Shahpura

October 2, 2023, From the Itinerary: Drive to Shahpura (260 km/5 hrs) / Shahpura Bagh (B)

Proceed to Shahpura Bagh, a 120 year old hidden gem located in rural Rajasthan.

Check in to hotel, relax and enjoy the hotel facilities.

Had a lovely breakfast which included local food, a Dosa and iced coffee. I think the Delhi Dosa was a bit better, but this was very good too.

Insisted on staying a longer morning at the Fort to get the most of my stay, after waiting for 3 years. This included a spa session and I decided to try something “local” - a Marma body treatment-Marma points are junctures where two or more types of tissues meet, such as muscles, veins, ligaments, bones and joints.According to Ayurveda, there are 107 Marma points or "doorways" into the body and consciousness. In this treatment, a methodical and light stimulation of these Marma points will eliminate blockages and induce physical and psychological relaxation and strength. This turned out to be a mixed blessing as it was a pressure point massage - should have figured this out by the description. By the time I finished the 5 hour drive to Shahpura my left hip was very sore and stiff - probably not the best idea to do this treatment. Below is the waiting area for the spa.

The afternoon was spent in the car. Stupidly I asked Naresh how his evening was (since he asked me) and I got to hear all about how his wasn’t good because there was no lodging and what he found was very expensive. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do with this information as his lodging has nothing to do with me, so I offered to bring this up to the tour company. Of course he said that I will not bring it up with the tour company and I hope that this will be the end of his complaining to me about such things.

The trip from the Fort along the main Jaipur highway and Jaipur bypass was awful - ugly, dusty and very crowded. Finally, after we turned off to another main highway the scenery became green and rural. There were even 2 stretches of road, after another turnoff, that were completely empty - I don ‘t think I’ve ever seen this in India.

It was around 5pm when we got to this secondary road and the cows and water buffalo’s were coming back from their day in the “jungle” where they could free range. Their minders brought them back along the road, so we all vied for road space. My new second favorite animal is the local water buffalo with short very curly horns. (Favorite animal is still hippo)

The Shahpura Village is a normal village of this sort - a lot of humanity and commotion. Coming to the Shahpura Bagh (Bagh means garden) was an oasis. The family has many acres of land, some of it cultivated, with wild peacocks roaming around and blocks of parrots.

I was exhausted, so we decided not to do the evening activity tonight (Dhikola Fort), saving that for tomorrow. Instead we had some tea and cakes to tie me over to dinner.

Mandwe, the wife of owner and Pariksit or pik-a (my “butler”) checked me in and I was shown to a huge room. I am their only guest for the next 2 nights.

This property is owned by the family who were the former maharaja of the area. Their former palace was donated to the government about 40 years ago and is now a school for girls (see tomorrow). The family now lives at Shahpura Bagh, originally the country residence before they had to give their power to the local government, and with it their palace, at transition- 1947/8. The house is about 230 years old and is truly beautiful. I liked this property much more than the Dev Shree which is a similar idea, owned by their cousins, and is a newly built estate.

Dinner was amazing and romatic in the candle light. I’ve never had chicken tikka as tasty as this. Everything was home made. Especially tasty were the poppadoms, chutney, lady fingers and Chicken Tikka.