Best Bird Sanctuary In India- Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary

Welcome to Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary

In front of the Ticket Counter

Bharatpur is  30km from Mathura and falls in the state of Rajasthan.  This place is also known as Keoladeo Ghana National Park. In 1981 this place got the status of  National Park. And after few years it was declare world heritage sight by UNESCO.  This forest is famous  for various species of migratory birds. 

Best Time to Visit BharatpurBird Sanctuary - Mid Jan- End of Feb. Though people say that from December one can see the birds,but I would say that because we lived in Mathura for a while and had visited the bird sanctuary every now and then, we found that in winter specially in December the fog of North India makes it extremely hard to see birds. Also in the early January. Sometimes the flock too arrive late.


How to travel to this place: You  can hire a car from Mathura or travel by train.
Make your travel like this - Delhi (2-3 days)-Agra (1 day)-Mathura/Vrindavan( 1day)-Bharatpur.(1 Day).
There are many hotels available very close to the park gate.

Hotels in Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary: (close to the gate)

1.Hotel Sunbird
2.Hotel Eagle's Nest
3. Birder's Inn

Hotel Sunbird

(Economy Hotel)
Hotel Sunbird
Bird Sanctuary Road,
Bharatpur – 321001, Rajasthan (India)

Phone: +91-5644-225701, 221533 

Eagle's Nest

(Economy Hotel)
Hotel Eagle's Nest
Bird Sanctuary Road,
Bharatpur – 321001, Rajasthan (India)

Phone: +91-5644-225144,25145

Birder's Inn

(Economy Hotel)
Hotel Birder's Inn
Bird Sanctuary Road,
Bharatpur – 321001, Rajasthan (India)

Phone: +91-5644-227346, 222830


Entrance Fees for Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary  is Rs 50 per person for Indians.
Upon reaching the place you need to hire rickshaw or cycle. My suggestion is to hire  a rickshaw as they are govt approved and definitely will help you spot  various birds and animals. Rickshaw cost Rs 100 per hour
Look for knowledgeable authorised rickshaw-puller , Pritam Singh was our guide and he got the best binocular to spot birds. Also he is truly a bird lover knowing every nook and corner of the jungle.

                                              Our all time Favourite Guide Pritam Singh

Spotting birds here in this park is  easier than any other birdpark in India. May be that's why Unesco found interest here.

                                                 Bar headed Geese- They Migrate from Siberia every year. They are known to be the highest flying bird in the world. You can spot hundreds of them here in this park.

White Breasted Kingfisher

Indian Roller ( neelkantha)

Owlet Nest - This place was known to Pritam and therefore we were lucky to see these birds

Yellow Footed Green Pigeon

Extremely Lucky to spot this Python. You can generally see snakes after 12noon in winters. They come out on roads to bask in the sun. Please be careful as when I spotted this Python I didnt notice it was right beside me hidden in the bushes. I did get an adrenal rush. The python was unable to move as it fed on some birds. I thought snakes hibernate in winter but Yes they love Sun..They become lazy and enjoy sun in winter unlike in Monsoon or Summer they become extremely active.

This place is also full of Spotted Deer, Nilgai , Wolves, Wild Boars, Jungle cat and Hare 

In the evening ( during sunset) you will be able to hear the crying of the wolves and if you are lucky you will definitely spot them.

The park has a small resting area where you can buy snacks and take a break. You can only get tea biscuit or cakes here nothing else. If you have a plan to stay the entire day carry some food.

We stayed from 6 am till 6 pm  roaming around the jungle sometime walking and sometime resting.

Do hire rickshaw as its worth the month.  You can hire bicycle also but depends on the availability.

Do wear comfortable shoes and clothes. High lens camera is a must to spot these birds. I am providing the link of my camera I used in Bharatpur

Sony Cybershot-50X zoom from Amazon.in

SonyHX Cybershot

Also right now I bought myself a Canon EOS 700D  from Amazon at an incredible low price. It also includes  2 lenses and a kit.

Canon EOS700D

Books for Field Guide - Birds of Indian Subcontinent

Snakes of India

Indian Mammals Guide

Image rights reserved.Permission required for usage

Lastly I would like to conclude that this is one of the Best Bird Sanctuary In India.

Jaipur Tour Sightseeing Part2

Part1: Jaipur Trip/Chowki Dhani Rajasthan.

Rajasthan have always been in craze among foreigners all over the world. I must say everyone whether in India or Abroad must visit Rajasthan once in their lifetime. You will get to experience the life of Maharajas only here.

At 9 in the morning RTDC bus  was waiting right outside our hotel for Jaipur sightseeing . The guide introduced himself and gave few information about the entire day tour. Our bus was packed with  excited foreigners who were eager to see palace forts and of course a  an elephant ride. The bus started its journey right on time and the first heritage we crossed was the Hawa Mahal.

Hawa Mahal -The wind Palace
Image copyright:Sudeshnasarkar.blogspot.in

                                       Hawa Mahal also known as the Palace of Wind:

It was a brief stop here. The place looks beautiful at night. If you plan to do some shopping from Jaipur's famous Shopping area, you will come across Hawa Mahal.  There is nothing to see from inside so after taking few snaps we were off to Birla Mandir

Birla Temple
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Birla Mandir: This Lakshmi Narayan temple is made up of marble.Photography is not allowed inside the temple.There is a lush green walk which has been well maintained. You won't get much crowd here and therefore it takes hardly 30 min to visit  this place. There are few souvenir shops located outside the temple but the price is extremely high.

CityPalace
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City Palace: The main attraction of Jaipur is the beautiful City Palace.The palace is beautifully painted 

Diwan E khas Hall -  A special hall for private visitor of Mughal Emperor. The artwork and stunning architecture has been maintained well.  The museum  contains some excellent historical artifacts like clothes jewellery weapons and a huge water jar called Gangajali used. The portion of city palace is also a five star hotel.

Jantar Mantar Jaipur ,was built in 1734 and considered UNESCO world heritage site  . It has various astronomical devices which works perfectly even today. This  place I must say proves how  advance technology was in India even it that time period. It has a huge sundial,one of the largest in the world.

Jal Mahal
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Jal Mahal - Unfortunately the bus stop here for few minutes only for photographs.The palace is in the middle of Lake Mansarovar and visiting the palace is not allowed. Some parts of the Mahal is submerged in the water.  

Amer Fort: 

Sheesh Mahal or the hall of Mirrors is a part of Amer Fort. It requires a little hiking. You can also get a ride on elephant to reach the fort. You can hire local guide  who charge around 200-250  INR (bargain) or get yourself  an audio guide. The audio guide is available in various language and makes it easy for people traveling  from different parts of the world. The mirrors in the sheesh mahal is etched on the wall  some 300 years ago and a little light from certain corner makes it lit up like stars. 

Imagecopyright:Sudeshnasarkar.blogspot.in

Jaigarh Fort: This place has a huge cannon on wheels. The fort is in the top while the Amer fort is in the bottom.The Surang /canals ( hidden roads )shows the unique defence system of the rajput. The entire city can be seen from the fort. 

Nahargarh Fort: Built in yellow sandstone and located on the  edge of aravali range we had to walk up the steef cliff to get the spectacular view of the entire pink city. The archietecture here is mixture of Indian and European style.By the time we reached the fort it was afternoon and so we had our lunch at Durg Cafe inside the fort.

By 7 pm our tour ended and we reached Hotel Gangaur.

Helpful Points

• A full day  Jaipur tour by RTDC cost 300 Rs per person.-14 seater Non Ac Bus.
• Buy Composite ticket  for Amber Palace Nahargarh fort Hawa Mahal  @  Rs 70
• Free entry at Jantar Mantar
• City Palace -75 Rs per head Plus 75 for Camera.
• Jaigarh Fort - 35 rs per head plus 20 rs for Camera.
• Lunch at Durg Cafe -Nahargarh fort at 1.30 pm. Thali Nonveg -250 and Veg 150.
• The best time to visit Rajasthan is from October till March. 

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Mount Abu Hotel -RTDC Hotel Shikhar

Hotel Shikhar  Mount Abu

Mount Abu is the only hill station close to Gujarat to enjoy  weekends.Our visit was during Diwali (Oct 2016) and the rush of the tourist made everything - From hotel booking to hiring vehicles for sightseeing extremely pricey. We didn't have any options to choose hotels as every hotel was packed with tourist and there tariff was insane. Luckily we got rooms at RTDC  Shikhar Mount Abu - A budget Hotel
The location of this hotel is wonderful.Away from the  mad crowd yet close to the market area and the Nakki lake. We stayed at Hotel Sikhar for 2 nights.

•  As the name suggest Hotel Shikhar-From Nakki lake you need to climb up!!! (You will have good leg exercise)

• The Basic standard room during festive time or peak season cost around 2300 INR per night  inclusive tax. It also includes veg/non veg breakfast and dinner buffet.
• The restaurant have their own bar facility.
• The property is well maintained by RTDC. The staff were  polite. For sight seeing enquiry you can visit the reception area.
• Hotel rooms does not offer magnificent view of hills.There are cottages available too.
• The property  do not have  power backup but it is equipped with water heater. The bathroom was spacious. Though the room was small. We didn't mind adjusting a bit as the entire time we were strolling in the market area and to the lake.
• They have their own little Rajasthani dress material shop.

      I would rate this hotel 3 out of 5.


Here are link of some more hotels which I found very close to the lake and the market area.

Hotel Lake Palace
ChaCha Inn Hotel
Hotel Hilltone
RTDC Hotel

Hotel Gangaur ,RTDC Jaipur

We recently visited Jaipur, and our experience with this Jaipur hotel was excellent. I read few negative comments on Trip Advisor and  many blamed it for its poor services,as it is a govt hotel.But we didn't face any problem like that.The person in the reception  were very helpful. we booked our entire city tour with them.The Jaipur Sightseeing tour by RTDC cost Rs300 INR and therefore we didn't opt for  private vehicle for sightseeing. With RTDC we knew that they won't charge unreasonably. 
The rooms were clean, spacious and airy. They have 3 restaurant and 1 bar. The food was delicious and less spicy. You can try out their Rajasthani Thali, Tandoori  Mughlai  @ Gaurandh restaurant. Ming for chinese and Gauri for South Indian dishes.The stay includes complimentary breakfast.
We thought of booking  Ajmer tour with them. Its is a day trip and cost around 300 Rs per person. As we had planned for 2 night stay at Jaipur time was our constraint and so we dropped the plan.  The hotel is 10min from railway station in a very good location, less crowded yet close to some of the best street shopping area of Jaipur. The hotel's travel desk  provide you with brochure upon request. The brochure and the city map will be helpful for travelers who likes to explore the city on their own.

Jaipur Trip

Jaipur -The Pink City is India's prime tourist spot. Foreigner throughout the world visit Jaipur city for its  rich heritage and culture. It would take a minimum of 15 days to  see entire Rajasthan (if not more) So rather than just rushing through most cities we decided a trip to Jaipur  for 2 nights (weekends).
From Mathura to Jaipur there are plenty of trains available (superfast trains)

Day 1 : Our train was early in the morning

Train Name : Mathura -Jaipur Special : It reached Jaipur  at 1.30 pm.

We checked in to Hotel Gangaur  RTDC | you can take auto from the railway station,takes around 15min and the charge was 60 Rs.
We made booking in advance as it is very tough to get RTDC rooms in Rajasthan specially this one.

 Gangaur had resturant service too named as Gauri.There food was very simple and delicious. After checking in  we went for lunch! 
As we didn't have any plans on that day (evening ) we decided to  visit Choki Dhani.

Chokhi Dhani: 

This place will take you on a journey through Rajasthani culture.  It is about 19km from Jaipur city. We booked a car from the RTDC help desk.They charge around 800-1000 rs .

Opening time for Choki Dhani -6.00 pm -11pm
 It is a must visit place for  people who is visiting Rajasthan for the very first time.

You can enjoy rides on camel and elephant, get glimpse of how bangles are made , Rajasthani Art and culture and the famous Rajasthani Dance! You can also shop for beautiful Rajasthani Souvenir but the items were extremely pricey!!!. You can get the same thing at the  local Rajasthani Market at half the price but yes you need to have good bargaining skills. Johari Bazar,  Choti Chopar and Badi Chopar  are the best street shopping area in Jaipur.Dont forget to gift yourself  some precious stones when you are at Jaipur.

The main thing you need to do at Chokhi Dhani is to  try out their mouth watering Rajasthani Food. 
The Traditional Rajasthani style dining  cost around 500 rs Adult   and 350 for children.
Royal Rajasthani Dining in An AC room cost  around 700 rs Adult and 500 for children (  depends on the height of the children)
  We got the ticket for the dinner (the Royal Rajasthani Dinning), I dont know how much ghee and butter I consumed on that day. I could see ghee and butter driping from every single food and it was heavenly!!! You will surely get a foodgasm ! The people who were serving the food will  serve you as many times you want to so dont be shy! It was 10 when we completed our dinner. The day was well spent, and as we have more sightseeing to be done the next day we decided to go back to our hotel .
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Read More... DAY 2