Following the Golden Triangle, we were looking forward to visiting some other parts of Northern India. So we set off on a trip between Pushkar and Udaipur!

Pushkar

We loved Pushkar, a town bordering the Thar Desert. Set around the beautiful Pushkar Lake, a sacred Hindu site with 52 ghats where pilgrims bathe, the town is full of fascinating temples and cool cafes with beautiful views of the water. We also enjoyed the fact that they have a lot of fixed price shops for souvenirs. I HATE haggling so much, it was nice shopping without the stress.

Jodhpur

Jodhpur’s Mehrangarh Fort is one of the most stunning palaces we’ve visited in India, with a great view of the blue buildings of the city from the top. Coupled with a visit to Jaswant Thada, the royal family’s burial ground and temple, it was certainly worth visiting the city for. However, we found Jodhpur pretty dodgy in other places, lots of slightly creepy alleys and terrifying stray dogs chasing us down them! We enjoyed the sights but weren’t disappointed to leave the city.

Kumbhalgarh Fort and Ranakpur Temple

Having done our month in India on a pretty strict budget, we splashed out on a taxi between Jodhpur and Udaipur so that we could stop at Kumbhalgarh Fort and Ranakpur Temple. Ranakpur is one of the biggest and most important Jain temples in the country, with 80 domes, 29 halls and, most famously, 1444 marble pillars.

Having visited the Great Wall of China, we of course wanted to visit the second longest wall in the world – the wall at Kumbhalgarh Fort near Udaipur. Built in the 15th century AD by Rana Kumbha, much of it still stands today and made a fascinating stop on our road trip.

Udaipur

Udaipur was a very pretty and slightly hectic end to our last few days in India. Formerly the capital of the Mewar Kingdom, it’s set around a series of artificial lakes and is known for its lavish royal residences. The City Palace, overlooking Lake Pichola, was absolutely beautiful and full of stunning stained glass, mosaics and peaceful courtyards. The narrow alleys of Udaipur provided us with plenty of last minute opportunities for a delicious Thali and some people, or donkey, watching!

See all of our photos from our trip from Pushkar to Udaipur below: