48 Travel
W
ith a business that
depends entirely
on the skills of In-
dian craftspeople,
I am used to
spending a good
chunk of the year
in Jaipur, so it was with a mixture of delight
and trepidation that I set off for Delhi after
almost two years away. My boyfriend and
I booked five weeks — four for work and a
one-week road trip on his Royal Enfield
motorbike.
Our flight was half-empty, but as every-
where, Covid has brought with it extra
levels of airport chaos, so it was a relief to
finally get out and onto the computer-
game madness of the Delhi-Jaipur
highway, where rear-view mirrors
are just for decoration. I’ve always
thought of this as a sort of initiation
test to prove you deserve the re-
wards of what lies beyond. You can
fly straight to Jaipur from Delhi, and
if the connection is good then it’s
probably the best way to do it.
Jaipur feels in many ways the same as
it always did. In a city of four million
people you don’t immediately notice ab-
sence, but many craftspeople and those
working in the service industry migrated
home to their villages and are yet to
return. There has, of course, been much
personal loss suffered by friends and col-
leagues, so it would be fair to say that the
mood is subdued at times, but we felt very
welcome, and in restaurants and hotels
people were openly happy to see west-
erners again, hoping that this marks a
A road trip through
Rajasthan is India
at its most magical
Ornate palaces in historic Jaipur, leopards in the Jawai
desert — Gabby Deeming has an enthralling ride
shift in the recovery for tourism.
Our home from home in Jaipur is the
Narain Niwas Palace, famous for its vibrant
yellow exterior, sugared-almond-coloured
bedrooms with wonderful wall paintings
and the swimming pool. Stately peacocks
pick their way across the grass and tiny car-
toonish squirrels dart about. It’s in an area
called C Scheme, very central and perfect
for nipping into the old city.
Most people pass through Jaipur as one
corner of the Golden Triangle with Delhi
and Agra, taking just a couple of high-im-
pact days to absorb the main attractions:
City Palace, Amber Fort and Palace of the
Winds — all wonderful, but there is so
much more to enjoy in the city and close
by. You can easily use Jaipur as a base to
explore the surrounding area. We
spent our first weekend in Samode, a
village one hour’s drive away. It has
two properties: the Samode Palace,
impressively grand and with a fa-
mously exquisite Durbar Hall hand-
painted with Mogul flowers, birds and
scenes of palace life; and the Bagh, with
charming tented cottages set around the
edge of a large garden presided over by a
Mogul pavilion, the maharajah’s country
retreat. Waking here to the sound of the
many birds was a perfect antidote to the
hustle and horns of Jaipur.
Jaipur existed only inside the old city
walls 100 years ago, a magical, swarming
grid of bazaars, markets, temples and pal-
aces. The atmosphere there today is still
perfectly preserved in many parts, whe-
ther it’s the alley of metal beaters and gem-
stone cutters, or the stalls and shops full of
lac bangles and embroidered saris. While
the youngsters prefer to spend their time
in the cafés of C Scheme and beyond, there
is still a thriving community who keep the
old city humming.
Being caught up in the daily bustle of a
land and culture so far removed from our
own feels once again like the privilege it
should. And there are now two excellent
places for lunch in the old city. Baradari,
the restaurant of the City Palace, and the
very good-looking new Johri hotel in a
carefully restored old haveli in the jewel-
lery quarter. Jaipur is a true shopaholic
heaven, so prepare yourself. I always re-
commend Fiona Caulfield’s Love India
guides for the exhaustive and specific lists
of best places to shop, eat and explore.
Another favourite local weekend escape
is Anopura, two rustic-chic little cottagesLuxury travel
with beautiful frangipani-framed private
pools. Many of the best guesthouses now
keep their own organic farms for vegeta-
bles, meat and eggs, and Anopura is an ex-
cellent case in point. You can book it just
for the day to swim and eat a specially pre-
pared feast in its beautiful thatched pool-
side terrace. Also opening soon close by in
Kanota is a hotel, overseen by two of
Jaipur’s most stylish expats — Barbara
Miolini, who runs the iconic Bar Palladio
in the grounds of Narain Niwas, and the
chef and artist Simon Marks.
By the beginning of November the wea-
ther has cooled to the temperature of a
perfect English summer day. The Indian
holiday of Diwali has begun, so we took a
break to explore the area north of Udaipur
on our Royal Enfield. Udaipur is less thanINDIAPAKISTANRAJASTHAN
New
DelhiSamodeJaipurUdaipurJawai KhumbhalgarhNarain
Niwas
Palace100 milesan hour’s flight from Jaipur, and with both
airports being quite central it’s an ex-
tremely nifty way to travel (the bike is sent
separately to meet us there).
We spent our first night in the extraor-
dinary Bujera Fort, a 20-minute drive out-
side the city. It’s a decorator’s dream. The
British owner, Richard Hanlon, has filled
his hotel with all the home comforts you
might desire and a collection of vintage
Indian folk treasures, sourced over a long
period and now arranged beautifully in
the rooms and cloisters to be enjoyed as
you explore.
The next morning we had a beautiful
drive up to the mountain resort of Kumb-
halgarh. The countryside is lush after the
rainy season and after a few post-mon-
soon bumps in the road we soon foundThe Johri hotel in JaipurThe pool at
Samode Palace