One gets to the fort by climbing a set of gradual steps, and passing through a series of gateways. At the top, one has several temples (including a famous Ganesh Temple, but we didn't manage to make it that far), a mosque, a dargah, and Battis Khamba Chhatri (an impressive pavilion with 32 pillars). We got some great views of the area from the summit! Langoors were to be seen everywhere around the fort, but they were not a threat or a nuisance in any way, and only added to the charm!

View from below, Ranthambore Fort

Battis Khamba Chhatri, Ranthambore Fort

Dargah, Ranthambore Fort

Ganesh Idol, Ranthambore Fort

Stone Figure, Ranthambore Fort

One thing that soured our visit was that at the Ranthambore Fort entrance, we were accosted by persistent guides who didn't take no for an answer, and kept pestering us till we finally said no a little firmly. Later in the day, when we set out from Ranthambore, we found that the car windshield had a crack. We have no idea how that happened. I certainly hope it wasn't one of the guides who took out his anger! Anyway, every trip does have its share of avoidable adventures, but overall, it was a marvelous trip and a wonderful way of getting back to travel after the long hiatus! Though we stayed in great style, it was also a reasonably priced trip and cost us barely Rs 40,000. So an amazing 3 day visit, and incredible value for money!!