Published: byYogesh Mankani,26 Jun, 2016
Places I explored :
DadhikarThe best gift we believe die hard travelers love is a trip. Give them the opportunity to go on a vacation and they would be more than happy. As far as me and my wife are concerned, we love to go on trips (short or big) to various places that are not crowded, not much explored and the one where we can get rid of the hustle and bustle of the cities. Highways, big cities are big no no in our case. Trust me; our travel ideas are so common that whilst we are travelling back home from one journey, we start planning our next trip on the way!
For the celebration of our second marriage anniversary, we two planned a short bike ride. The trip was planned however, rest everything was surprise for my wife. How? Read on and you will know it all. My wife didn't know that for our marriage anniversary, I didn't plan to surprise her with the fancy gifts or dinner date instead a bike trip, which I told her on the eve of our marriage anniversary thereafter which exciting packing session began. Simply loved to see her smile all the way.
All set to begin our journey, we were quite excited, but there was much more waiting to happen which my life partner was unaware of. We started at around 9.00 AM and by afternoon we reached our destination. What took us long? The short breaks along the back roads, scenic beauty around which persuaded us to stop by and trying to capture the landscapes in our eyes and offcourse or camera too was the reason behind the delay.
We have started 9 AM in the morning and took the village back roads that most of the tourists don't take. Our first stop was Ramgarh Dam which was earlier use to provide water to the whole Jaipur and surroundings. After a quick photo session at Ramgarh, we took a left turn and headed towards Pratapgarh, where you can find a ruined fort on the top.
From there, you can take Sariska National Reserve route to reach Alwar which is beautiful, full of greenary and mustard farms.
Route : Jaipur - Ramgarh Dam - Pratapgarh - Sariska - Dhadikar Fort.
The first surprise which, although I planned, but was astound with too was our stay place. Want to know what was in the plan? It was Dadhikar Fort! I got the bookings done well in advance which Rajni didn't know about. I saw in the pictures (while getting the bookings done) but didn't know that it is going to leave me too wide-mouth opened. Trust me the moment we stepped in the fort premises, we lost our focus and kept gazing at the beauty of the fort that was awesomely converted into a resort.
The fort is so transformed into the resort and is beautifully crafted. Each and every nook & corner of the resort is well managed and gives a richer look to make the visitors feel amazed. On top of it, the royal treatment given to the guests adds to the beauty of the place. The entire staff of the fort cum resort is warm and welcoming and greet their guests with a smile.
Upon arrival, we were given a warm welcome and escorted by a staff person to our room. Rajni was left awestruck and so was I. Our room as expected was superb. Believe me the beauty of the place was such that I am actually falling short of words and each and while putting our experience in words, I am recalling each and every moment spent there and smiling. It was such a marvelous experience.
We took out our camera and captured the moments while having lunch on the terrace. I remember a little squirrel coming near us and waiting for us to feed it. I dropped something out of my plate and the little cutie pie came in front and picked it up. That was such an awe moment. After lunch we went back to our room and sat down to relax for a while.
In the evening we got ready to go out and take a stroll around. I had planned a tractor ride through the village and mustard fields. The person driving the tractor made us acquainted with the surroundings, giving us all the information. He also told us how the fort getting converted into the resort has given employment opportunities to the local people and how thankful they were.
After a particular point, there was a trek or I should say rock climbing which we enjoyed and from the point where we went; the entire village was looking superb. Standing there we enjoyed the bird's eye view.
I remember sitting on a rock and enjoying the sunset. Awesome is the word to describe the experience we had. Thereafter, we went back to the resort as it was getting dark. Now was the dinner time. Imagine having dinner at the rooftop in the cold winter night along with fire lit next to us which was adding to the beauty of the moment.
Oh, what a lovely day well spent in the laps of mother nature in the farms, village, and night in a fort. Doesn't it sound like a dream come true. For the traveler souls like us, it indeed is. Relaxed after the long fun-filled day, we dozed off to get up next morning fresh as morning dew.
There was a cute smile on our face and after our morning tea we packed our backs to go back home which we didn't want to. That was the moment when both of us, deep inside our heart were like' Dadhikar Fort mein rahunga main Ghar nahi jaunga main'. Wink Wink ;-)
Alas, we couldn't stay back and had to leave. But then, when you are on the road, leave aside highways; you tend to enjoy the journey. Once again we were on our bike enjoying the scenery around. In between we clicked many pictures on the spots we decided we will stop by while we were on the same road the previous day. By evening we were back home wearing broad smiles and relaxed souls.
This was one of the shortest yet sweetest and memorable trip to the amazing Dadhikar Fort. If you are in or around Alwar, I would suggest you to definitely add a stay at the Dadhikar fort in your itinerary list. No exaggeration, but trust me, visiting this place will make you feel marvelous. My wifee loved this surprise and I really wish I am able to plan many more such trips on our special days in years to come to add the moments to our journey of life.
