84 days backpacking trip before Covid19

Kolkata – Delhi – Alwar – Jaipur – Ajmer – Pushkar – Jodhpur – Makhu – Amritsar – Chandigarh – Agra – Delhi – Kolkata and then back to Mumbai. This was the plan but I got stuck in Amritsar due to the lockdown. So I couldn’t continue my trip.

On the 6th of Feb, I started my journey towards Delhi I took a train. I attended a wedding and then checked into LetsBunk Poshtel. This hostel is in Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi. It was love at first sight. I often went to the deer park and enjoyed strolling on the roads of Hauz Khas Village. I made new friends and we visited the Hauz Khas fort every other day early morning just to enjoy the sunrise. Next, I travel to Sariska from Delhi. I booked a red bus. I faced trouble after boarding the bus. This information is what I found on google when I was planning this trip. That from Delhi to Alwar Bus Route daily, there are about 57 buses running. Currently, 3 bus operators operate on the route. It takes about 05:24 hours to reach Alwar from Delhi. It was suggested that I should take the express bus. I booked a red bus which left Delhi at about 9:30 pm and was supposed to reach my designated stop at about 4 a.m but it didn’t happen so. The operator told me that I will reach at might night which was about 1:30 am. Rest is history wait for the blog, regards to this.

At Sariska, I stayed at Utsav Camp. Mr Luv Shekhawat was extremely helpful. When I told him my situation he made arrangements for my absolutely safety can’t explain in words how grateful I am and I always will. Utsav camp Sariska is located at the village of Murlipura, Tehla – Talab, Rajgarh, Rajasthan. This place is a piece of heaven in itself. You should make a visit without fail. After staying three wonderful days in Sariska I travelled to Jaipur. I booked a red bus which didn’t come to pick me up. Trains are available but you have to travel to the station. Last moment I took a private cab which came to drop off other passengers from Jaipur to Sariska. I paid about 2000rs for the same. I would suggest taking a cab to Jaipur.

My next destination was Hometales Hostel – which is located at Jaipur Panchsheel Enclave, 74 Behind Clarks Amer, Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg, Jaipur, Rajasthan. I stayed in Jaipur from the 19th – 23rd of Feb. I loved the stay it felt homely. This place is very near to the airport and they have an in house cafe. Very chilled out place, five minutes walk away from Patrika gate. Jaipur is very touristy, so much to explore and I did it all was exhausted by the end of it. I wanted to chill, relax away from the busy city shore. My next destination was exactly what I wanted. 23rd – 25th of Feb I checked into this hotel called “The urbanite”. The urbanite, It is situated at omex city, Ajmer Road. On the highway. I took an auto to reach this destination bit uber would be preferable. Nice place I must say. Very modern and quite. Apart from a restaurant name- Eat homely. This place has absolutely nothing. Cleanroom, amazing terrace garden and swimming pool. You can just overview the city from your veranda. I stayed on the 9th floor and I was in awe with the view. Slept all day long. I got my me-time for two whole days and night.

As Pushkar always been underrated I kind off was very inquisitive about it. Due to the change in weather, I got the fever. I took a uber from the urbanite, straight to Zostel Pushkar. My initial plan was to take a bus from Ajmer to Pushkar, as it takes only 2 hours to reach. Costs about ₹90 – ₹140 INR. So mostly I was running a fever so I didn’t do anything much other than walking around a bit, till I shifted to The Hosteller, Pushkar which was inside the market area. Loved the location and the vibe. Check-in on the: 1st March. Oh, what vibes. It was perfect, as Holi was near one of the days we even celebrated Holi on the campus. Pushkar will remain to be very close to my heart for the kind of people I met and how warm they were. I wish to go back soon.

Many people were heading to Jodhpur so we decided to take a local bus that cost about 5rs which took me to the main bus stop. Took an AC bus that cost ₹750 INR. It was a 5h ride. Jodhpur was expensive as soon as I got off I had to take an auto-rickshaw to Moustache hostel Jodhpur which was only 3 km away but I had to pay INR 100. I wanted to walk it but with my backpack, I just gave up on that idea. I didn’t want to fall sick all over again. During my stay, I found a cheaper way to travel around and that was ola bike. I kind off went everywhere in an Ola bike. I saved money and reached everywhere faster than expected. I enjoyed Holi in Jodhpur all over again with a few hostel mates, but nothing like what I had experienced in Pushkar.

Well, by now everything has kind off started to shut down due to Coronavirus but somehow I thought I will manage to complete my trip unaware of the fact what COVID19 had instore for all of us globally. I was done with Rajasthan for this trip.

I took an overnight train from Jodhpur to Amritsar. To my surprise, the weather drastically changed when the train entered Punjab. It was cold showers of heavy rainfall and it seemed winter all over again.

In Amritsar, I stayed with City On Pedals from the 12th of March and was supposed to stay till the 18th of March. Well, I experienced the worst ever inhumanly behaviour midway during my stay. It was a travel nightmare and I hope nobody has to experience this ever. If you want to know what happened in City On Pedals check out this blog – http://lostloveadventure.com/in-the-middle-of-global-pandemic-travel-nightmare-with-city-on-pedals/. Meanwhile the lockdown was announced and we were stuck in Amritsar and then rest is history more like distanced fond memories.

So I couldn’t travel to Chandigarh – Agra and then back to Delhi. I had to end my trip and forget about travel for some time. After staying in Amritsar for about three months during the lockdown on the 18th of May I took the special train from Amritsar junction to Kolkata. I am still home praying for better days to come soon so that I can travel rather we all can travel all over again.