It's hard to beat the Hampi-Arambol trip for sheer difficulty, it even deposed Munnar-Ooty (which took two days and was psychologically draining)! But the Udaipur-Ranakpur-Kumbhalgarh triangle is a decent runner-up. The trip took its toll physically and mentally, because we had to make a choice between the two (we really wanted to spend the night at Kumbhalgarh). There is very little information about the two and the bus routes keep changing, so most people rent a car for the day and go back to Udaipur or go to Jodhpur, but wewere feeling cocky that day and thought we could do it the hardcore way, as usual. We got conflicting bus schedules at the bus stop so Henri left the decision up to me, and by instinct, I chose Ranakpur.
It was the worst place to stay the night, but in the end we realized the Universe put us in the right place at the right time after all. More on this later.
After half a day on the bus, we arrived in a road that was empty except for the bus stop (which was technically a chai shop), the run-down government guest house, and the Jain Temple. An elderly guide who was done working for the day told us to go to the government guest house on top of the hill because it's the most convenient. The government guys told us the other hotels and guest houses were 2 kms away, and since it was getting dark and the entire area is within a wildlife sanctuary (we walked for almost a kilometer after we dropped off our bags and there was nothing else ANYWHERE), we thought the wisest thing would be to spend the night at the overpriced government guest house. It was a far cry from the palace we slept in the night before, but that's what makes life funny.
The food was expensive and AWFUL, so the following day we started our day of sightseeing without breakfast. Henri also realized he didn't have a lot of money left, so we decided to do both Ranakpur and Kumbhalgarh in a day so we won't have to spend another night in that godforsaken place. We planned to leave on the same bus that took us there at 5:30pm.
Since Ranakpur's only attraction is its marble Jain Temple that is open to foreigners solely between 1 to 5 pm, we went to Khumbalgarh first by bus.
Not a lot of foreigners come here by bus so people were curious about us, and we were curious about this boy who had light blue eyes.
We needed two bus changes to get to Kumbhalgarh Fort, and we were lucky that the bus going there hadn't left yet, or else we would be stuck at the junction in a village Henri and I started calling "Shakira." But something we observed made me feel so mad... our bus going to Ranakpur stoped there yesterday! We could have stayed in Kumbhalgarh after all! Damn Udaipur bus people!!! They told us we had to take a 4pm (instead of the 1pm we took) from a different station, but the bus to Ranakpur stops here too! Arghhhh!!!! But I had to set my anger aside for the day so I could appreciate the beauty of the fort.
Some people compare it to the Great Wall in China, and I think it's unfair. Kumbhalgarh Fort is awesome in its own right.
The impressive fort with 36km-long preimeter walls, was buit in the 15th century following a ritual sacrifice to make the walls strong.
