Udaipur- Sajjangarh Biological Park and Monsoon Palace (Sajjan Garh Palace)

Sajjangarh biological park and Monsoon palace are located at the same place. The gate on left leads to the Zoo while the gate on right is the way towards the palace a top a hill. 

The park is huge and private vehicles are not allowed inside. But you can rent a bicycle or take a ride in a battery operated taxi. However that is little expensive in case you don't want to share it with other tourists. The 1st option worked best for us as I needed some extra time to click some good photos. Couple of things to kept in mind before going on an adventure on bicycle (We city people are not much used to cycle, so I call it an adventure)

1. Wear comfortable clothes. The terrain is smooth but lots of up's and down.

2. Carry lot of water because the water facility inside is not at all clean.

3. Wear sports shoes.

4. Take a test ride of the bicycle

5. Ensure covering heads in the Sun. 

   

Below is my photo blog-

Entry Gates

                                                                          Ostrich

                                                Blackbuck- Salman's  1st Love (pun intended)

                                                                      Common Fox

                                                                   The royal Lioness

                                                        Monsoon Palace view from the Zoo 

Sajjangarh or Monsoon palace was built as a summer retreat and to see monsoon clouds passing by. The palace gives a bird eye view of Udaipur. To reach here, one needs to hop into a taxi that costs Rs 90 per person and another Rs 50 as palace's entry fee.   

                                                                        Main Hall

                                                           Beautiful Architecture
                                                         

                                                              Udaipur City's birds'eye view 

Jodhpur Trip

Jodhpur is the city of Maharaja Gaja Singh.Well some of the attractions in the city is now under private umbrella of Taj hotels and public entry is restricted. The available sites could be covered in one and half day if planned wisely.

There are mainly three places to see in Jodhpur.

1. Umaid Bhawan
2. Mehrangarh Fort
3. Jaswant Thada (We missed this location)
4. Mandore Garden

1     Umaid Bhawan. This place was the office home of the Maharaja of Jodhpur. But now half of the palace is now under Taj hotels as a luxury hotel. The best part is tourist still has access to most of the area including a huge museum, Vintage cars and surrounding areas.

                                        

Vintage display

Vintage cars display

Umaid Bhawan from a distance

2    Mehran Garh Fort- 

This is one of the largest forts of India. It was built by Rao Jodha (The chief of Rathore Clan) in 1460 and situated on a cliff at a height of nearly 410 Ft. The fort is huge “Really Huge” and a normal visit without photography will take around 3 hours. It has four floors which preserve the history of Rathore clans. The fort is well secured by huge cannons and we have seen the largest collections of weapons inside. Photography is restricted in many areas and they are well secured by CCTV. You can see cannon shell marks on the huge entry gate this will take you to that era where cannons are the only weapon to breal into a strong wall.

It also has a good coffee shop for refreshment.

                                            

"Blue city"- Bird's eye view from Mehrangarh

3     Mandore Graden- 

There is very interesting story behind the city of Mondore, as per legends Mandodari the wife of Ravan belonged from this place. The garden is very mesmerizing with beautiful trees and ancient cenotaphs. The place swarms with Langoor but not to worry as they don’t bother anyone because they have enough to eat from the caretakers as well as visitors. This is a must visit place and very good destination for photography.