Road Trip Day 1 - Bathinda to Jaipur

Day 1 of the road trip was supposed to be the longest. We started from Bathinda, Punjab and reached Jaipur, Rajasthan covering almost 500 km. 

We had planned to leave home by 7 am and we managed to leave by 7:30. Not bad! It was a slightly foggy morning with a few light showers at some places on the way and the fog cleared up pretty soon. 

We had our road companion, the GPS. It couldn't beat the age old mechanism of asking local people for directions, but still was a big help :) 

Our first stop was for breakfast at my paternal aunt's place on the way in Punjab. It was nice meeting family after a very very long time. N got to meet his uncle, my cousin, for the first time. Some yummy poori choley and a few posed pics later we were back on the road. Oh, how can I forget the fresh ripe guavas plucked straight from the tree at my bua's (aunt's) house. They were so tempting and super yumm! 

Drove non stop, passed through Haryana for a bit and then entered Rajasthan. I was impressed with the state of roads as soon as we entered Rajasthan. The sign boards and directions were very well done too. The landscape turned sandy, yellow and dry soon. It was very quiet and peaceful though. Not much traffic on most part of the stretch. 

Stopped for lunch midway at a restaurant called Midway Khurja. It was a decent place. You could sit to eat in the garden or indoors.There was a highly overpriced souvenir shop too inside. The service was quick and food tasty, a li'l spicy for our taste though. Nothing typically rajasthani in the menu. They had a special non spicy food buffet spread too. I think the menu was more to cater to the international audience. 

Regarding food, there were not too many eateries on the way. I mean small chai wala open dhaba types were there, even the chips and soda shops. But not too many medium size restaurants. We were carrying enough stuff though, to feed an entire village, courtesy my mom, who thought we should have a variety because N was with us :) 

Covered some more distance then stopped for dhaba tea and confirm directions. Here is our ride!

And this is one of our designated drivers of the trip. Very ethnic chic I must say!! :) 

Reached Jaipur around 5:30 pm and made way through the city to our accommodation for the next 2 nights. That took us about an hour considering evening rush hour city traffic. None of us had the energy to venture out. So we decided to rest, change, have dinner in the room and crash early. 

Day 2 is going to be spent sight seeing and shopping. Yay! 

Tada!!!